Sounder

This is a great movie. It's what you call a slice of life, and the life that's investigated is that of a desperately poor, horribly downtrodden African-American family in Depression-era Louisiana. Love it for what it is.

When I was watching this in the movie theatre for the first time in 1972, I was seated with my other high school friends behind 3 rows of a Southern Baptist Sunday School class, that was amply chaperoned by about 2 adults for every 5 children. Near the beginning of the film, as the family and Ike are passing a clapboard church that has a white congregation, David asks his father why black and white people go to different churches when God is the same God to everyone.

Ike pipes up and says once, when he was in another town, he accidentally stumbled into a white church on a Sunday morning, and was lucky to get out alive. So he asked God, "why did fellow Christians practically try to kill me just for coming to worship You with them?" And God replied to Ike, "Son, at least you got INSIDE a white church - I've been trying to do that for 2000 years!!" And with that, the entire 3 rows of Southern Baptist Sunday School, children and adults, stood up and walked out of the theatre! The truth hurts. This is a truthful beautiful movie. So glad I stumbled upon it today - just as Nathan Lee was coming home. Sigh.

For the breathtaking cinematography alone, this film is one not to be missed. It is surprising that such a simple film could have one's eyes glued to the screen for its entire duration. The father of a sharecropper family during the Great Depression in Louisiana steals food for his family in desperation and is sent to jail. The local law enforcement officers refuse to allow his wife to visit him and then, when he is sent away to a work camp, they will not disclose its name to his family. Finally, however, a sympathetic woman finds out and the eldest son goes on a journey to find his father. At the end of his travels, he meets a beautiful, kind, and learned school teacher who asks him to return in the fall to attend school. Excellent performances by all. (10 out of 10)

In 1969 William H. Armstrong, a white 9th grade history teacher at Kent School in Connecticut, published 'Sounder', a short but deeply moving children's novel about the struggles of black sharecroppers in Louisiana during the depths of the Great Depression. Instantly recognized as a classic, 'Sounder' was awarded the John Newberry Medal and the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award in 1970. The book also attracted the attention of Martin Ritt, the once-blacklisted producer-director of 'Hud', 'The Molly Maguires', 'The Great White Hope' and a host of other socially committed movies. Ritt recognized that 'Sounder' transcended its coming-of-age theme by providing a powerful depiction of the Jim Crow South at its most oppressive: a part of history that had never been adequately represented in American cinema (though the story of white poverty in the Great Depression had been told in John Ford's 'The Grapes of Wrath', 1939). Ritt bought the film rights, sold Fox producer Robert B. Radnitz on the project, and hired African-American screenwriter Lonne Elder III to work with Armstrong in adapting 'Sounder' to the screen. Shot on location in East Feliciana and St. Helena parishes (just north of Baton Rouge), 'Sounder' stars Paul Winfield as Nathan Lee Morgan, Cicely Tyson as his wife, Rebecca Morgan, and Kevin Hooks as David Lee Morgan, their 13-year-old son who must assume the role of paterfamilias after his father is sentenced to a year in a work camp for stealing a ham to feed his starving family. (The title of book and film derive from the name of David's beloved dog, Sounder.) Beautifully photographed by John Alonzo ('Vanishing Point'; 'Harold and Maude'), 'Sounder' boasts a pitch-perfect script that avoids bathos; terrific acting; a great period blues soundtrack by Taj Mahal (who also has a small role in the film); and an uplifting message of black pride, determination, and endurance. Nominated for a Golden Globe and four Academy Awards (including Best Picture), 'Sounder' garnered excellent reviews—although some critics found the film too safely "liberal" because it was a family-oriented period piece. VHS (1998) and DVD (2002).

Tale of a sharecropping family in 1933 Louisiana and what happens when the father (Paul Winfield) is sent to jail for stealing food to feed his family. It also deals with the oldest son (Kevin Hooks) coming of age. Sounder, BTW, is the name of the family dog.

Quiet, slow but ultimately very moving tale of a poor black family in the 1930s. There's some beautiful shots here (it was shot on location in Louisiana) and very little dialogue and only occasional music. I must admit I was getting a little bored at first--I wanted the story to MOVE! But the film slowly grew on me and, after half an hour, I was hooked. The images tell the story along with some very moving Oscar-nominated performances by Winfield and Cicely Tyson (as his wife). Even young Hooks (who was only 14 when this was done) is quite good. The film slowly works on you and, by the end, I was crying my eyes out--But don't worry--it DOES have a very happy ending.

This was a HUGE hit in 1972. It was one of the few G-rated films dealing with a black family. Unlike most other 1970s black films it had no drugs, violence, sex or swearing--this was a true rarity back then. And white, black, young and old audiences loved it. It works on all levels. It was also nominated for Best Picture. It didn't win anything but the fact that it was nominated was enough. The cast went through hell making it. I remember, in an interview, Winfield said it was brutally hot during the whole shot, the cast was eaten alive by mosquitoes and he caught a TERRIBLE case of hay fever from all the pollen. It's to this whole casts credit that they all give out good performances. Sadly...this film has been forgotten. That's too bad...it should be rediscovered.

There was a sequel 3 years later (with a different cast). It was "Sounder Part 2" but it seems nobody has ever seen it. But don't miss this one. A perfect family film.

A gentle film about a poor African-American family in rural Louisiana in the 1930's, and the hard life they face. It's just a little too quiet and squeaky-clean in its dialogue and "feel good" moments for me to truly love, but on the other hand, there are moments of real darkness, and the film is touching in its message of perseverance and the hope for its characters to overcome a deck stacked against them. The film should also be given a lot of credit for its content and cast in 1972 - just compare it to other film depictions of African-Americans in this period.

The intimidating malevolence of the white ruling class is felt in cruel ways, such as shooting at a dog(?!) and not telling the family where their father has been sent after he steals some food ala Jean Valjean. It's also felt in ways that are silently menacing, such as facing stern, judgmental eyes as they constantly struggle to make ends meet because of the unfair sharecropping agreement, and when the boy simply glances at a giant house while on a walk far from his own home, one of my favorite moments in the film. The other is when a couple of different teachers give him books to read, the only shred of a hope to rise in socioeconomic class. I only wish the film had a little more edge to it, which apparently the book does.

Quote: Ike (recounting a time when he accidentally went into a white church): "...I went home and did me some praying to the Lord. I said, Lord, I went into this white church down in Row (County) and all I want you to tell me is how I ever got outta there in one piece." Nathan Lee: "What did the Lord tell you, Ike?" Ike: "He said, I don't know, Ike - you doin' better'n me, I been tryin' to get in there for 200 years and ain't make it yet!"