Joe Hill

Landing at Ellis Island from Europe at the start of the 20th century, the Hågglund brothers anticipate opportunities galore in this new land after years of poverty and illness at home in Sweden. Unable to speak the language, they can only find manual labour work and it is this dead-end existence that spurs Joe (Thommy Berggren) to challenge his ideals of just what life in the USA was going to mean! Separated from his brother he is soon travelling the land as a drifter, travelling illicitly on the railways and that's when he encounters the enthusiastically burgeoning IWW. At first, they look like red-scarved Boy Scouts, but put them on an old soap box and soon they are bemoaning the lives of the workers to the chagrin of the bosses but offering hope of change and protest to the put-upon labouring class who were treated like dirt. Joe has a natural talent when it comes to public speaking coupled with an ability to deliver a catchy ditty or some poetic prose and soon he is considered a real pain in the neck by the authorities. Their chance to deal with him comes when a grocer and his young son are shot, Joe is accused and despite putting up a spirited self-defence is convicted of the crime. With execution looming, things are brought into sharper focus as, despite some interventions, the inevitable looks exactly that. For much of this, it has the look of a standard 1970s western and I was expecting a Carradine to pop up at some stage, but as it starts to accelerate we are shown quite poignantly the disregard for human life that existed amongst the more industrially-minded of the pioneers and the determination of some to stick up for the little man. It's the last half hour, though, that has an almost macabre tone to it and throughout Berggren holds this engagingly. He portrays a man stripped of his optimism as surely as it were his shirt, but who is not one to lie down and take it. His integrity rather than any political dogma proves to be his moral compass and Wilderberg allows that characterisation to build effectively. There is something almost surreal about the last five minutes, and that tops off this superior evaluation of a man who inspired many a folk song.

I saw this film in 1972 in Dublin and was knocked out. I watched it twice through in the cinema that day, never thinking that 38 years later I would never have had the chance to see this film again.

I remember it as fairly glossy in production values but moving despite that - and the music score, especially the Joan Baez theme, being absolutely perfectly matched with the story line.

I have tried for some time to obtain a copy either in VHS or DVD of this film, without success. It is amazing that it is not available, given the combined quality of this film and the earlier Elvira Madigan, let alone Bo Widerberg's other masterpieces.

I saw this movie when I was thirteen years old with my father. We enjoyed it so much that we saw it again the next say. An unknown cast yet superbly acted. Released at a time when we were in a state of war (Viet Nam) and political unrest. Might be out-dated today, but then again, maybe not. Great film.

Few people outside America and Sweden had heard of Joe Hill before Joan Baez performed the Hayes /Robinson song (1938) in the legendary Woodstock festival ,the movie of which was released in 1970; Joe Hill became famous overnight and it's no coincidence a film about his life was made the following year ;Baez 's version of the song is heard during the cast and credits, at the beginning and at the end of the movie. The very same year ,two other political prisoners ,unfairly executed ,Sacco and Vanzetti ,were the subject of Guido Montaldo's movie and then again ,Baez sang the song ,"here's to you" on a music by Ennio Morricone ,which was a big hit almost everywhere (except in both the US and the UK)

"Joe Hill" owes a big deal to its principal Thommy Berggrens ,whose performing is absolutely mind-boggling,mainly in the scene of the trial ,where he demands to defend himself ,because he knows his so called lawyers are bribed and that it's a travesty of a trial .the subject of the film,too red, too "commie" prevented him from becoming a big star .

It seems that his political awareness stems from the way religion deals with poverty : the Salvation Army's canticles provide a sharp contrast with Joe's revolutionary and foot-tapping song : he does not ask for pie in the sky but a square deal for the underprivileged , exploited by the wealthy bosses who treat them like dogs ,bully and humiliate them ( the scene when they force them to kiss the American flag is revealing). Joe was a generous hero ,-the actor's boyish look makes wonders- his final testament is deeply moving ,his spirit lives on, "where working men defend their rights, it's there you'll find Joe Hill."

Bo Widerberg's excellent 1971 biopic, 'Joe Hill', has been unavailable for many years. This has been very frustrating for people wishing to watch this very important and largely forgotten piece of labour history. As can be seen from other reviews here, the film is excellent and very memorable.

It is currently viewable on YouTube, but this is a very poor quality copy. The image is blurry and the sound is very poor and scratchy; I suspect it has been uploaded from a bootleg copy.

Interestingly, 19 November 2015 will be the 100th anniversary of Joe Hill's execution in Utah, USA, and many labour history groups around the world (including US, UK, Australia and Sweden) are planning to stage centenary celebrations. It would be great if the film were available for screening at these events.

Anyway, the GOOD NEWS is that a Swedish producer and filmmaker, Tomas Ehrnborg, is currently preparing a digitally remastered version of 'Joe Hill' and other films by Bo Widerberg (including 'Elvira Madigan') and is planning to release them as a boxed set later this year. At this stage (25/4/15) no release date has been confirmed.

For further information, please contact Tomas at Tomas.Ehrnborg@kb.se. I can be contacted at t.pitt@live.com.au

Teresa Pitt, Melbourne, Australia