Movies - North Country

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	Movies - North Country

North Country is the name of a 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 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.

Plot

Josie Aimes (Charlize Theron) is single mother of the boy Sam and a younger girl. Sam was conceived when she was raped in highschool by her teacher.

The iron mine used to have only male workers, but now (the 1970s or 1980s), by law, women have to be admitted too. However, both management and workers, including her father, feel that women do not belong in these jobs. There is a shortage of jobs, and they feel that due to the female workers, this shortage gets worse for men.

Josie 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 impressive machines. She can handle the work itself, 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, and the others are worried that things get worse if they complain. At a labor union meeting Josie's father supports her, after which many women are willing to step forward for class-action. Josie and the others win the lawsuit.

Sam was angry at his mother that she lied to him about his father, and he was uncomfortable with rumors that she is a prostitute. Now the relationship between Josie and her son improves.

US Box Office

North County opened to 2,555 screens in the U.S and made 6,422,455$ in the film`s opening weekend. As of January 8,2006 the film has grossed 18.3 million dollars,but still there were some disapppointment among the crew and studio because the film was expected to do better at the Box Office. The budget for the film is 35 million dollars.

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, Coco 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.

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Movies - North Country

Plot

US Box Office

Trivia

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