There was beautiful photography but not enough, especially to establish where we were -- mountains, "Southern" mountains? Up the mountain? Which mountain? What railroad? What river? They kept referencing Asheville in the dialogue. I don't think a viewer could tell much about anything without that one reference. Besides, this part of the Southern Appalachians known as the Blue Ridge is famous for its rich and varied gemstones and minerals, even today. The incredible coal veins are found in western Virginia and Kentucky.
Unfortunately, there are a number of inconsistencies. The accents are pretty strongly Tennessee. Emmy did a great job of following the dialect coach but the twang was too strong, the nasality maybe not strong enough, and the diphthongs too broad and even. The music director made it clear that he thought there were "African-American" influences in mountain music. There are not. He got a lot of it right, but he didn't know what to call "Old Time" music (that's what it's called by outlanders) and called clogging flat-foot dancing. But he got a lot else about the music right. The ending 'flip' of ballad phrases is too strong in most of the songs. One singer got it exactly right -- Bobby McMillon, who was the second to sing part of the Conversation with Death. And what's this with Dolly Parton? In the DVD, she's proud to have been a part of it, but she's not in the credits, but she is the soundtrack listing. I'm confused.
I have questions! As far as I was concerned, this could have been a documentary about the music. Why invent a woman to take the part of the collector? Even Greenwald admits this is a fantasy at that time. Forcing an Edison cylinder maker and all the paraphernalia that goes with it into the story is, well, deeply forced and unbelievable. Why add a lesbian romance? If there were such a thing, it would have been hidden so deep the subplot police could never have found it. The panther story about shedding of clothes -- true. They're all but extinct now. Moonshine? True, I've tasted some in Hot Springs. (Raw tasting and it burns!) But it doesn't come out the still like tap water as shown in the scene. The romance that developed between Tom and Lily is totally unbelievable within the scope of the story. The rich coal mine owner and his stooge would never have offered to buy land because there is no coal to mine. They cut out part Taj Mahal's playing. Black people were a rarity in the mountains and they took this chance to illustrate that, so why cut it short? (I guess they had to cut something.) Did you notice the mailman? Do you really believe that some poor mail carrier trudged up the mountain to deliver mail? If they wanted the mail, they went down to the post office to get it, or it didn't get got -- at least until Rural Free Delivery (RFD) was implemented.
The hardest part of all to accept was that nowhere in this film did they find time for even one complete ballad. But I still enjoyed this film because it means well and it gets a lot of what of it started out to do right, though it veers off track a good bit. I had relatives in Weaverville and Leicester and attended school at Mars Hill College in Madison County, the site of the 'discovery' of many of the songs. One of my teachers used to tell us stories of John Jacob Niles.
Unfortunately, there are a number of inconsistencies. The accents are pretty strongly Tennessee. Emmy did a great job of following the dialect coach but the twang was too strong, the nasality maybe not strong enough, and the diphthongs too broad and even. The music director made it clear that he thought there were "African-American" influences in mountain music. There are not. He got a lot of it right, but he didn't know what to call "Old Time" music (that's what it's called by outlanders) and called clogging flat-foot dancing. But he got a lot else about the music right. The ending 'flip' of ballad phrases is too strong in most of the songs. One singer got it exactly right -- Bobby McMillon, who was the second to sing part of the Conversation with Death. And what's this with Dolly Parton? In the DVD, she's proud to have been a part of it, but she's not in the credits, but she is the soundtrack listing. I'm confused.
I have questions! As far as I was concerned, this could have been a documentary about the music. Why invent a woman to take the part of the collector? Even Greenwald admits this is a fantasy at that time. Forcing an Edison cylinder maker and all the paraphernalia that goes with it into the story is, well, deeply forced and unbelievable. Why add a lesbian romance? If there were such a thing, it would have been hidden so deep the subplot police could never have found it. The panther story about shedding of clothes -- true. They're all but extinct now. Moonshine? True, I've tasted some in Hot Springs. (Raw tasting and it burns!) But it doesn't come out the still like tap water as shown in the scene. The romance that developed between Tom and Lily is totally unbelievable within the scope of the story. The rich coal mine owner and his stooge would never have offered to buy land because there is no coal to mine. They cut out part Taj Mahal's playing. Black people were a rarity in the mountains and they took this chance to illustrate that, so why cut it short? (I guess they had to cut something.) Did you notice the mailman? Do you really believe that some poor mail carrier trudged up the mountain to deliver mail? If they wanted the mail, they went down to the post office to get it, or it didn't get got -- at least until Rural Free Delivery (RFD) was implemented.
The hardest part of all to accept was that nowhere in this film did they find time for even one complete ballad. But I still enjoyed this film because it means well and it gets a lot of what of it started out to do right, though it veers off track a good bit. I had relatives in Weaverville and Leicester and attended school at Mars Hill College in Madison County, the site of the 'discovery' of many of the songs. One of my teachers used to tell us stories of John Jacob Niles.