Cheap Songcatcher (DVD) (Janet McTeer, Michael Harding (III)) (Maggie Greenwald) Price

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Customer Reviews of Songcatcher

One of the major plusses of this movie is the way the set design and cinematography contributes to the story. In one key scene shot inside a cabin, the crude conditions are clearly shown by the daylight winking through the walls. The plight of the characters' living conditions is certainly obvious in the story, but that cabin told the rest of the story. In another scene, several people are dancing outdoors and the camera is positioned so that the viewer seems to be standing in the crowd. The scene develops as all but two of the characters dance and the movement of the camera around the dancers to a high angle shot from the trees stretches and isolates the scene so that the dancers are shown to be some distance from the two non-dancers. This shot establishes not so much a rift between the characters, but a separation.

This film is very similar to Donald Davidson's novel, The Big Ballad Jamboree (University Press of Mississippi), and I strongly recommend both the movie and the book to everyone wanting to enjoy the richness of true "hillbilly" life and music.

Music to your ears.
Set in 1907 a struggling musicologist fights against male dominated academia but ultimately finds gold in the the Appalachian mountains when she visits her sister and gets caught up in the spell binding whirlwind of mountain music. Iris Dement has a short cameo as well as Taj Mahal which affords the discerning listener earthy cries and a true-bluesy guitar not lost in electronic jungle of equalizers and amplifiers. The music will dwell in your chest for long after you hear it and for some it will be a sweet reminder of a distant home. This movie won a Sundance award for ensemble cast but unfortunately due to one of the side elements of the story it did not come to the greatness that O Brother, Where Art Thou? did. The best moment was found in the duality that life always reeks of: The pseudoprude Penleric informs her younger sister that her less-than-perfect ways are a detriment to the new found school--to say nothing of the Penleric's rompus room cover up she left back at the university amidst all those impressionable young minds. Oh, death . . .

A FILM TO BE TREASURED...
This is a beautiful and unusual film, made even more so by its joyous celebration of folk music. Beautifully nuanced, well paced, and highly absorbing, this haunting film is an absolute gem. It is no wonder that it won the 2000 Sundance Film Festival Special Jury Award for Outstanding Ensemble Performance. The performances in this film are simply stellar and worthy of recognition.

The year is 1907, and the highly independent and intelligent Dr. Lily Penleric (Janet McTeer), a noted musicologist, has once again been passed over for promotion by the college at which she teaches. Angry, she decides to pull up stakes and go and visit her sister, Elna (Jane Adams), who is one of two women teaching at a settlement school in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina.

When Janet arrives, she hears one of her sister's helpers. Deladis (Emma Rossum), singing an old folk song that she recognizes. It is being sung in a way that she has never before heard it sung. Upon discovering that the song was handed down generationally in this insular community, she realizes that she may actually be hearing the song as it may originally have been intended to be sung. Excited by her discovery, she sets about capturing as many songs as she can from these fiercely proud, mountain people. In effect, she is memorializing a rich, oral, musical history.

Her project takes Janet on a voyage of self-discovery, both personal and professional. Along the way, she becomes immersed in the the lives and traditions of these mountain people, realizing what an integral part music plays in their lives. While poor in terms of creature comforts and leading a harsh, hardscrabble sort of life, these mountain folks have a culturally rich, oral tradition and are a veritable treasure trove of old songs.

While catching the music and lyrics of these old songs for posterity and wider appreciation, notating her discovery of these songs for a book that she hopes to write, Dr. Penleric makes the acquaintance of a number of mountain men and women, including a tough old bird, Viney Butler (Pat Carroll). This leads to meeting with her suspicious but intelligent, talented, and good looking grandson, Tom Bledsoe (Aidan Quinn), with whom she ultimately developes a passionate relationship that correlates nicely to her passion for music.

A number of other subplots are woven throughout this film. One involves her sister, Elna, who becomes involved with a love that dare not speak its name. There is also a love triangle between two of the mountain woman and the husband of one of them. Young love and coming of age is also a theme touched upon. Meanwhile, a mining company seeks to buy out the land from under these people for a mere pittance. All of these subplots serve to illustrate the often harsh reality of life in the mountains. The only problem that I found was with the subplot involving Elna and her lover, Harriet, in terms of the complacency that surrounds what ultimately happens to Harriet. It was a most disturbing resolution that did not ring altogether true. Still, the overall strength of the film is such that it overcomes this, overall.

Janet McTeer gives a no nonsense performance, and the way that the music seems to transfix and transform her is a joy to behold. Jane Adams, as the sister who is having a same sex love affair, gives an exquisitely beautiful and sensitive performance, as does E. Katherine Kerr in the role of Harriet, the settlement school teacher with whom she is involved. Aidan Quinn gives an intelligent and thoughtful performance as a mountain man who has been to the outside world and found it wanting. Pat Carroll is sensational as Viney Butler, the mountain woman who takes the vicissitudes of life in stride and wears many hats: mother, grandmother, midwife, musician, singer, and oral historian. Emma Rossum, however, is positively radiant as the young, fresh faced, mountain lass with a smile and voice that will tear your heart apart. She is a wonderful, young performer with operatic training and the ability to sing like Dolly Parton. What a find!

Cameo appearances by Taj Mahal, Iris Dement, and others serve to further enrich this film. The music and songs are played and sung live, which makes them resonate with authenticity and adds a vibrancy that might otherwise be lost. The folk dancing is a joy to watch, as the mountain people gather aound for a jamboree. The film, shot on location, captures all the physical beauty of the terrain, as well as the rusticity and harshness of life in the mountains. This is simply a great film that is well worth having in one's personal collection.

All in all, it is a must have film for music lovers, as well as for those who simply enjoy a well made and beautifully acted film. Bravo!