An important and influential British documentary from the GPO Film Unit, Coal Face is, on the face of it, a straightforward document of the daily routine of miners and their contribution to British industry. But the film is elevated by inventive editing and sophisticated sound design of its Brazilian-born Director Alberto Cavalcanti, who had recently been recruited by GPO head John Grierson to bring creative flair to the Unit's films. The result is a striking example of early British documentary in which the relationship between sound and image is disrupted to dramatic effect. As with the GPO’s most famous film, Night Mail (1936), there are contributions to the narration and score from WH Auden and Benjamin Britten, respectively.
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