North Country (film)

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This article refers to a 2005 film. For other meanings, see North Country.

North Country

Directed by	Niki Caro
Produced by	Nana Greenwald
Written by	Clara Bingham, Laura Leedy, Michael Seitzman
Starring	Charlize Theron Frances McDormand Sissy Spacek Sean Bean Woody Harrelson
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date(s)	21 October 2005 (USA)
Running time	126 min
Language	English
Budget	~ US$35,000,000
IMDb profile

North Country is the name of an Academy Award-nominated film directed by Niki Caro and released in 2005. It stars Charlize Theron as a female worker at a mining company who is sexually harassed and leads a class-action lawsuit against her employer for failing to protect her and other female employees. Theron garnered an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress for her role in the film. Frances McDormand, playing Theron's tough friend Glory, also received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. The film is based on the case Jenson v. Eveleth Taconite Co., brought by Lois Jenson, although Theron's character in the movie is named Josey Aimes (Many other characters in the movie are consolidations of several real-life individuals).

Principal photography on the film began in February 2005, and it was shot in northern Minnesota (including the town of Eveleth), Minneapolis, and New Mexico. The film was inspired by the book Class Action by Clara Bingham and Laura Leedy Gansler.

Tagline: All she wanted was to make a living. Instead she made history.

1 Plot
2 US box office
3 Trivia
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Charlize Theron as Josey Aimes

Josey Aimes (Charlize Theron) is a miner and the single mother of Sam and Karen.

The iron mine she is employed in used to have only male workers, but by the time the movie takes place in the late 1980s, by law, women have to be admitted too. However, both management and workers, including Josey's father, feel that women do not belong in these jobs. There is a shortage of jobs, and the men feel that due to the female workers, this shortage gets worse for men.

Josey is aware of the problems, but applies for a job at the mine anyway, because it pays well, and she has to support her family. She is hired. It is hard and dirty work, using large, dirty machines. She can handle all of the hard work, but suffers from sexual harassment and bullying. She complains at various levels, but things get only worse. Finally she quits.

She starts the first-ever class-action sexual harassment lawsuit, against her employer for failing to protect her and other female employees. First she does not succeed in finding coworkers joining the case: one is ill due to Lou Gehrig's disease, and the others are worried that things get worse if they complain. At a labor union meeting Josey's father supports her, after which many women are willing to step forward for class-action. Josey and the others win the lawsuit.

During the application for class action, Josey's sexual history is explored in detail. The film reveals Sam was conceived when his mother was raped in high school by one of her teachers. Sam was angry at his mother that she lied to him about his father, and he was uncomfortable with rumors that she is promiscuous. Now the relationship between Josey and her son improves.

Spoilers end here.

[edit] US box office

North Country opened to 2,555 screens in Canada and the U.S and made 6,422,455 dollars in the film's opening weekend. As of January 8, 2006 the film has grossed 18.3 million dollars, but still there was some disappointment among the crew and studio because the film was expected to do better at the box office. The budget for the film was 35 million dollars. (North Country at Box Office Mojo)

[edit] Trivia

In the scene where Michelle Monaghan is trapped in the portable outhouse which is rocked and tipped over by her male co-workers, the supposed human waste was actually made of Gatorade, Cocoa Puffs, and pumpkin pie fillings.
The lawsuit which inspired the film was settled in 1998, 10 years after it was first filed and over 20 years after the harassments began.
In addition to previously released recordings by Bob Dylan, as well as cover versions of Dylan songs, the soundtrack includes a new Dylan song, "Tell Ol' Bill", recorded in 2005.