We had seen this before a 'cleaned' TV print, 15/3/92. 'Worthy but long winded, more character study than polemic.' Huh. I'm not sure there was a lot to 'clean' other than the shitty plant they worked in or the shitty house they lived in - Patrizia von Brandenstein's production design is meaningful:
At 2,10 it was quite long, but I thought the time taken to explore the world of Karen Silkwood was well spent, an imperfect woman (who is perfect?) who may have been killed for trying to expose terrible wrongdoing at nuclear plant in 1974. Based on the novel by Howard Kohn, it was written for the screen by Nora Ephron and Alice Arlen, who were Oscar nominated, along with Streep, Nichols, Cher (I know) and editor Sam O'Steen, who went on to work on many of Nichols' films.
A grubby and gritty life, somehow rather beautifully evoked by Miroslav Ondricek. I particularly like this static shot, because it then tracks back through the house, pans left to the bathroom, then comes back into the main living area without a cut or a visible light in sight:
With Kurt Russell, Craig T Nelson, Diana Scarwid, Fred Ward, Ron Silver, Bruce McGill (perhaps recognised from Legally Blonde 2!), M Emmett Walsh, David Strathairn, Bill Cobbs
There's a keenly observed moment early on where the older woman (Sudie Bond) who's later 'cooked' mentions her daughter is dying of cancer - it's never explicitly stated, but you get the feeling the daughter worked there too.
Re: 1992 comment: I sound up my own arse. Who wants a polemic when you can have a character study? Who do I think I'm writing for, Cahiers du Cinéma (on my 5" x 3" index card)?
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