The Fifth String
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DVD Cover Information
DVD: Region Code 0Format: NTSC
DVD Release Date: 2006-07-13
Studio: CustomFlix
Movie Reviews of The Fifth String
Movie Review: Better than OH BROTHER WHERE ART THOU?
Summary: 5 Stars
Jack Phelan has written and directed "The Fifth String", a wonderful film starring mountain musicians
Dwight Diller and John Morris. It was so good I had to watch it twice the first time I previewed it on
DVD. Last year Larry Charles directed a vastly inferior film starring Bob Dylan called, "Masked and
Anonymous" starring some of our best American actors including Jeff Bridges, John Goodman and Jessica
Lange. No film I have ever seen wasted so much talent; including Dylan's.
"The Fifth String" is the complete opposite, utilizing both the acting and musical abilities of two
well-known musicians who probably have as many years in music as Bob Dylan but a lot less film time.
Made on a shoe-string budget in Philadelphia, Pocahontas County and Clay County, West Virginia the
story transforms Diller into a University music professor who has spent his life teaching every kind of
music but the kind he was taught as a child. Returning home for the funeral of an uncle who raised him, he
gets trapped in the mountains, and is forced to face his personal demons. He even ends up in jail, cooling
his jets just long enough to realize where he really belongs.
A friend of mine from Clay County also previewed the film and showed it to her clan, loving every minute
of it. I myself thought that both Diller and Morris did a much better job of acting than Dylan, showing
their love for each other and their music. One particularly poignant scene was the digging of the Uncle's
grave by hand on the back of the family farm. Local musicians including Pete Kosky, Bill Kimmons, and
Kate Long play the pallbearers.
I immediately suggested to Troy Body, the acting commissioner of Culture & History at the State Capitol
that he show the film, and invite the stars and their many friends. John Lilly, the editor of Goldenseal
watched the film, and loved it of course. It is a landmark film for anyone who appreciates the human
values of Appalachia and its music. Phelan told me he has found a distributor for the film. I certainly hope
so. I know that thousands of people around the country would love to see such a heartwarming, unassuming
film. I particularly enjoyed the flashback scenes, showing various Appalachian musicians doing their
thing back in the Good Ole' Days.
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