Sprout Wings and Fly (1983) User Reviews

Les Blank short film about bluegrass in the Appalachians

[nhlgumby · 8/10 · 9 January 2006]

I love this film. When I watched it, I simply couldn't believe that bluegrass was that enjoyable. This film, set in the North Carolina Appalachians, honors the fiddle playing an 82-year-old Tommy Jarrel and the time honored tradition of whiskey and folk music. Filled to the brim with stories, small towns, good friends, and did any one say bluegrass?, "Sprout Wings and Fly" is a reminisce of heritage that stretches living memory back to the Civil War. But these aren't from the minds of the immobile. These people are full of energy, enough to start dancing at the drop of a tune and who won't stop until the last one's done. Of course a little drinking can't hurt to keep the music going too; and if you listen carefully, you'll even learn the true secret behind good alcohol. This film covers everything that is good and right with these people. They have a vigor for life and a lineage that forms the roots of America's culture. With music, family, and some drink to keep things kicking, what more could you want?

It's not Bluegrass, it's Old-Time Music!

[david-3743 · 10/10 · 26 July 2007]

Scott, the reason that you like this music is not because it's bluegrass, it's because it's Old-Time Music. Old-Time was the communal, front porch music that was popular between the Revolutionary and Civil Wars. By the advent of the 1900s, only a few rural musicians persisted in playing "the old way". Bluegrass actually corrupted old-time music, converting it into more of a performance art and feeding egos with solos. Luckily, Old-Time Music lovers in the 1970s and 1980s were able to visit legendary fiddlers like Tommy Jarrell of Toast, NC, who opened his home to whoever wanted to come and learn his style of fiddling. Les Blank's wonderful film paints a portrait of Tommy and his family, and many of the young musicians who visited him and became his friend. Tommy was quirky, gregarious and generous, and this film shows him at his best, in fine fiddling form.

Nice music, but the rest is uninteresting

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 24 August 2015]

"Sprout Wings and Fly" is a half-hour documentary about famous American fiddler Tommy Jarrell from over 30 years ago. I have to say, from the audible standpoint this is certainly a success and I enjoyed watching Jarrell fiddle. He was already in his 80s when this was made, shortly before his death. However, the contents here are just too specific to appeal to wide audiences. That is not necessarily a negative criticism though. It's just the late filmmaker Les Blanc's general approach to movies. His works always have a huge regional influence and even if he may not be among the most known directors out there, he probably is among the most American ones. I think this documentary (good it only runs for half an hour, would have really dragged a lot at 90 minutes) here may be particularly interesting to friends and family of the people depicted in here, especially Jarrell and to townsfolk living in the North Carolina countryside. But that's pretty much it. If the above descriptions do not fit you, I cannot recommend it, unless you really love country/fiddle music.