The Salt Of The Earth Analysis

The Salt of the Earth, a 1954 film by Michael Wilson, is truly a masterpiece. In a very unbiased and professional way, I can say that this film is thus far, my favorite film that we have seen in our Chicano Cinema class, and the reason is easily seen. This film by Wilson adequately and precisely depicted the struggles that many Mexican American citizens suffered through in their work. The movie takes place in Zinc Town, New Mexico, where the population consists of many miners that work for the local mining factory. The factory had been experiencing many accidents in the factory, all involving Mexican American workers, and the factory owners were doing nothing to solve safety issues. The working miners realize that the only way that they will be able to solve the insecurity issues and ensure a better pay, will be to boycott the factory, form a picket line, and begin a strike. Our protagonist, Esperanza Quintero, portrayed by Rosaura Revueltas, is the wife of one of these striking miners. She asks her husband to include the issues that women are dealing with in their strike; including hot running water. The story, which started out as a male miner movement, suddenly, and unexpectedly for this time period, shifts dramatically. The men are no longer allowed to hold their picket
I see why the Mexican Americans want their story heard, why the producers struggled so much to make this movie possible, and why Americans were so scared of this movie bringing in Communist ideas. However, something that cannot be denied is just how great the movie itself is. Even when the FBI was investigating, interrupting, and even deporting individuals involved in the movie, the producers were able to shake them off and continue developing the movie. I personally expected the movie to be full of glitches and mistakes, but it was quite wonderful, and close to