The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman

This was an incredible film. Kudos to all involved. Incredible performances and the story is very touching.

Particularly powerful to me as I am a white male, 35 years old, adopted by African Americans when just month's old, who were my babysitters when my real parent's decided to skip out on me. They were already of age at the time and my mom is still kicking at 80. She has had plenty of stories to share with me from her own experiences as well as her parents and family. The details from family events and stories with those portrayed in the film show incredible similarity.

See this film, you will not regret it.

This was a made for TV movie based on the Jane Pittman novels. Despite playing as if Miss Jane was a real person who lived to be 110, I can assure you that it is indeed fiction. However, like Forrest Gump, Miss Jane was a fictional character who was woven into the real American events that defined the Black-American experience for the first hundred years after emancipation. Unlike Gump, this movie has much more significance and poignancy--making it an exceptional film to illustrate history and social change to subsequent generations.

The film begins with a White reporter coming to see Miss Jane and learn about her long and interesting life. This is set against the backdrop of the coming of the Freedom Marchers into the rural South--as several around Miss Jane have been jailed or worse for demanding equality. Miss Jane's recollections begin shortly before the end of the Civil War and demonstrate how this struggle and yearning for rights is not new, but part of a long and gut-wrenching process that has taken her entire life.

The film deserves great praise on so many levels. The novels and script are simply superb writing. Cicely Tyson did an incredibly job playing both a younger Miss Jane and a hundred year-plus character as well. To make all this possible, makeup and prosthetics were used that even today would be admirable. And the direction, music, supporting acting all come together to make a beautiful and very touching film.

About the only negatives I can think of are that the film was too short and I would have preferred to see it as a mini-series--it was THAT good! Also, the problems and race relations talked about in the film are rather superficial due to these time constraints. Many characters aren't well hashed out because there is only so much you can say in 150 minutes about a time period spanning 100 years. Despite these minor problems, see this film--it's a must for anyone wanting to see great film making as well as learn how far we have traveled. Plus, it does pack a mighty powerful punch.

Over thirty years have passed since I first watched 'Jane Pittman' on a small, black & white TV. There have been but a handful of viewing experiences that have stayed with me this strongly and vividly (and always will, I guess). Cicely Tyson's performance is strongly, clearly, heartfully drawn, ranking, in my opinion, in the very exclusive company of performances like Meryl Streep's Sophie in "Sophie's Choice". It's far easier for a mammoth mini-series to impart a permanent impression: this performance, and this artfully crafted story, did so in a scant two hours, introducing me to a character who became real and moving for me - - to this day.

A landmark in American television film; perhaps a landmark in American film, period. Cicely Tyson heartily deserved both Emmys she won for this role, and deserved some more awards as well. This is the story of a hundred and ten year old woman, who was a former slave, and who recounts her life to a young white journalist in the year 1962. This film authentically recounts U.S. history from the the end of the Civil War, Reconstruction, the turn of the century, and up to the Civil Rights period of the 1960s. Miss Pittman's walk to the fountain is a great scene, and welled up some tears in my eyes. Fascinating throughout,a must see for all.

The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman is a powerful story. Miss Jane's story of the 110 years of her life is incredible. How anyone could survive the horrors that she endured from slavery to freedom to carpetbaggers to even seeing the Civil Rights movement is almost unfathomable. The sad thing is that much never really changes for blacks over the 110 years even though they are free. Discrimination, lynching and the Ku Klux Klan are part of daily life.

Miss Jane never realizes her dream of reaching Ohio (the North). She loses everyone precious to her, her foster mother, Big Laura, her son, her husband, her godson. The only time she was really truly happy was during her brief marriage to Joe Pittman, a cowboy who's killed by an albino 'devil' horse. Yet, one wonders if her actions didn't cause Joe's death. She sharecrops and does what she needs to do to survive. Miss Jane remains a feisty admirable old woman to the end.

The scene at the water fountain where Miss Jane dares the rednecks to try and stop her from drinking from the 'White's Only' fountain is so powerful. The expressions on the actors' faces white and black are so real.

Cicely Tyson does an excellent job playing a 110 year old woman. In fact it's hard to believe that she is not an old woman. This film is far shorter than Roots and in my opinion should be required viewing for all American High School students.