Songcatcher (2000)

After being denied a promotion at the university where she teaches, Doctor Lily Penleric, a brilliant musicologist, impulsively visits her sister, who runs a struggling rural school in ... See full summary »

Director:

Maggie Greenwald

Writer:

Maggie Greenwald

Stars:

Janet McTeer, Michael Davis, Michael Goodwin

5 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Janet McTeer	...	Professor Lily Penleric, PhD
Michael Davis	...	Dean Arthur Pembroke
Michael Goodwin	...	Professor Wallace Aldrich, PhD
Gregory Russell Cook	...	Fate Honeycutt
Jane Adams	...	Eleanor 'Elna' Penleric
E. Katherine Kerr	...	Harriet Tolliver
Emmy Rossum	...	Deladis Slocumb
Pat Carroll	...	Viney Butler
Stephanie Roth Haberle	...	Alice Kincaid
Aidan Quinn	...	Tom Bledsoe
Bart Hansard	...	Hilliard
Erin Blake Clanton	...	Polly
David Patrick Kelly	...	Earl Giddens
Kristin Hall	...	Isabel
Michael Harding	...	Reese Kincaid

Storyline

After being denied a promotion at the university where she teaches, Doctor Lily Penleric, a brilliant musicologist, impulsively visits her sister, who runs a struggling rural school in Appalachia. There she stumbles upon the discovery of her life - a treasure trove of ancient Scots-Irish ballads, songs that have been handed down from generation to generation, preserved intact by the seclusion of the mountains. With the goal of securing her promotion, Lily ventures into the most isolated areas of the mountains to collect the songs and finds herself increasingly enchanted - not only by the rugged purity of the music, but also by the raw courage and endurance of the local people as they carve out meaningful lives against the harshest conditions. It is not, however, until she meets Tom - a handsome, hardened war veteran and talented musician - that she's forced to examine her motivations. Is the "Songcatcher," as Tom insists, no better than the men who exploit the people and extort their ...

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Plot Keywords:

mountain | song | appalachia | university | musicologist | 

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Genres:

Drama | Music

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for sexual content and an intense scene of childbirth

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 March 2001 (Australia)

Also Known As:

Dallamok szárnyán

Filming Locations:

Asheville, North Carolina, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,800,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$41,967 (USA) (15 June 2001)

Gross:

$3,050,934 (USA) (7 September 2001)

Company Credits

Production Co:

ErgoArts, Rigas Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

109 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

Except for Dexter Speaks, when the other characters play banjo, we hear many more notes than they actually strum.

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Quotes

Viney Butler: Alice, you're gonna have to keep Reese away from you. Well, if you don't want butter, you gotta pull the dasher out in time.

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Crazy Credits

Thank you to the people of Western Mountains of North Carolina.

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Soundtracks

"Pickin' That Thang (Dr. Joe)"
Written and Performed by Taj Mahal
Published by Sony Music Publishing

User Reviews

Decent film that goes off track

This is for the most part an interesting film but the main problem is how the story seems to veer off track and not pay enough attention to what was interesting in the first place. Director and writer Maggie Greenwald later in the film interjects modern subplots that only serve the audience to rail against the obviousness of those ideas. The things that I liked about this film are the beautiful cinematography of the Appalachian mountains that really enhance the realistic quality of the film and of course the music. The music is the central ingredient in this story and the Scottish and Irish ballads add an indelible flavor that really make it the primary reason to view this film. In fact, musicians Taj Mahal and Iris Dement have roles in this film. Janet McTeer is well cast as Lily the musicologist that is recording these songs. This is definitely a better performance than her Oscar nominated role in a very mediocre and totally overrated film called "Tumbleweeds". She adds intelligence and strength to her character and its vital to the film. The things that I feel hurt the film are the romance between Lily and Tom (Aidan Quinn). It comes out of left field and is never really believable. And then their is the lesbian romance between Lilys sister and her coworker who are teachers. This is where the film wanders off into another direction and the main focus of the film gets lost. We really didn't need these contrivances added to the story and it hurts the film. Not a bad film but the story and focus seem to go into another area. Too bad!