There are two documentary films available about American Folk legend Woody Guthrie.  The first released in 2005 is called Woody Guthrie: This Machine Kills Fascists.  The other is a PBS documentary from the American Masters series that was released in 2007 called American Masters: Woody Guthrie.

Both films are pretty similar, obviously sharing the same subject matter and the chronological method by which they tell Woody’s story.  Each film features a introduction then eventually switches to a chronological narration of his story (w/ periodic meanderings off topic).  The 2005 doc separates Woody’s story into chapters which unfortunately doesn’t do much for the film.  For the most part they also feature the same interview subjects (Pete Seeger, various experts/biographers, and living relatives including his daughter Nora Guthrie), although the longer of the two films has quite a few more interviews.  The 2005 version is the longer of the two coming out at 2 hours and 40 minutes and the PBS doc is 90 minutes long.  The two films feature high profile narrators, the 2005 release features British Singer/Songwriter Billy Bragg, and the PBS film boasts the narration by actor Peter Coyote.  In the 2005 version Billy Bragg appears in the film in a handful of segments which honestly come off a little stiff.   The two films expertly make use of Guthrie’s large catalog of recorded material, including audio clips from interviews and radio shows.

One of the joys of watching these documentaries is you are visually given the context in which the music was created and you get a history lesson for those songs that were about actual events.  Much of the music Woody wrote was about the American experience or specific events.  It is great to have these films to walk us through those pieces of history we may not remember or be aware of.  Great examples of this are his songs “The Sinking of the Reuben James” and “Dusty Old Dust (So Long It’s Been Good To Know Yuh)” which are about about a US Navy warship that sank in WWII and the American Dust Bowl of the early to mid 1930s, both of which are discussed in the these films.

It was a great surprise to me to find out how much I didn’t know about Guthrie and these films did a great job at filling in those gaps.  This surprise was magnified by the fact that I have read Woody Guthrie’s Autobiography Bound For Glory.  Granted the book was written and published (1943) before a big chunk of Guthrie’s formative years, it did not do the job.  Let me be clear, I never found it to be boring… I just didn’t find it to be particularly informative and since watching these films I find out large chunks of it were embellished or untrue.  Woody had a way of portraying himself as a uneducated country boy, it was a part of his charm and I think that the autobiography follows that line.

Out of the two films I felt that the American Masters version was by far the most enjoyable.  This Machine Kills Fascists has its merits and among them is it’s extremely thorough and detailed.  Unfortunately with that it is just way too long and honestly when looking back came off a little flabby and a bit repetitive.  I would say that the American Masters film is just the right amount of detail and the information portrayed is also better organized.

Stay tuned to my site as I will be posting more about my studies of Guthrie including a post that will get into his life and music in a little more detail.  If you are interested in the watching the films you can find them both as part of the Netflix library or click the pics above as they are linked to the Amazon product pages.  Other suggested material would be the feature film based on Guthrie’s autobiography Bound for Glory.  Although I have not read them, you also have the pick of two print biographies that have been released in the last 10 years, Ramblin’ Man: The Life and Times of Woody Guthrie by Studs Terkel and Ed Cray as well as This Land Was Made for You and Me: The Life and Songs of Woody Guthrie by Elizabeth Partridge.

What a great film.  The Cohen Brothers at their best in my opinion.  It’s a wonderfully clever retelling of Homer’s Iliad in the style of a 3 Stooges movie set in an alternate universe during a time period much like Depression/Dust Bowl era America.  But as this is not a film blog, I digress and transition into talking about one of the films main tools used in transporting the viewer into the past.  That being music of course.

Now there is the obvious – the soundtrack is pretty damn good.  A fact that is indisputably evident by its critical and commercial success; it’s a little polished for my taste but I really dig the spirit of the project.  The film’s music was written/produced/selected by T-Bone Burnett, who is best known for producing a bunch of pretty successful records by artists most would recognize, but is also a folk revival focused singer/songwriter who has released a few solo records.  T-Bone did a great job transporting us into the past while still keeping the sound fresh.  He did this by re-recording quite a few folk classics by current artists; for example you’ve got an artist like Chris Thomas King doing “Hard Time Killing Floor Blues” which was originally written and recorded by Delta Blues Legend Skip James.  There is a few songs that are included in their original versions on the soundtrack, most notably Harry McClintock’s “Big Rock Candy Mountain” from 1939.

Personally, the most impressive and enjoyable aspects of the film is how they interweave the folklore and history that surrounds the music into the movie.  Here are a few examples.

In the film real life singer/guitarist Chris Thomas King plays a character by the name of Tommy Johnson who is on the run from the law and had just sold his soul to the devil on at the crossroads.  Sound familiar?..  Yes, its just the devilishly clever Cohens working in that old blues fable about the quintessential Delta Blues guitarist Robert Johnson into their film.

During a political event in the film there is a musical act identified as The Brightsiders, singing “Keep On The Sunny Side”.  The group is made up of 2 women and 1 man and is later joined by 3 girls for the song “In The Highways”.  Both tunes are songs by the Carter Family for which the film is so obviously making tribute.

Lastly, I’d like to point out the interesting amalgamation which makes up the character know in the film as Pappy O’daniel.  In the film he is the host of a radio show entitled “Pappy O’daniel’s Flour Hour” which is a reference to a more recent radio program called King Biscuit Flower Hour.  KBFH is based on the original old timey blues radio program called King Biscuit Time which started in 1941 and continues today on WFFA in Helena, Arkansas.  In the film the character is the Governor of Mississippi, and turns out to be loosely based two different real life radio personality/politicians:  Texas Governor Wilbert Lee “Pappy” O’daniel and former Louisiana Governer Jimmie Davis.

Besides the soundtrack, for those that are interested there are a bunch of cash-in projects that came out shortly after the movie and soundtrack became such a hit.  Among those is a live concert featuring the same artists called Down From The Mountain.  Also there are a few compilations featuring selections from female Bluegrass musicians called O Sister! and a few budget imports CD compilations that compile the songs in their original incarnations.

Today’s feature is the 2008 film documentary by dutch director David Kleijwegt about one of my favorite Minnesota bands – Low.  This 70 minute document is a multimedia portrait of an unique American family and band.  The film focuses on the two core members of the band; Alan Sparhawk and his wife Mimi Parker.  Throughout the film you are treated to interviews with both members (although it focuses on Sparhawk), along with snapshots of their daily life (along with their two children), with ample time for live performances.  The locale of the film was mainly Low’s home town of Duluth Minnesota which I found a little peculiar considering I had just vacationed there a week before viewing the film.

Sparhawk is an odd interview subject as he hardly ever makes eye contact with the director or looks into the camera unless he is singing.  Most of his time is spent looking off into the distance obviously caught up in what is going on inside his head.  The film surprisingly tackles the two hot-buttoned issues (if there can be such thing) that surround the band, those being the fact that the two core members are devout Mormons, and Sparhawk’s emotional breakdown in 2005.  The film covers the two issues delicately and both Alan and Mimi answer questions honestly and bravely.  I still was left a little confused by some of Alan’s explanations about his breakdown as he was really unable to answer clearly – but I can imagine that the experience would be the least clear to him.

Considering I grew up in Minnesota, and I have been a huge fan of Low since the late 1990s I may be a little biased on this film.  Overall I thought the film was a perfect companion to their music, having the same emotional properties of their songs – chilling, pensive, minimal, and starkly beautiful.  So obviously if you are a fan of the music this film is a must see.  The film may be a little too quiet and slow for most music fans, so unless you are at least a little familiar with their music I would start with some of their early releases.  If you like that, then you will most likely enjoy the film.  Personally I dream of a world in which everyone is a Low fan, it would be a much better place.

There is also another Low documentary out there called Low In Europe which was released on DVD in 2005.

The DVD also features 6 audio tracks that were especially recorded during the filming of the documentary as a special feature titled “At Home with Low”.  Preview them below… (click here if you do not see the playlist)

This is the one and only documentary that I could find on The Carter Family.  Produced as part of the American Experience series on PBS in 2005, it is a 1 hour straight forward chronological document of the history of the original Carter Family narrated by actor Robert Duvall.  The film leans heavily on interviews with writers, family members, and other famous musicians (including Gillian Welch, Marty Stuart, Joan Baez, and Rodney Crowell.)  You will also see archival footage and photos spiced up with the “Ken Burns Style” pan and zoom technique.  The film also throws in filmed reenactments which thankfully are done tastefully and are hardly noticeable.  Definitely a great introduction to Country Music’s first family.

I picked up a bunch of great nuggets of music knowledge… here is a few tidbits to wet your appetite.

• The “Original Carter Family” is made up of A.P. Carter, his wife Sara and A.P.’s sister in law Maybelle (later would include some of Maybelle’s daughters).  The film does not cover the second incarnation of the Carter Family which featured just Maybelle and her daughters.
• Sara and A.P. married in 1915 but didn’t start recording until they were discovered by a Victor Records representative by the name of Ralph Peer in 1927.
• When A.P. discovered he could make money recording and copywriting songs began to travel door to door all over the rural south collecting the peoples songs and then re-arranged them.  Not necessary the most honest way to make a living when you look at it, but I guess if he hadn’t done it, a lot of America’s early folk music would be lost.
• The Carter Family recorded and performed roughly from 1927 to 1943 and became widely known and popular across America.  Their public image was of a solid wholesome family unit, when in reality Sara and A.P. had been having marital troubles ever since the mid twenties.  In 1936 unbeknownst to their fans they separated but continued to perform together.  In 1943 Sara filed for divorce which also split up the original lineup.

Go to the American Experience – Carter Family website to see info on the film and take advantage of web extras.

Here is a few tracks from The Carter Family for your listening pleasure (if you don’t see the embedded playlist, follow this link.)