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Down From The Mountain
Artisan // G // October 23, 2001
List Price: $19.99 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
Last year, "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?" became one of the Coen Brothers' biggest hits. One of the most beloved elements of the film was its sense of period and its wonderful roots/bluegrass soundtrack. What likely stunned many in the music industry was that the "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?" soundtrack flew off the shelves, selling millions of copies and bringing back a resurgence in the genre of music.
The documentary is directed by D.A. Pennebaker, Chris Hegedus, and Nick Doob; Pennebaker is widely known for his work on the Bob Dylan documentary "Don't Look Back", while Hedgeus was one of the two directors of this year's hit documentary "Startup.com". Both of the director's have done better work in the past, but that doesn't mean that "Down From The Mountain" isn't enjoyable. Simply, the picture is more enjoyable as a "behind-the-scenes" look than a traditional documentary. There's not a great deal of structure, as the film skips between interviews with the artists (Ralph Stanley, Chris Thomas King, The Whites, Emmylou Harris, Gillian Welch, Alison Krauss, and others) and footage of them rehearsing and playing in the featured concert in Nashville.
"Down From The Mountain" is more a simple pleasure, watching these artists get prepared for the concert and seeing them play is highly entertaining. It's the interviews that really don't add a great deal of insight, as the artists offer pleasantries and some stories about their history in music. There's one particular sequence with Harris that's fascinating for one detail - she pulls out an electronic device that allows her to track the status of any major league baseball game that's currently being played, complete with details of who's on base. While not a baseball fan, I was fascinated that I'd never seen one of these gadgets before.
Once the concert is featured, the music really shines and is captured very well by the filmmaking team. The music is so fantastic that I would have actually prefered more of a straight-forward documentary of the concert than some of the additional behind-the-scenes moments and cut-aways to backstage during a few of the tunes. Simply, "Down From The Mountain" is well-worth seeing simply for the music alone, but the film's backstage material is a mix of okay interviews and engaging rehearsals.
The DVD
VIDEO: Artisan presents "Down From The Mountain" in the film's original 1.77:1 aspect ratio. Thankfully, the studio presents the title in anamorphic widescreen and, considering the fact that this is a low-budget documentary, it looks quite good. Although I don't know exact details, the film appears to have been shot on digital video. Sharpness and detail vary a bit, but the picture never looked noticably soft or undefined. Only a few minor problems arose during the film, but none that will likely cause any concern. I noticed one or two very slight traces of pixelation, but no edge enhancement or print flaws. Colors appeared a little heavy on occasion during the concert presentation, but this certainly didn't take away much from the viewing experience.
SOUND: "Down From The Mountain" is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1, which pleases me since I've seen several reports that it was only Dolby 2.0. While the 5.1 presentation isn't as refined or remarkable as the 5.1 presentations for most concert films, since this was more of a documentary, I was satisfied with the more basic sound use. The first half of the film provides a mixture of music and interviews - although the majority of the audio comes from the front, there is some light re-inforcement from the rear speakers. The concert sequences during the second half of the film provide more active audio, with the music being re-inforced from the surrounds more strongly, while the surrounds also offer considerable crowd noise. Audio quality remained quite good throughout the movie, as both instruments and vocals came through clearly and distinctly. Some of the backstage interviews weren't quite as crisp and easily heard, but the music portions do boast pleasant sound quality.
MENUS:: Subtle and enjoyable main menu with a clip in the background.
EXTRAS:: The only extras are the film's trailer as well as some text notes on the songs, the artists and the filmmakers. A commentary from the filmmaking team (since both Hedgeus and Pennebaker have provided tracks in the past) would have been nice, as would the ability to "jump to a song".
Final Thoughts: Fans of the "Oh Brother" soundtrack will likely be pleased with "Down From The Mountain", which captures the concert itself very well. Artisan's DVD provides fine audio/video quality, but dissapoints in the supplemental area. Still, as this can be found at most stores for around the $15 range, it's certainly worth a look.
Last year, "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?" became one of the Coen Brothers' biggest hits. One of the most beloved elements of the film was its sense of period and its wonderful roots/bluegrass soundtrack. What likely stunned many in the music industry was that the "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?" soundtrack flew off the shelves, selling millions of copies and bringing back a resurgence in the genre of music.
The documentary is directed by D.A. Pennebaker, Chris Hegedus, and Nick Doob; Pennebaker is widely known for his work on the Bob Dylan documentary "Don't Look Back", while Hedgeus was one of the two directors of this year's hit documentary "Startup.com". Both of the director's have done better work in the past, but that doesn't mean that "Down From The Mountain" isn't enjoyable. Simply, the picture is more enjoyable as a "behind-the-scenes" look than a traditional documentary. There's not a great deal of structure, as the film skips between interviews with the artists (Ralph Stanley, Chris Thomas King, The Whites, Emmylou Harris, Gillian Welch, Alison Krauss, and others) and footage of them rehearsing and playing in the featured concert in Nashville.
"Down From The Mountain" is more a simple pleasure, watching these artists get prepared for the concert and seeing them play is highly entertaining. It's the interviews that really don't add a great deal of insight, as the artists offer pleasantries and some stories about their history in music. There's one particular sequence with Harris that's fascinating for one detail - she pulls out an electronic device that allows her to track the status of any major league baseball game that's currently being played, complete with details of who's on base. While not a baseball fan, I was fascinated that I'd never seen one of these gadgets before.
Once the concert is featured, the music really shines and is captured very well by the filmmaking team. The music is so fantastic that I would have actually prefered more of a straight-forward documentary of the concert than some of the additional behind-the-scenes moments and cut-aways to backstage during a few of the tunes. Simply, "Down From The Mountain" is well-worth seeing simply for the music alone, but the film's backstage material is a mix of okay interviews and engaging rehearsals.
The DVD
VIDEO: Artisan presents "Down From The Mountain" in the film's original 1.77:1 aspect ratio. Thankfully, the studio presents the title in anamorphic widescreen and, considering the fact that this is a low-budget documentary, it looks quite good. Although I don't know exact details, the film appears to have been shot on digital video. Sharpness and detail vary a bit, but the picture never looked noticably soft or undefined. Only a few minor problems arose during the film, but none that will likely cause any concern. I noticed one or two very slight traces of pixelation, but no edge enhancement or print flaws. Colors appeared a little heavy on occasion during the concert presentation, but this certainly didn't take away much from the viewing experience.
SOUND: "Down From The Mountain" is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1, which pleases me since I've seen several reports that it was only Dolby 2.0. While the 5.1 presentation isn't as refined or remarkable as the 5.1 presentations for most concert films, since this was more of a documentary, I was satisfied with the more basic sound use. The first half of the film provides a mixture of music and interviews - although the majority of the audio comes from the front, there is some light re-inforcement from the rear speakers. The concert sequences during the second half of the film provide more active audio, with the music being re-inforced from the surrounds more strongly, while the surrounds also offer considerable crowd noise. Audio quality remained quite good throughout the movie, as both instruments and vocals came through clearly and distinctly. Some of the backstage interviews weren't quite as crisp and easily heard, but the music portions do boast pleasant sound quality.
MENUS:: Subtle and enjoyable main menu with a clip in the background.
EXTRAS:: The only extras are the film's trailer as well as some text notes on the songs, the artists and the filmmakers. A commentary from the filmmaking team (since both Hedgeus and Pennebaker have provided tracks in the past) would have been nice, as would the ability to "jump to a song".
Final Thoughts: Fans of the "Oh Brother" soundtrack will likely be pleased with "Down From The Mountain", which captures the concert itself very well. Artisan's DVD provides fine audio/video quality, but dissapoints in the supplemental area. Still, as this can be found at most stores for around the $15 range, it's certainly worth a look.
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