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SONGCATCHER Send This Review to a Friend
If you are looking for a film that's original, enlightening, musical and emotionally satisfying, head for "Songcatcher," a colorful slice of Americana as well as a film that celebrates what a determined woman can accomplish despite the pressures and limitations in the male-oriented society as it existed early in the 20th century. Among its many cheery assets the film features a dynamic performance by accomplished actress Janet McTeer, who plays Dr. Lily Penleric, an adventurous musicologist who, denied a university promotion because she is a woman, quits her job and a dead-end relationship with a married professor and travels to the mountains of North Carolina to discover and record folk music of the region. Lily finds more than she expected and you are also in for pleasant surprises to be found in this special, very welcome film that is among the year's best.
As you might expect, a rich lore of folk songs enhances this atmosphere-charged drama, which is fictional but inspired by the real-life Olive Dame Campbell, who undertook such an expedition through Appalachia in 1908, when she went there with her minister husband and collected ballads and handicraft. McTeer's Lily, strong in appearance and spirit if somewhat naive, is drawn to this particular location in part because her sister, Elna (Jane Adams) teaches at a small school. Unbeknownst to Lily, Elna is involved in a longtime lesbian relationship with her teaching partner Harriet (E. Katherine Kerr), which she must keep hidden and when accidentally exposed leads to a vicious reaction by local bigots.
Elna has been a surrogate mother and mentor to Deladis, a young orphan played by delightful actress and singer Emmy Rossum, perfectly cast for the mountain girl who renders folk songs in beautiful, plaintive tones and is enlisted by Lily to sing them into her primitive recording machine. Rossum, a major screen discovery, adds considerably to the film's feeling of authenticity. Another key character is the crusty, suspicious Viney Butler, played with prickly warmth by Pat Carroll, whom Lily wins over and gets to help in her quest to gain the confidence of skeptical mountain folk.
Lily discovers more than she bargained for in the person of musician Tom Bledsoe (Aidan Quinn), who leads an entirely different existence from city life and has deep roots among his people and surroundings. Lily, despite her defenses, is ripe for a love affair and Quinn as Tom, in a gently charismatic performance, presents a virile, seductive possibility despite their differences.
Maggie Greenwald, who wrote and directed "Songcatcher," captures the beauty of the North Carolina location, the spirit of its people and the flavor of its music. All of her casting is on target, and she obtained the services of musical artists Iris Dement, Taj Mahal and Hazel Dickens to add authenticity. Greenwald's story, although perhaps a bit too melodramatic, is wonderfully alive with well-drawn characterizations, bursts of humor and deep feeling. The devotion depicted in the lesbian love relationship and the illumination of prejudice bring a sensitive dimension and also serve to help Lily grow in understanding of her sister and life beyond what Lily has known.
"Songcatcher" wins us over with sheer charm, musicality and excellent performances. It is a lovely ode to a part of America's cultural heritage and at the same time a creatively dramatic recognition of the struggle women have had to face in broadening their professional horizons and earning respect for their work. A Lions Gate Films release.
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