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MOVIES / ON DVD / PETE SEEGER - THE POWER OF SONG
Pete Seeger - The Power of Song

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Pete Seeger - The Power of Song (2007)

95%
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95 %
Reviews Counted: 20 Fresh: 19  Rotten:1 Average Rating: 8.1/10
 
Consensus: Pete Seeger: The Power of Song is both a tribute to a legendary singer and an informative account of the birth of American counterculture.
 

How does the Tomatometer work?

The Tomatometer measures the percentage of positive reviews from Approved Tomatometer Critics for a certain movie.[-]

Runtime: 1 hr 33 mins

Theatrical Release: Oct 26, 2007 Limited

Synopsis: Pete Seeger is a revered singer and performer, an ambassador of the world's folk music traditions, and a patriot, but whenever Jim Brown's very moving documentary verges too close to hagiography, interviews with the gently self-effacing subject himself steer the focus back onto the issues... Pete Seeger is a revered singer and performer, an ambassador of the world's folk music traditions, and a patriot, but whenever Jim Brown's very moving documentary verges too close to hagiography, interviews with the gently self-effacing subject himself steer the focus back onto the issues and the music. Using a rich array of archival film footage, photography, and intimate one-on-one conversations, Brown tells the story of the singer's life, from his roustabout childhood as the son of itinerant musicians, through his radical days on the Harvard University campus (where, during WWII he received his political awakening), his military service, and marriage to lifetime love Toshi Seeger. The documentary spends a lot of time covering his early career with the Weavers singing group, who were blacklisted from television and live appearances and lost their record contract for holding leftist political views at the height of the McCarthy era. Clips of Seeger testifying before the House Un-American Activities Committee, humbly standing by his First Amendment rights in response to their questions about his politics, and pointing out the Un-American nature of such an invasion of privacy, is required viewing for any conscious citizen. The film also documents his outspoken anti-war activities during the '60s, and, in more recent years, his grass roots efforts to clean up the Hudson River. Brown's documentary succeeds wildly not only as a thorough biographical account, but as a rousing testament to the power of music to communicate ideas and unite people around worthwhile causes. [More]

Genre: Musical & Performing Arts

Starring: Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Natalie Maines, Joan Baez

Director: Jim Brown
Producer: Jim Brown, Michael Cohl, William Eigen

DVD Info

Release:

Aug 5, 2008

[DVD Details]

DVD Features:

  • Region 1
  • Keep Case
  • Anamorphic Widescreen

Audio:

  • Unspecified - English

Pre-order it on DVD

Reviews

 
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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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Ratings Image
N/A

irector Jim Brown tells the story well even if he refuses to address any of the singer's missteps (such as becoming infuriated when Dylan first plugged in at the Newport Folk Festival).

Full Review | comment Comment
01/18/08
Peter Margasak
Chicago Reader
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B+

A love letter to the singer.

Full Review | comment Comment
12/26/07
Harvey S. Karten
Film Journal International
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7/10

Forget the controversial politics (that's what folk music is all about), this is a fascinating story with great music, despite the tedious last 15 minutes.

Full Review | comment Comment
11/10/07
Tony Medley
tonymedley.com
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A

A stirring, revelatory film, which captures Seeger as the media-age Johnny Appleseed of folk.

Full Review | comment Comment
11/07/07
Owen Gleiberman
Entertainment Weekly
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3/4

Fans like Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan express unvarnished awe, but it's the well-told arc of Seeger's life that makes the strongest impression, as director Jim Brown takes us from the highs to the lows and back up again.

Full Review | comment Comment
10/26/07
Elizabeth Weitzman
New York Daily News
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4.5/5

As the loving documentary, Pete Seeger: The Power of Song, makes clear, Pete Seeger is still busy, still angry, still hopeful, still singing.

comment Comment
10/26/07
A.O. Scott
New York Times
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3/4

Pete Seeger: The Power of Song could have been called Pete Seeger: The First Punk. As the film traces the singer's long life, it also, inevitably, tracks the evolution of American countercultures through much of the 20th century.

Full Review | comment Comment
10/25/07
Rafer Guzman
Newsday
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N/A

Shallow, very officially sanctioned, and overly compressed.

Full Review | comment Comment
10/23/07
Brian Miller
Village Voice
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10/10

An amazing man and an amazing film.

Full Review | comment Comment
10/23/07
Edward Douglas
ComingSoon.net
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4/5

More than an appreciation, Pete Seeger: The Power of Song is an inspiration.

Full Review | comment Comment
10/19/07
Marjorie Baumgarten
Austin Chronicle
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4/4

The Power of Song shows this icon of 20th-century music to be a man of passion and principle, and a true American. An important figure, an important film.

Full Review | comment Comment
10/11/07
Steven Rea
Philadelphia Inquirer
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3/4

[Seeger] traversed decades, styles, even continents to bring the people's music to the people. This distinction is made with suitable and skillful great appreciation by director Jim Brown in Pete Seeger: The Power of Song.

Full Review | comment Comment
10/05/07
Terry Lawson
Detroit Free Press
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3/4

A full and fond documentary.

Full Review | comment Comment
09/28/07
Ty Burr
Boston Globe
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3.5/4

You sense that Seeger may feel his greatest legacy is not what he accomplished, but what his presence gave others the courage to accomplish. Even if it was just singing along with a roomful of strangers.

Full Review | comment Comment
09/27/07
Rob Thomas
Capital Times (Madison, WI)
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3.5/4

You sense that Seeger (still around and spry at 88) may feel his greatest legacy is not what he accomplished, but what his presence gave others the courage to accomplish. Even if it was just singing along with a roomful of strangers.

Full Review | comment Comment
09/27/07
Rob Thomas
Capital Times (Madison, WI)
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3.5/4

If you've never heard of Pete Seeger or if you've known him all your life, see this film. Walking out, you might just be ready to put the world together.

Full Review | comment Comment
09/21/07
Ted Fry
Seattle Times
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B

Director Brown has made a career of chronicling the history of American folk music, and Pete Seeger: The Power of Song is a worthy companion piece to his 1982 debut, The Weavers: Wasn't That a Time?

Full Review | comment Comment
09/20/07
Bill White
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
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4/4

The filmmakers treat this aged curmudgeon almost too reverently, but it is hard not to be awed by this gentle, resolute soul because of the ideas he steadfastly and faithfully represented.

Full Review | comment Comment
09/14/07
Joel Selvin
San Francisco Chronicle
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4/4

I don't know if Pete Seeger believes in saints, but I believe he is one. He's the one in the front as they go marching in.

Full Review | comment Comment
09/14/07
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
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N/A

As certain to get auds singing as the man himself, Pete Seeger: The Power of Song is a terrific, multilayered portrait of a singer whose legacy extends beyond music and into every major social action movement since the 1940s.

Full Review | comment Comment
09/08/07
Jay Weissberg
Variety
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