North Country

Synopsis: 1989. Josey Aimes takes her two kids, Sammy and Karen, and leaves her abusive husband Wayne, to return to her northern Minnesota home town. On a chance meeting with her old friend Glory Dodge who works as a driver and union rep at the mine operated by Pearson Taconite and Steel, Josey decides to work at the mine as well, work that is dominated by men in number and in tone. She does so to be able to stand on her own two feet for the first time in her life, something she probably could not have done if she remained in a job washing hair at a beauty salon. Working at the mine does not sit well with her father, Hank Aimes, who also works at the mine and who, like the other male workers, believes she is taking a job away from a man. Hank has believed that all Josey's problems are of her own doing, ever since she, unmarried, had Sammy while she was still in high school. Josey has always stated that she does not know who Sammy's biological father is, which fosters Hank's attitude about her. A
Genre: Drama
Director(s): Niki Caro
Production: Warner Bros. Pictures
  Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 6 wins & 17 nominations.
 
IMDB:
7.3
Metacritic:
68
Rotten Tomatoes:
69%
R
Year:
2005
126 min
$18,324,242
Website
1,122 Views


- Lady, you sit in your nice house...

- Karen.

...clean floors, your bottled water,

your flowers on Valentine's Day...

...and you think you're tough?

Wear my shoes. Tell me tough.

Work a day in the pit, tell me tough.

I'm sure we're all sufficiently impressed,

Mrs. Aimes.

There is no "Mrs." here.

- No. I didn't go to the police.

- What did you do?

What I had to.

- Karen, stop crying. Sammy, let's go!

- It's just gonna piss him off some more.

Look at my face.

Don't toss shoulders at me!

Sammy, goddamn it!

It's okay, it's okay. Okay, come on.

Come on, come on. You can do it, baby.

There you go. Good girl.

Who's a good girl, huh?

We're not coming back, right?

Come on.

Hey, Mom.

- Oh, dear God.

- I'm fine, I'm okay.

Say hi to your grandkids.

Oh, for heaven's sake.

Look at you beauties.

Hi, Grandma.

You working nights?

So...

...he catch you with another man?

Is that why he laid hands on you?

You're really asking me that?

This wasn't the first time

you'd disappointed your father, was it?

Wasn't the first time

he disappointed me either.

How old were you

when you had your first child?

Here you go.

Bobby Sharp!

I'm gonna beat you good.

Come on, you wanna blow out of here?

Who is Sammy's father?

I don't know who Sammy's father is.

Is that because you've had

so many sexual partners?

The body of Christ.

The body of Christ.

The body of Christ.

Always was a beauty, your girl.

Boys, cut it out!

Poor Alice. That girl has been nothing

but trouble for her since day one.

Got two kids with two

different fathers already.

- Heck of a shame.

- Those kids are just...

...gobbling up my crispy bars.

Nobody makes them better.

I don't know what you put in those

things, but it just can't be legal.

Oh, yeah. Everybody seems to like them.

Ah, probably on a bender when he did it.

What I figured.

So you take him out to the shed,

give him a talking to. They'll work it out.

I mean, hell, Beth left me a dozen times

before we worked out the kinks.

Did she?

How did you first hear that Pearson

Taconite and Steel was hiring women?

- Wanna lean back there?

- Okay.

Oh, my... Glory?

Yeah?

No way. Josey? No way!

Look at you, all grown up.

Yeah, all grown up, washing hair.

And married? Who's the lucky?

Oh, jeez.

Okay. Who's the unlucky?

Me, I suppose.

You're a crap storyteller.

You left out the part where you tell

all his friends he likes to wear your panties.

How about I tell them the truth?

Beats his wife. Bad enough, ain't it?

- You weren't kidding. You're good.

- So I'm back living with my folks.

Only now I got

two more mouths to feed.

The mine's hiring, you know.

What do you even do up there?

You a secretary?

No. I drive truck.

- You drive truck?

- Yours truly, first woman ever.

Now, isn't that a heck of a...?

That's weird.

Money isn't weird, I'll tell you that much.

Going for gold.

Shouldn't have put down the beer.

Balance. Everybody knows, can't throw

darts without a beer in the other hand.

Would a soda work?

Nope. Dart knows.

That's why it's never gonna be

an Olympic event.

They don't allow drinking.

Why don't we buy the girls

another round and test the theory?

Maybe later. Okay?

Jeez, Glory.

You come working up at the mine,

you gotta ignore that crap.

Who says I'm working at the mine?

Wouldn't you like to make the same

kind of money your dad does?

You wanna be a lesbian now?

I wanna be a lesbian.

How come I have to eat

if I'm not hungry?

Because people are starving in China.

People are starving right here.

Clean plates, both of you.

I haven't made a decision yet.

But the mine pays six times

what I'm making now.

Do you have any idea how many accidents

there've been since this started?

Somebody will be killed

because of them women.

I can't afford a place by washing hair.

So you stay here.

She's a grown woman with kids.

She's not gonna be living with her folks.

All clear.

- Clear of what?

- You're not pregnant.

I already told you that.

Well, company just wants to be sure

before they hire you.

It's to clean yourself with.

You submitted to the exam willingly,

correct?

Yeah. I submitted.

Before your law firm hired you, they put

your feet up and look around your insides?

- I got you.

- You got me?

I'm gonna get you then.

I'm gonna get you then.

Come here, baby.

Hey, Jo.

What are you doing here, Wayne?

Come to bring you back home.

Karen. In the house.

- Can't talk anymore. Get in the...

Come here!

Come by here

and think everything is okay?

- You know what?

- It's not okay.

- Get in the car!

- It's over!

So how about we let your

mom and dad talk in private?

- Get out of here!

- He's not my father.

He is your husband, you know.

He beat me, Mom.

More than once, more than lightly.

A man needs a job.

Wayne beat me because he was out

of work? That's what you're saying?

I'm just saying,

everyone needs a purpose.

Your purpose is those kids.

Your father's is that mine.

And if you take a job up there...

Well, it'll shame him.

You should think about that.

Sammy, open the glove box.

There's a piece of paper on top of the pile.

Hold it on the dash, would you?

- Hey!

- Hey! Sorry about this.

That's what guest rooms are for.

Come on, honey,

I'll show you where your room is.

- Hiya.

- This is Kyle.

Hiya.

Wow, look at this.

All right. So all right, there's...

We're doing a little work.

How long are they staying?

I don't know. Just a little while.

No such thing, and you know it.

Oh, come on.

She's kind of girlie to be a miner.

Okay, now, what are you?

Cowboy or a cowgirl?

- I'm a cowgirl.

- No, not up there, you're not.

Gotta get your cowboy on.

What's that?

I thought it was just your hand.

Yeah. That's the thing about arthritis.

It spreads like a nasty rumor.

You know they don't want us

up there. Right?

Yeah, I got that.

The mine is a sh*t pit.

Dirt everywhere. Loud as all get-out.

You'll be hauling, lifting...

...driving and all sorts of other things a

woman shouldn't be doing, if you ask me...

...but Supreme Court didn't ask me,

did they?

You must be Hank's daughter.

You're late. Got your paperwork?

Yeah. Yes, sir. I got my consent form.

Yeah. The doc says you look darn good

under those clothes.

Sense of humor, ladies.

Rule-o numero uno.

Okay, grab your gear

and meet me outside.

We're gonna take a tour.

- What?

- What a homo!

You know they do.

C*nts.

Ear protection, ladies!

Hank, I need a five-minute break.

You took a coffee break an hour ago.

That's the point, Hank. She's been

drinking coffee like everyone else.

Hey, Glory, are you talking

as a union rep...

...or just butting into anybody's

business as usual?

All I'm saying is that you can

whip it out anytime, Hank.

We gotta pull the coveralls

all the way down, you know?

We start peeing in our seats...

...I don't think the next shift's

gonna be too happy about it.

You got another load to get.

So pull them up and go get it.

This down here is taconite.

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Michael Seitzman

Michael Seitzman (born November 1, 1967) is an American writer, producer and film director best known for film North Country. more…

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Submitted on August 05, 2018

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