Songcatcher Movie Review 1999

Turn-of-the-century musicologist Dr. Lily Penleric (McTeer) heads for Appalachia in a huff after the all-male review board of the East Coast university where she teaches refuses to grant her tenure. She begins teaching at her sister Elna's (Adams) mountain school, harboring a superior attitude toward the rubes she's teaching. She discovers to her amazement that the songs the rustic people sing, dance and live to are barely altered from the time they were brought over from Europe. She rushes to record the native folk music, but meets resistance from local Tom (Quinn) who feels that if the hillbillies have something civilized folk want, they should be payed for it. Excellent performances and visuals throughout.

Distribution

CinemaNow, 4553 Glencoe Ave., Ste. 200, Marina Del Rey, CA 90292, URL: http://www.cinemanow.com, Remarks: Formerly known as Lions Gate Home Entertainment

Available on VHS, DVD
Running time 113 minutes.

Cast and Crew

Genres

Culture Clash

Screenplay

Maggie Greenwald

Cast

Janet McTeer, Aidan Quinn, Pat Carroll, Jane Adams, Emmy Rossum, Mike Harding, Iris DeMent, Greg Cook, David Patrick Kelly, E. Katherine Kerr, Taj Mahal, Muse Watson, Stephanie Ross

Cinematography

Enrique Chediak

Director

Maggie Greenwald

Music

David Mansfield