North Country is a moving and memorable film about a grim subject: workplace sexual harassment. Set on the Iron Range of northern Minnesota, it stars Charlize Theron as Josey Aimes, a woman who takes a job at a taconite (iron ore) mine. After the men cruelly harass her and the other women at the mine, she leads her fellow female employees in a class-action lawsuit against their employer. Mining provides a large portion of their town’s employment, and no one is eager to take on the company. Bill White, a local lawyer and former hockey star, played by Woody Harrelson, reluctantly agrees to take the case.

Written by Michael Seitzman and directed by Niki Caro—who previously directed Whale Rider, the New Zealand film about another combative female—North Country is a tense film that shuttles back and fourth between several plot strands: the sexual harassment court trial, events at the mine and at Josey’s home, and Josey’s adolescence. The latter subplot is the weakest element of the film, and it leads to some heavy-handed melodrama when it comes into play in the courtroom. The film nevertheless rises above these weaknesses and manages to tell a compelling story.

Highlights of the film include the speech by Josey’s father to his union brothers, in which he belatedly heaps shame upon the men for their treatment of his daughter, and a courtroom speech by lawyer Bill White, in which he makes some trenchant points about power. Frances McDormand—returning to the role of a strong northern Minnesota woman, last played in Fargo—does a fine turn as a fellow employee and union leader. Sean Bean also has an excellent performance as her husband. His basement conversations with Josey’s son provide some of the movie’s better scenes. Josey’s boss, Arlen Pavich (Xander Berkeley), has an appropriately Slavic sounding last name for the Iron Range, and his appearance and speech come across as more authentic than those of the other actors.

As a representation of the region, the film does its job ably. It downplays local accents, which aren’t as broad as in the Coen brothers’ Fargo, for example, and it plays up the winter setting. It seems to be always winter in this film’s exterior shots—except for the outdoor mining scenes, which were filmed in New Mexico and lack snow and cold air. There are plenty of fine shots of the north woods and Iron Range towns. Bob Dylan fans will gain extra satisfaction from the film’s soundtrack, which features several songs by the Iron Range native.

The story is loosely based on the book Class Action: The Story of Lois Jensen and the Landmark Case That Changed Sexual Harassment Law (2002), by Clara Bingham and Laura Leedy Gansler. The book concerned the women workers at the Eveleth Taconite Company in the late 1970s and 1980s. Those women initiated the first class-action sexual harassment lawsuit in the nation’s history.

North Country isn’t an easy film to watch, given its focus on women’s humiliation at the hands of men, but it’s a rewarding one. As a result of its strengths—vivid characters, memorable dialogue, and beautiful cinematography—it’s destined to become a lasting part of the Upper Midwest’s cinematic history.

As I write this on November 16, I’m looking out the window at a snow-covered yard. We’ve had our first snow of the season, and the temperature is about 22 degrees Fahrenheit, with a nasty wind making it feel much colder. The high will remain in the 20’s today, and tonight it’s supposed to get down to 6 degrees. It’s even cold inside. I’ve got the space heater blowing warm air on my legs, because cold air is leaking through our old windows, which I haven’t yet covered with plastic film.

Winter is here! I therefore shout, “Hooray!” And I promise you there is no irony.

Many Upper Midwesterners are already grumbling about the snow and ice and bad driving conditions. Most children and a few of us oldsters feel differently. Our 20-month-old daughter was fascinated by the snow this morning, and I find it brings back pleasant memories of winters past.

The arrival of winter follows a warmer-than-average fall in the Upper Midwest, which gave us sunny weather with highs in the 60’s until only a few days ago—well into November, that is. We also had a record run of frost-free weather. From March 26 to November 10—229 days—the Twin Cities did not have a “killer frost?? of 28 degrees or lower. The average number of frost-free days is 185.

Most of the plants in our small garden had already perished before November 10 because of occasional temperatures around freezing. However, one group of purple-flowered plants, which I was told are false hollyhocks, were still thriving. The carrots were still looking healthy as well, and the clematis was hanging on. Now even those plants will be done in by the weather.

For those of you who want advice on how to keep warm this winter, see two of my columns from last year, “Dressing for Winter,” Part 1 and Part 2. Also, stock up your vehicle with winter safety gear. In his book Restless Skies, Paul Douglas, my weather guru, recommends the following in your car:

• shovel
• first aid kit
• nonperishable food with can opener, if necessary
• flashlight with extra batteries
• candles and matches
• extra clothing, boots, sleeping bags, and/or blankets
• tire chains
• battery-operated radio with batteries
• empty coffee can to burn the candles or melt snow for water
• booster cables
• charged cell phone

If that’s not enough, another source recommends including road flares, a tow cable, sand, salt mix, a knife, and paper towels. AAA and other vendors sell winter travel kits. I’ve never carried anywhere near that much in my car, but I’ll try to be better prepared this year.

Finally, to remind us to respect Old Man Winter, here’s a tidbit from Mr. Douglas: extreme cold presents a greater danger, on average, than do lighting or extreme heat. The odds of being killed by extreme cold are 1 in 6,165, whereas the odds of being killed by extreme heat are 1 in 12,310 and 1 in 30,000 for lightning (Star Tribune, September 11, 2005). (The odds of dying from cold weather must be a lot higher in the Upper Midwest.) About 700 Americans die of hypothermia, or extreme cold, each year.

But I don’t mean to scare you away from winter. Really. See you out on the ski trails and sledding hills.

Because my parents have a lake cabin in northern Wisconsin, I’ve been very aware of the recent rapid growth in development and property values in the Upper Midwest’s north woods. Where once our small lake had large stretches of farmland or undeveloped forest around it, it’s now ringed almost entirely by lots with houses. And the new houses are not the old three-season cabins like ours. They’re usually large and very expensive homes. Property taxes have also gone up considerably as the value of the land increases, making it difficult for many property owners to pay their taxes—a fact that my father and uncle have repeated to me many times over.

In October the Star Tribune published “Land Rush,??? a series of articles on changes such as these in northern Minnesota. The series highlights a number of concerns, including the development or sale of forest that has long been owned and managed for timber production by private companies; the demand for homes in the region (often vacation homes); and the rapid escalation of property values and property taxes, which have driven many long-time residents out of their homes.

It’s clear to me that these changes are fueled by the tremendous wealth generated in our society among the upper class. Many people have a lot of money to spend, and they want a vacation or retirement home on a lake or in the woods. I can’t criticize them for wanting such a home, particularly since my family has enjoyed the cabin that my own grandfather, father, and uncle built fifty years ago.

But what seems different now is the pace and scale of change. There are more people in the region now and greater pressures on the environment. Technology also allows development and construction to occur at a faster pace, and it increases the demands each individual makes on the environment.

For these reasons, the newspaper’s concluding editorial for the series, published November 6, seems to strike the right balance: change is inevitable, but it should occur in ways that protect the natural environment that drew people to the region in the first place. Both the editorial and an opinion piece published the same day point to one positive response to the changes up north: creation of the Minnesota Forest Legacy Partnership, a public-private partnership designed to preserve forests.

I welcome the Star Tribune’s focus on these issues, and I hope that it leads to additional measures that protect the north woods.

(See also a map of the region discussed in “Land Rush.” [It takes quite a while to load in the browser.])