North Country [WS]

Director: Niki Caro Niki Caro

Overview

A fictionalized account of one of America's most groundbreaking sexual harassment lawsuits comes to the screen in this hard-hitting drama. In the late '80s, Josey Aimes (Charlize Theron) fled her abusive husband, and needed to find a way to support her two children. Aimes returned to her hometown in Minnesota and followed the lead of her old friend Glory (Frances McDormand), who had bucked tradition and found a job in the iron mines that had long provided employment for much of the community. Aimes found honest labor and a living wage working the mines, but she also discovered she was working with men who were uncomfortable working with women (whose right to work in the mines had been mandated by law almost 15 years prior), and didn't care to show them much respect. However, as Aimes found herself the growing target of sexist jokes and abhorrent behavior, she found that many of her female co-workers were reluctant to stand beside her, afraid of losing a good-paying job at a time when they were increasingly hard to find. But as a personal crisis became a public war of words, Aimes became the center of a nationwide controversy when she attempted to file a class action sexual harassment suit against the mine owners, which put her and her family in a position of scrutiny beyond her worst expectations. North Country also stars Sean Bean, Sissy Spacek, and Woody Harrelson.

Product Details

Release Date:	02/21/2006
UPC:	0012569593404
Original Release:	2005
Rating:	R
Source:	Warner Home Video
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Letterbox]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	2:06:00
Sales rank:	25,319

Special Features

Closed Caption;Making-of documentary; stories from the North Country; Additional scenes; Theatrical trailer; Languages: English & Français (Dubbed in Quebec); Subtitles: English, Français & Español (Feature Film Only)

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

¿¿¿¿¿¿ ¿¿¿¿¿	Josey Aimes
Elle Peterson	Karen Aimes,Karen Aimes
Frances McDormand	Glory
Woody Harrelson	Bill White
Sean Bean	Kyle
Amber Heard	Young Josey Aimes
Jeremy Renner	Bobby Sharp
Richard Jenkins	Hank Aimes
Sissy Spacek	Alice Aimes
Thomas Curtis	Sammy Aimes
Jim Cada	Don Pearson
Rusty Schwimmer	Big Betty
Linda Emond	Leslie Conlin
Michelle Monaghan	Sherry,Actor
Brad William Henke	Lattavansky,Actor
Jillian Armenante	Peg
Corey Stoll	Ricky Sennett
Bruce Bohne	Union Member #4
Chris Mulkey	Earl Slangley
Xander Berkeley	Arlen Pavich
Catherine Campion	Stacey's Mom
Tom Bower	Gray Suchett
John Aylward	Judge Halsted
Sally Wingert	Kay Stollman
Mark Chait	Wayne
Todd Anderson	Semen Man
Monsignor Patrick McDowell	Priest
Mark Sivertsen	Bailiff #1
Gustavo Santaolalla	Composer
Elle Petersen	Actor
Linda Edmond	Actor
Gustavo Santaolaya	Composer

Technical Credits

Michael Seitzman

Niki Caro	Director
Michael Seitzman	Screenwriter
Nick Wechsler	Producer
Helen Buck Bartlett	Executive Producer
Nana Greenwald	Executive Producer,Producer
Doug Claybourne	Executive Producer
Jeff Skoll	Executive Producer
Allan Zaleski	Sound Effects
Scott Cosgrove	Stunts
Mali Finn	Casting
Lena Fennema	Stunts
Alisa Hensley-Lane	Stunts
Al Laverde	Key Grip
Shawn Robinson	Stunts
Danny Wynands	Stunts
William Sarokin	Sound/Sound Designer
Valerie Flueger	Producer

Editorial Reviews

With North Country, director Niki Caro demonstrates astonishing range, effortlessly swapping Maoris coming of age in New Zealand (Whale Rider) for Minnesotans navigating the wintry terrain of sexual harassment. But there's a common theme to her work: girls/women carving out an equal role for themselves in a masculine world. North Country may not have the heart of a Whale Rider, nor of its thematic progenitor, Norma Rae, but it makes up for that in earnestness of purpose. Charlize Theron earned her second Best Actress nomination by inhabiting the same landscape that won her the statue for Monster -- a gritty, lived-in mélange of imperfections, from which her character is by no means exempt. Chris Menges' stunning camerawork brings alive the bleak beauty of the setting, which mirrors the characters' frigid attitudes on political correctness. One gets a slight sense that the depictions of Josey Aimes' misogynistic co-workers are exaggerated, but that could be because it seems hard to believe such malevolently dumb behavior ever prevailed in the workplace. Frances McDormand, also nominated in the supporting category, is equally superlative as Josey's sometimes-reluctant friend and champion. Regardless of its allegiance to the true events, the subplot involving the questionable parentage of Josey's oldest son tends to distract from the narrative. While the skeletons in Josey's closet undoubtedly make her a more complex character, not simply a martyr, they add sensationalism to a scenario already rich enough with it, just from the pornographic hostility aimed at Josey. A few minor misdirections aside, North Country is an unblinking portrait of a regular woman simply pursuing a regular level of respect.