I saw this film at the Sunday Mornings at The Charles film series in Baltimore. It moved me more than any film I saw this last series. I have to admit I come from some Appalachian roots on my dad's side, but only knew of the harshness, as the music wasn't played in our home. Growing up in the DC/Baltimore area we were the logical place for Bluegrass and so-called "mountain music" to migrate, and I've heard it for most of my life. I started listening to it more intently after being influenced by the late Ralph Rinzler, acclaimed musicologist and creator of the Smithsonian Festival of American Folklife.
The film gets jump started by the knee-jerk reaction of an esteemed musicologist who was yet again turned down for tenure -- clearly based on her gender. Her life's work is the folk music of the British Isles and when her departure from academia takes her to her sister's school in western North Carolina she is immediately presented with "her" music in this "backwards" environment. Imagine her surprise. She then turns on her academic engines and decides to collect and publish this wondrous music of the Appalachians.
She is taken to "Songcatchers", or the people who are the preservers of this oral legacy, to learn the songs. It takes her some effort to win their trust, but she gets a recommendation from Pat Carroll's character which gets her through skeptical doors. It takes her a long time to be truly accepted into the community and finally as a "songcatcher" herself. There are about 20 songs performed and I felt they were the true foundation for the film. The drama is always invigorated by them.
Many reviews are critical of the stereotypical characters, but there actually were rich "do-gooders" who made public displays of "educating the mountain savages" and "evil" coal and lumber company operatives who swindled the illiterate landowners. This film's coal company character might seem oversimplified, but he also initiates the most riviting moment of the film when he starts singing "O Death", which is completed by the legendary Hazel Dickens. This moment brought tears to my eyes.
If I have a complaint about this film, it's a little too busy. It tries to deal with lesbianism, untrustworthy men, distrustful and violent mountain people, the harshness of the land and life, a male-dominated community and the music. A couple of these, perhaps the first two, could have been sacrificed to make the rest of the film stronger. This in no way makes the film weak, just that it has room to improve. The performances of Janet McTeer and Pat Carroll stand out, and Aiden Qiinn was good as the mountain man who "had seen the world". The musical performances of Emmy Rossum, Iris Dement and Hazel Dickens made my heart soar.
The film opens in Baltimore this week and I'll be there to see it again. The music is wonderful and worth the trip just for that. I only wish there was more of Emmy Rossum and the other music with that Appalachian "edge" on the soundtrack CD, as opposed to the more highly produced songs by more famous people, whose voices/characters did not appear in the film.
The film gets jump started by the knee-jerk reaction of an esteemed musicologist who was yet again turned down for tenure -- clearly based on her gender. Her life's work is the folk music of the British Isles and when her departure from academia takes her to her sister's school in western North Carolina she is immediately presented with "her" music in this "backwards" environment. Imagine her surprise. She then turns on her academic engines and decides to collect and publish this wondrous music of the Appalachians.
She is taken to "Songcatchers", or the people who are the preservers of this oral legacy, to learn the songs. It takes her some effort to win their trust, but she gets a recommendation from Pat Carroll's character which gets her through skeptical doors. It takes her a long time to be truly accepted into the community and finally as a "songcatcher" herself. There are about 20 songs performed and I felt they were the true foundation for the film. The drama is always invigorated by them.
Many reviews are critical of the stereotypical characters, but there actually were rich "do-gooders" who made public displays of "educating the mountain savages" and "evil" coal and lumber company operatives who swindled the illiterate landowners. This film's coal company character might seem oversimplified, but he also initiates the most riviting moment of the film when he starts singing "O Death", which is completed by the legendary Hazel Dickens. This moment brought tears to my eyes.
If I have a complaint about this film, it's a little too busy. It tries to deal with lesbianism, untrustworthy men, distrustful and violent mountain people, the harshness of the land and life, a male-dominated community and the music. A couple of these, perhaps the first two, could have been sacrificed to make the rest of the film stronger. This in no way makes the film weak, just that it has room to improve. The performances of Janet McTeer and Pat Carroll stand out, and Aiden Qiinn was good as the mountain man who "had seen the world". The musical performances of Emmy Rossum, Iris Dement and Hazel Dickens made my heart soar.
The film opens in Baltimore this week and I'll be there to see it again. The music is wonderful and worth the trip just for that. I only wish there was more of Emmy Rossum and the other music with that Appalachian "edge" on the soundtrack CD, as opposed to the more highly produced songs by more famous people, whose voices/characters did not appear in the film.