The Mine Pit (1991)
Before and After Midnight.
From Vladimir Molchanov's film Mine Pit (Забой). Filmed in 1991 as the Soviet Union came apart, Mine Pit takes viewers underground and into the mining towns whose strikes shook the country. Its Russian title, Забой, means both the mine pit and a slaughter, a double sense that fits what the camera finds. It lingers on the coalface, broken machinery, and exhausted bodies, then moves to kitchens, dormitories, and street meetings where anger becomes political speech. Less a news report than a diagnosis, the film shows why miners demanded dignity, wages, and power, and why Moscow could no longer promise any of it. Broadcast on Channel 2, Russian Federation TV on June 29, 1991. Watch on the YouTube website for English voice-over.