Sounder

In retrospect, looking back at SOUNDER...there was a lot going on... both in a public, AND in a Private sense for me, at least, in relation to SOUNDER. To the best of my recollection...It had a theatrical release in NOV.1971. However... I didn't get around to seeing it until Februrary '72. My 1st wife left me just before New Year's '72. So... ALL movies that I saw in early 1972, I don't seem to remember very well. SOUNDER was in that group. Saw it for the second time just hours ago. Sorry I waited so long!

Here is something I would wager most of you can relate to: For a film that was shown in theaters in late '71 and early '72, SOUNDER was QUITE unique. It was WAY ahead of its time.

Compare SOUNDER's somber tone and subject matter, its very deliberate pacing and mood to other films with a predominately Afro-American cast from that time frame. Notice any difference? No BLACKxploitation here! SOUNDER is completely character-driven! This is undoubtedly why a lot of people seem to define it as "Slow".

Sadly lacking on the NF-DVD of SOUNDER, from which I viewed This film, were any special features, whatsoever! Just the movie and the trailer... That's it! I really yearned for background info!

Set in rural Louisiana in 1933, perhaps the worst year of the Great Depression, Paul Winfield and Cicely Tyson both shone in career-defining roles. Winfield, as the father, short on education but long on character, strength and spirit, who is sent off to an undisclosed prison for a year for his first criminal offense... Stealing a ham to feed his starving family; Tyson, as the dutiful, solid-as-a-rock, stand-by-her-man wife and mother. My hat is off to Ms. Tyson. Despite being considered something of a black sex symbol at the time of filming, she accepted a role which required a very scruffy and unflattering, no make-up look! And what a fine job she does! My Rating: A resounding 10*************

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.

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.

I'd never heard of this title... but recorded it because of Cicely Tyson and Paul Winfield being among the cast. When I finally got around to watching it I was delighted to see that it was set in Louisiana (where I hail from) back in 1933. I wondered to myself if I'd see any familiar sites? I did! I went to elementary school a very short distance from the courthouse (which was shown a couple of times).

I won't give away any of the plot... but it is a gripping tale of sharecropper's family... focusing on the eldest son, in particular. Much of it is difficult to watch, because of the unfairness of the era... but we must remember these things as not to repeat them.

Ultimately, I was moved emotionally... and there's also a fair amount of luscious cinematography to savor... along with some occasional kernels of humor... as well as some very hopeful lessons.

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)