Down from the Mountain

Unfortunately, I missed the actual concert at the Ryman, despite the fact that I live in Nashville. My young son is a Coen Brothers fanatic, I always found their work to be slightly off target with respect to my own tastes.

That was, until, I saw "O Brother..." which I saw several times. When "Down from the Mountain" was shown here in Nashville I also visited it several times.

What music is shown is excellent, I'm a big fan of watching music being created-- I believe that seeing the performers interact adds a depth of understanding of the music. Unfortunately, not every song presented during the concert is in the film, but what's there was very satisfying.

It looked like the film was shot on Digital Beta, or some video format and then transferred to film. As such, it looked a little flat, but the photography itself and the sound recording were both beyond reproach. I'm hoping when I get the DVD release of this film that they've skipped the film transfer and given me the pure video version.

I am watching this on DVD for the 5th time. I usually don't watch movies over and over again in a stretch, but this is a video album. This is down to earth video, introducing stars as people who become stars on stage but a bunch of talented people who give you a feeling they are you next door neighbors, approachable. The music is superb!

I just feel there should have been more music on this though, but heck, it is great. Perhaps we can get more stuff like this. I like listening to CDs but I do like being brought close to the show, which is possible with todays set ups.

Concert movie focussing on the `bluegrass' songs of the Coens film `O Brother Where Art Thou?' EmmyLou Harris and other perform in a feast of music that washes over you from start to finish. Sadly it doesn't include the main song that George Clooney lip-synched too. At the Edinburgh film festival, where the movie got its international premiere, legendary music documentary maker D.A. Pennebaker (Don't Look Back) explained that they had tried to get the guy to sing it about six times but he always sang different words; as a `definitive' version had already been released on the `O Brother' soundtrack, they decided, after talking to the Coens, that the number should be dropped from `Down from the Mountain.'

It's almost impossible to describe the colourful quality of this film, not because it has or lacks special merit in the normal measures of cinema, nor should it be so evaluated, but because it comes out of nowhere to reach parts of you that you don't expect a movie to reach.

Co-incidentally, last June I drove to Charlottesville, VA to visit Monticello and see UVA. On that evening I stumbled into a performance of Gillian Welch and David Rawlings at a local brewpub and had a very similar experience to that of the film. The music was just so good that it almost brought tears to my eyes. Like the firsthand joy of getting a glimpse into the souls of Welch and Rawlings, the footage of Down from the Mountain, especially the unpretentious commentary and dialogue between the performers, both onstage and behind the curtains, revealed their genuinely good nature. This greatly enhanced the earthy loveliness of some brilliant bluegrass.

I would love to have been at this stunning concert, but sadly was not. Having missed it, I can perhaps take some comfort in the film's additional insights and experience that the live audience did not have. The camera work backstage might not win an Oscar, but accomplished much in capturing some of the character of its subjects. This added dimensions of warmth and appreciation to their performances which would be difficult to imagine that the audience could have shared.

This is a film for music aficionados, not cinema buffs. Doubtless a film critic could find some artistic merit in the work, but it seems much safer to simply wholeheartedly recommend it as pure musical ecstasy.

I wonder if the reviewers are still around who wrote of this concert in 2000, before 9/11, and since that tragic event if their reviews still stand. I suspect they will look at this fine effort in a different light now, and love it more. It's like looking back at innocent children before bad things happened. Although the film, Oh Brother, Where are Thou, is a favorite of mine I missed this special and didn't discover it until Netflix instant downloads became available. I have been watching it three or four times a week since I discovered it. I was shocked to find out it was done in 2000, 11 years ago. I love hearing the family's, The Cox's, the White's and of course the little Pesall sisters, who I imagine have grown and look a lot different now. I haven't Googled any of the talent in this concert because I was afraid of what I might find. Alison Krauss and Emmy Lou Harris are perfect. The Fairfield Four opened the show and Ralph Stanley closes it but the between part has purest blues and blue grass I have ever heard. That Welch/Rawlings are quit the pair. I will probably spoil this by watching it too many times but I just can't stop.