North Country
Short description
North Country follows Josey Aimes, a single mother who returns to her hometown in northern Minnesota after her marriage ends and takes a job at the local iron mine to support her two children. The mine is overwhelmingly male, and the few women who work there face hostility, crude treatment and harassment from their male colleagues. Encouraged by her friend Glory, another miner, Josey stays on despite the pressure, and when she speaks out about what she and the other women endure, she meets resistance not only from the company but from much of the community, including her own father. Her decision to take the matter to court makes the case a landmark one in the United States.
The film is a fictionalized account of the Jenson vs. Eveleth Mines case, with a screenplay by Michael Seitzman and direction by Niki Caro. It was Caro's second feature, arriving after Whale Rider. Charlize Theron plays Josey, with Frances McDormand as Glory, Woody Harrelson as Bill White, Sean Bean as Kyle, Jeremy Renner as Bobby Sharp and Richard Jenkins as Hank Aimes. Fifty-one cast members are credited.
Released in 2005, the film runs 126 minutes. Made for about 35 million dollars, it took in roughly 25 million dollars worldwide, falling short of its production cost. Audiences rate it 7.3 out of 10 on IMDb from around 47,000 votes and 7.3 out of 10 on TMDB from far fewer votes, while critics gave it 6.8 out of 10 across 174 reviews.
What's left behind the scenes
- Woody Harrelson found it difficult to play the famous hockey player. For starters, the actor doesn't know how to ice skate.
- To ensure greater authenticity, Charlize Theron insisted on filming the union meeting without rehearsals. The actress later recounted that the five minutes it took Richard Jenkins to calm the crowd shouting insults and jeers felt like an eternity.
- To prepare for her role, Charlize Theron spent some time with families of women working in the mines.
- The scenes in the mine were filmed in a real mine in Silver City, New Mexico.
- Gloria was based on Pat Kosmach, a divorced mother of five who went to work in the mine to support her family. She died of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis before the trial concluded.
- The weather conditions on the set were far from comfortable. The temperature in Minnesota rarely rose above freezing.
- 400 real miners played in the scene of the union meeting.
- The actors did not enlist the services of a linguist to help them with the correct accent. Instead, they went to bars and listened to conversations of local residents.
- During the filming of the bar fight, Woody Harrelson accidentally broke Chris Malki's nose.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
