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Down From the Mountain

Play trailer Poster for Down From the Mountain G 2001 1h 38m Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
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97% Tomatometer 31 Reviews 86% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
When the time came for the Coen Brothers to find the music for their Southern period piece comedy, "O Brother, Where Art Thou?," they asked record producer T Bone Burnett to lend a hand. The resulting "Down From The Mountain" documents the evening's concert, complete with backstage preparations and rehearsals. Co-produced by Frazer Pennebaker, the film by D A Pennebaker, Chris Hegedus and Nick Doob captures a joyous and free-spirited celebration of a truly American musical form.

Critics Reviews

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Liam Lacey Globe and Mail 05/31/2002
2.5/4
A film that's lovely to hear, though not much to look at. Go to Full Review
Richard Harrington Washington Post 01/06/2002
The music is grand, the performances are direct and Down From the Mountain is unpretentious in its presentation of both. Go to Full Review
Carrie Rickey Philadelphia Inquirer 11/08/2001
3/4
In her performances and asides to the documentarians, it is Welch who best articulates why this music is so moving. Go to Full Review
Film Threat 12/06/2005
3.5/5
Philip Martin Arkansas Democrat-Gazette 01/29/2005
3/5
Ken Hanke Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) 02/18/2004
4/5
A beautifully done record of a very unusual event - and one that inadvertently serves as a testament to John Hartford, making it a very special document of musical history. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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04/03/2017 Could have been better, but some terrific music. See more 03/31/2012 A very enjoyable concert film and a must see for any fan of O Brother, Where Art Thou?. See more 01/23/2011 Excellent music, some great old-timey stuff going on here... See more 09/16/2010 The good: Absolutely beautiful, spine-tingling music, better than the studio soundtrack. Intimate close-ups with the musicians before the show. The bad: Two of the concert tracks were interrupted to cut to backstage. Bad move. And, inexplicably, the foot-stompin' classic, "Man of Constant Sorrow" is curiously absent from the performance. Overall, I almost gave this more than 4 stars. Anything that makes my spine tingle that much in the course of an hour usually deserves it. I was left wanting just a little bit more, though. The quality is somewhere between breathtaking concert and DVD featurette. See more 10/09/2009 Thoroughly enjoyable, well produced. Amazing lineup. Perhaps even better than the soundtrack. Love the behind-the-scenes bits...especially Emmy Lou keeping tab on the baseball scores....and Gillian Welch needing to get dressed up. Shows the agelessness of American roots music. A must-see for every Americana music fan. See more 03/09/2009 A little boring and disappointing. See more Read all reviews
Down From the Mountain

My Rating

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Movie Info

Synopsis When the time came for the Coen Brothers to find the music for their Southern period piece comedy, "O Brother, Where Art Thou?," they asked record producer T Bone Burnett to lend a hand. The resulting "Down From The Mountain" documents the evening's concert, complete with backstage preparations and rehearsals. Co-produced by Frazer Pennebaker, the film by D A Pennebaker, Chris Hegedus and Nick Doob captures a joyous and free-spirited celebration of a truly American musical form.
Director
Chris Hegedus, D.A. Pennebaker, Nick Doob
Producer
Frazer Pennebaker, Bob Neuwirth
Distributor
Cowboy Pictures
Production Co
Mike Zoss Productions
Rating
G
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Oct 27, 2001, Wide
Release Date (DVD)
Oct 23, 2001
Box Office (Gross USA)
$301.4K
Runtime
1h 38m
Sound Mix
Surround, Dolby SR, Dolby Digital, Dolby A, Dolby Stereo