Bound for Glory
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Movie Reviews of Bound for Glory
Movie Review: SOUNDTRACK WAS FINE.
Summary: 4 Stars
Unfortunately, for months I was frightened away from purchasing this movie, because one Amazon reviewer a year ago said the DVD soundtrack was such a bad transfer it was difficult to hear the dialog at certain points. Finally I decided I wanted to see this classic film so bad, I'd risk the bad sound. To my surprise and delight, I discovered no problem at all with the sound -- and I'm usually ultra-critical of fuzzy sound, which normally drives me up the wall. If, in fact, there was any sound problem on early prints of the DVD version, it appears to have now been corrected in the later prints. The viewer discovers belatedly, at the end of one music track, that it was tinny-sounding on purpose, because one of the characters was listening on an old-fashioned wind-up phonograph -- a nuance easy to miss if you blinked. In other places, the soundtrack seems to have utilized less-than-perfect, early-day recordings of Guthrie himself, which helps rather than hinders the impact. True, the soundtrack technology in this 1976 movie is not up to modern-day Dolby Surround Sound standards -- but it's rather good for a 25-year-old soundtrack. So relax, and enjoy the Academy Award-winning Depression Era photography of Haskel Wexler that will make you feel you've stepped into a Walker Evans photograph of 1936 Dust Bowl refugees fleeing to the supposed golden land of California. Almost every scene is suitable for framing. Not to be missed. A "must buy" for collectors.Movie Review: SOUNDTRACK WAS FINE
Summary: 4 Stars
Unfortunately, for months I was frightened away from purchasing this movie, because one reviewer a year ago said the DVD soundtrack was such a bad transfer it was difficult to hear the dialog at certain points. Finally I decided I wanted to see this classic film so bad, I'd risk the bad sound. To my surprise and delight, I discovered no problem at all with the sound -- and I'm usually ultra-critical of fuzzy sound, which normally drives me up the wall. If, in fact, there was any sound problem on early prints of the DVD version, it appears to have now been corrected in the later prints. The viewer discovers belatedly, at the end of one music sequence, that it was tinny-sounding on purpose, because one of the characters was listening on an old-fashioned wind-up phonograph -- a nuance easy to miss if you blinked in the wrong place. In a few other sequences, the movie appears to utilize early-day recordings by the real Guthrie -- which helps rather than hinders the impact. True, the soundtrack technology in this 1976 movie is not up to modern-day Dolby Surround Sound standards -- but it's amazingly good for a 25-year-old soundtrack. Relax, and enjoy the Academy Award-winning Depression Era photography of Haskel Wexler that will make you feel you've stepped into a Walker Evans photograph of 1936 Dust Bowl refugees fleeing to the supposed golden land of California. Almost every scene is suitable for framing. Not to be missed. A "must buy" for collectors.Movie Review: Depression Era Story Falls Short As Musical Biography
Summary: 4 Stars
The late Hal Ashby was one of the great maverick directors of the Seventies. After making his mark as an editor("In the Heat of the Night") Ashby helmed many offbeat and personal films. My personal faves are "Harold and Maude" and "Being There". I'm still waiting for his directorial debut, "The Landlord", to become available on DVD. "Bound for Glory" was a very enigmatic film for me. I admired how Ashby depicts the breadth of the suffering during the Great Depression from the dust parched Texas landscapes to the harsh conditions of the California workfarms. Cinematographer Haskell Wexler can be thanked for a large part of the film's power. As a biography, however, I think the film falls short. I didn't know much about Woody Guthrie before watching this film and quite frankly I don't think "Bound for Glory" offers much insight into the man. My knowledge of Guthrie mainly consists of him being Arlo's father and mentor to Bob Dylan. Like Dylan, Guthrie is portayed as a man of contradictions and enigmas. But there's nothing here that suggests why Guthrie became the spokesperson for the long-suffering working class. David Carradine is a good actor but he is unable to make sense to the viewer what Guthrie is all about. An interesting film that I wouldn't call a failure but falls short of it's noble ambitions.Movie Review: Good acting job on a not very likable personality
Summary: 4 Stars
David Carredine does a fine job of portraying Woody Guthrie, who was a dog of a man. He ran out on his wife and children in a time when folks were really starving in our fat land. Some one else has to see to his family in a time before we had welfare to assist people who were in need. He went out to California and got involved in labour unions, after seeing the shoddy way the incoming oakie's and other folks who had to migrate west, were treated. Got beaten up, run out of town etc. Took up with other women, then after finally getting a gig to sing on a radio station, he sends for his wife and kids, then basically ignores them once they arrive. She finally leaves and I guess goes back to Texas, and he continues with his labour union attempts to rouse the migrants to protest the way they are treated. It is depressing to find out someone who seemed to be worth admiring, has serious clay feet, kind of like BoJangles Robinson who was another dog. I have watched both of these films for the ist and last time. In spite of the good acting and music etc. they are just to damn depressing. Once around is enough for me.Movie Review: Great cinematography, Very flawed story
Summary: 3 Stars
This one was hard to rate. I read "Bound for Glory" recently and stumbled onto this DVD at Netflix this past week (8/15/2007). This film was only loosely--and I mean very loosely--based on that Woodie Guthrie autobiographical chronicle. Granted, the book was a rambling, sprawling account of Woodie's travels and trepidations from the Oklahoma to California to Chicago and New York during the dust bowl days of the 30's and would be as daunting an undertaking to cinematize as the Bible (maybe more so). And I'm sure that fact and fantasy were flung around with some abandon in Woodie's book. After all, what was Woodie if not a master story teller?
So, what is good? The cinematography is superb. I could taste the dust and smell the box cars, and feel the heat of the southwest sun as well as feel the awesome power, beauty, and vitality of this nation the way is once was. David Carradine is not only a fine idiosyncratic actor, but an accomplished guitar player and singer. Randy Quaid put a lot of power into his relatively minor role as a migrant dust bowl refugee. Melinda Dillon, Ron Cox and the rest of the cast painted compelling and believable portraits. The music was a good balance of restraint and indulgence. I like Woodie Guthrie's songs a lot and the various artists who contributed to the film score were wonderful.
What wasn't so good? I get the feeling that a lot of permissions couldn't be procured for this film. Where was Cisco Houston and who was "Ozark?" And why the lack of original Woodie Guthrie renditions? The movie was long--too long in some places and maddeningly skimpy in others. Details very often inaccurate, incomplete, or totally made-up.
Bottom line: Rent it and take it for what it is--a good movie about a complicated man.