Songcatcher

I bought it for my mother, not my sort of movie.Mom is happy with it, that’s all that matters.

Must see and add to personal collectionMasterpiece

Great movie!!

Enjoyed the story line and the music. Purchased a second one for a relative that plays the fiddle and they enjoyed the movie as well.

I happened to watch this movie several years ago and loved it. I decided to buy it now because I happened to see it on amazon. I love the characters and the music, which is the real star of this movie. The story is very basic. There are oddities, such as the main woman character who is a PhD in music and teaches at a college in the early 1900s and then all of the "mountain people". Because I have always lived in Missouri with the Ozark Mountains and the stories in literature about these people, I am also fascinated with stories about the Appalachian Mountains and people. If for no other reason, you should see this movie for Pat Carroll's character. If you don't remember her, she was in many TV shows back in the 60s and 70s, including the movie "Cinderella" with Leslie Ann Warren as the title character. Pat was one of the stepsisters. She sings a really funny song called "Single Girl" to a woman who just had a baby and had a wandering husband. Great characters, beautiful setting, and wonderful music. Love it!

This wonderful movie takes place in the deep Appalachian mountains. It tells about the old ballad songs and how they got started by handing down from family members to the next generation. The countryside and music of the Appalachian mountains is absolutely beautiful! I highly recommend this movie for those that love old ballad songs!

Without question one of the best movies I’ve ever seen in my life! I’ve watched movies more days than I haven’t in my life so I should know a great one when I see it. This is a great one. Excellent casting, music, photography, I mean everything!!

There aren't many musical films that are successful, lately. This one works on many different levels. This year, the film version of "Phantom of the Opera" was released, and, arguably, the best thing about it was Emmy Rossum's performance."Songcatcher" features her film debut, and she sings wonderfully, though in a considerably different style.She definitely displays her future greatness. This is another film about misunderstood cultures, set in 1907. There are the expected "strange" characters, who endear themselves. Unlike other reviewers, I'm not going to blab away the plot. I must say that Janet McTeer was wonderful (haven't seen her lately); Aidan Quinn was solid, as were Jane Adams & E. Katherine Kerr and a powerfully snakey, evil delivery by David Patrick Kelly. The great Taj Mahal has a chance to show his stuff, especially on the DVD extras.The wonderful Iris de Ment also has a chance to shine. Musical director David Mansfield put this all in perspective, and since music controls this film, it's success is very much to his credit. My favorite element of the film was the appearance of Pat Carroll, hard as nails, sweet as sugar...as her own agenda required. A truly complex and well-layered performance. She was the best.Director Maggie Greenwald should be very proud, presenting a fine, entertaining film. I look forward to her future endeavors.

I haven’t watched this CD yet. But seen the move more than once and loved it. Wanted the CD to watch whenever. So glad you had it.

Un film qui retrace de manière très romancée les recherches de la musicologue américaine Olive Dame Campbell dans les états du sud des Appalaches au début du XXème siècle. On y croise furtivement le musicologue anglais Cecil James Sharp qui, à la même époque, effectuait des recherches similaires afin de retrouver des chansons traditionnelles britanniques oubliées.En effet, y compris lors de la guerre civile, les habitants de ces régions difficiles d'accès des monts Appalaches vivaient pratiquement en autarcie depuis l'établissement des premiers colons britanniques au XVIIIème siècle et avaient conservé leurs coutumes et demeuraient attachés au folklore de leurs ancêtres.Il était temps car la découverte de charbon dans ces régions à la fin du XIXème siècle et l’extension des mines au début du XXème siècle mit fin à cet isolement. Beaucoup de paysans/chasseurs pauvres quittèrent alors leur isolement montagnard et rejoignirent les villes minières pour y travailler et découvrir une misère plus citadine.Un film pour les amateurs de musique folk. On y voit l'excellente chanteuse de country/folk Iris DeMent.Remarque: à la suite de leurs recherches, Olive Dame Campbell et Cecil James Sharp ont édité en 1917 un catalogue (partitions et textes) de chants dont on peut trouver et acheter (sur AMAZON) un fac-similé sous le titre "English Folk Songs From The Southern Appalachians" édité chez "Kessinger Publishing".Attention: ce DVD zone 1 ne sera visible qu'avec un lecteur multi-zones.

It was in wrong country code, so i can't even watch it. This should be clearly explained before purchase can be finalised.

Dieser außergewöhnliche Film hat seinen ganz eigenen Reiz und wurde zurecht beim Sundance Film Festival ausgezeichnet. Eine Musikwissenschaftlerin (Janet McTeer)stößt zufällig in den Appalachian Mountains auf uralte irische und schottische Balladen, die von den Bergbewohnern in ihrer ganz eigenen Weise interpretiert werden. Durch ihre Hartnäckigkeit gewinnt sie schließlich Zugang zu den Einheimischen und kann die alten Überlieferungen dokumentieren. Während dessen verliebt sie sich in einen einheimischen Musiker (Aidan Quinn). Doch die Geschichte nimmt eine dramatische Wendung...

Janet McTeer followed her Oscar nomination in themovie 'Tumbleweeds' with this delightful tale (basedpartly on a true story) of a New England musicologistDr. Lily Penleric, who sets out to rescue the folk-music of the Appalachian mountains before it is alllost to the inexorable march of economic progress.She finds, in these hills, the descendants of thoseoriginal Irish & Scottish immigrants to colonise thearea. And in their geographical isolation, they havepreserved the European folk-music brought with them,centuries before, from their homeland. Lily realisesthat it's a race against time to rescue these songsfor posterity (on the primitive wax-roll recording-devices of the time - the turn of the 20th century)before they are lost forever. There is a certainurgency to her mission, due to the fast-creepingindustrialisation of the society and the steadyleaching of the population of the mountains downto the expanding cities, where steady work beckons.Lily gains the trust of the locals, and they agreeto let her record and transcribe their very personalmusic. She makes friends within the community, andeventually finds love, quite unexpectedly, afterwinning-over one of the natives who is initiallythe most resistant to her presence.This is a story about the passing of an era, andhas a message which is constant for all time: thatof preserving what's good from the past in the faceof innevitable social and economic 'progress', as,once it's gone, it's lost forever.Anyone who liked the George Clooney movie:'Oh Brother,Where Art Thou?' - made in the same year as this was(2000) will also like 'Songcatcher', for it's nobleattempt to resuscitate American folk-music andpopularise it for a modern audience.Mike