Down from the Mountain

Colour, 35 mm
USA, 2000, 98 min
Section: A Musical Odyssey

Synopsis

The Coen brothers’ film O Brother Where Art Thou? possibly had a much greater reception in music circles than among audiences and film critics. The turn-of-the-century American rural music which accompanies the film also did extremely well at the Grammies, winning five awards and being named Discovery of the Year for 2001. A concert tour followed the film’s release, featuring live performances by the musicians involved in the Coen brothers’ film, remarkable purveyors of blues, country, gospel and “old-timey music”, as American wind band music is known. This classic music documentary by D. A. Pennebaker captures the finest hour for various true musical families – in concert with experienced veterans of the spiritual, plus a new generation performing its own version of bluegrass and ballads. For audiences used to stylised, almost theatrical country and western, the film offers a surprising look at civil, unostentatious music and its makers. The film also features the Coen brothers and actress Holly Hunter.

About the director

D. A. Pennebaker is one of the greatest classics of the music documentary and cinema verité. He captured Bob Dylan on his first “electric” tour (Don’t Look Back, 1967), he recorded Jimi Hendrix in concert (1967), David Bowie in the role of Ziggy Stardust (1972), and he has made documentaries on Branford Marsalis, Jerry Lee Lewis, and also presidential campaigns in the USA.

Film editor and co-scriptwriter Chris Hegedus has been working with Pennebaker since 1967, cameraman Nick Doob since 1983.