- Songcatcher
Infobox Film
name = Songcatcher
image_size =
caption = Theatrical release poster
director =Maggie Greenwald
producer = Richard Miller
writer =Maggie Greenwald
narrator =
starring =Janet McTeer Michael Davis Michael Goodwin
Jane AdamsE. Katherine Kerr Emmy Rossum Pat Carroll
music =David Mansfield
cinematography = Enrique Chediak
editing = Keith Reamer
distributor =Lions Gate Films
released =January 25 ,2000
runtime = 109 min
country = USA
language = English
budget = $1,800,000 (estimated)
gross = $3,050,934
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website = http://www.songcatcherthefilm.com/
amg_id = 1:187081
imdb_id = 0210299"Songcatcher" is a 2000
drama film, directed byMaggie Greenwald . It is about amusicologist researching and collecting Appalachian folk music in the mountains of westernNorth Carolina . Although "Songcatcher" is afiction al film, it is loosely based on the work ofOlive Dame Campbell , founder of theJohn C. Campbell Folk School inBrasstown ,North Carolina .Plot
Set in 1907, Dr. Lily Penleric (
Janet McTeer ), a professor of musicology, impulsively visits her sister Eleanor (Jane Adams), who runs a struggling rural school inAppalachia , following a denial in a promotion at the university where she teaches. There, she makes a discovery of her lifetime – a treasure trove of ancientScots-Irish /Ulster Scots ballad s, songs that have been handed down every generation, preserved intact by the seclusion of the mountains.With the goal of securing her promotion, Lily ventures into the most isolated areas of the mountains to collect the songs. She finds an orphan, Deladis Slocumb (Emmanuelle Rossum), and then finds herself increasingly enchanted - not only by the rugged purity of the music, but also by the raw courage and endurance of the local people as they carve out meaningful lives against the harshest conditions. But she is unable to help and becomes privy to the struggles to save their land from Earl Giddens, who is working for coal magnate Ambrose McFarland (Steve Boles).
Lily goes into the Gentries' farmhouse to witness iniquity where the people start to labor, Parley's wife Rose criticizes Earl Giddens (
David Patrick Kelly ) when he offers him a scant fifty cents an acre for his land.She, along with Deladis, attends a
garden party with Reverend Merriweather (Taylor Hayes ), Ambrose and his wife Clementine (Rhoda Griffis ), a local arts and crafts collector. Deladis is interested in collecting songs. Then, they dance together.She meets Tom Bledsoe (
Aidan Quinn ) - a handsome, hardened war veteran and talented musician - that she's forced to examine her motivations.Cyrus Whittle, a recently-hired professor from England, comes to the area on a collection foray of his own. Finally, Lily's tests and trials have been ended.
Cast
Trivia
* The minor character of Clementine McFarland resembles to that of
Jacqueline Kennedy , which was played byRhoda Griffis in her previous film "Love Field".Soundtrack
Infobox Album
Name = Songcatcher: Music from and Inspired by the Motion Picture
Type = Soundtrack
Artist = various artists
Cover size =
Released =January 23 ,2001
Recorded =
Genre = CountryFilm score
Length =
Label = Vanguard
Producer =David Mansfield
Reviews = *Allmusic Rating|4|5 [http://wc02.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:dpfixq80ldje link]
Last album =
This album =
Next album =The film's score was written by
David Mansfield , who also assembled a roster of femalecountry music artists to perform mostly traditional mountain ballads. Some of the songs are contemporary arrangements, and some are played in the traditional Appalachian music style. The artists includeRosanne Cash ,Emmylou Harris ,Maria McKee ,Dolly Parton ,Gillian Welch andPatty Loveless . SingersIris DeMent andHazel Dickens , who appeared in the film, are also featured on the soundtrack.The soundtrack album inspired the 2002 follow-up album by
Vanguard Records , "Songcatcher II: The Tradition That Inspired the Movie", that compiled recordings of some of the songs selected for the film as performed by authentic Appalachian artists. The recordings are mostly from the 1960s, out of the Vanguard vaults.Track listing
# "Fair and Tender Ladies" (Traditional, performed by
Rosanne Cash ) - 2:56
# "Pretty Saro" (Traditional, performed byIris DeMent ) - 2:54
# "When Love Is New" (Composed and performed byDolly Parton ) - 5:16
# "Barbara Allen" (Traditional, performed byEmmy Rossum ) - 0:43
# "Barbara Allen" (Traditional, performed byEmmylou Harris ) - 4:35
# "Moonshiner" (Traditional, performed byAllison Moorer ) - 3:34
# "Sounds of Loneliness" (Composed byPatty Ramey , [performed byPatty Loveless ) - 3:44
# "All My Tears" (Composed and performed byJulie Miller ) - 3:11
# "Mary of the Wild Moor" (Traditional, performed bySara Evans ) - 3:51
# "Wayfaring Stranger (Traditional,Maria McKee ) - 3:24
# "Wind and Rain" (Traditional, performed byGillian Welch andDavid Rawlings ) - 3:25
# "The Cuckoo Bird" (Traditional, performed byDeana Carler ) - 3:33
# "Score Suite # 1" (Composed byDavid Mansfield ) - 5:01
# "Conversation With Death" (Traditional, performed byHazel Dickens ) - 3:01
# "Score Suite # 2" (Composed byDavid Mansfield ) - 4:58
# "Single Girl" (Traditional, performed byPat Carrell ) - 1:04Further reading
* Scarborough, Dorothy (1937). "A Song Catcher in Southern Mountains: American Folk Songs of British Ancestry." New York, New York: Columbia University Press.
External links
*
* [http://worldfilm.about.com/library/weekly/aa080301a.htm About World Film: Don't See This Movie!]
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