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Movies / On DVD / Pete Seeger - The Power of Song
Pete Seeger - The Power of Song

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Pete Seeger - The Power of Song (2007)

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Reviews Counted:21

Fresh:20

Rotten:1

Average Rating:8.2/10

Consensus: Pete Seeger: The Power of Song is both a tribute to a legendary singer and an informative account of the birth of American counterculture.

Runtime: 1 hr 33 mins

Genre: Musical & Performing Arts

Synopsis: Pete Seeger is a revered singer and performer, an ambassador of the world's folk music traditions, and a patriot, but whenever Jim Brown's very moving documentary verges too close to hagiography,... Pete Seeger is a revered singer and performer, an ambassador of the world's folk music traditions, and a patriot, but whenever Jim Brown's very moving documentary verges too close to hagiography, interviews with the gently self-effacing subject himself steer the focus back onto the issues and the music. Using a rich array of archival film footage, photography, and intimate one-on-one conversations, Brown tells the story of the singer's life, from his roustabout childhood as the son of itinerant musicians, through his radical days on the Harvard University campus (where, during WWII he received his political awakening), his military service, and marriage to lifetime love Toshi Seeger. The documentary spends a lot of time covering his early career with the Weavers singing group, who were blacklisted from television and live appearances and lost their record contract for holding leftist political views at the height of the McCarthy era. Clips of Seeger testifying before the House Un-American Activities Committee, humbly standing by his First Amendment rights in response to their questions about his politics, and pointing out the Un-American nature of such an invasion of privacy, is required viewing for any conscious citizen. The film also documents his outspoken anti-war activities during the '60s, and, in more recent years, his grass roots efforts to clean up the Hudson River. Brown's documentary succeeds wildly not only as a thorough biographical account, but as a rousing testament to the power of music to communicate ideas and unite people around worthwhile causes. [More]

Starring: Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Natalie Maines

Starring: Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Natalie Maines, Joan Baez, Arlo Guthrie, Tommy Smothers, Bonnie Raitt

Director: Jim Brown

Director: Jim Brown
Producer: Jim Brown, Michael Cohl, William Eigen
Studio: Trillion Entertainment

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Reviews for Pete Seeger - The Power of Song

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Reviews
Tomatometer Critic Review Category
N/R

Peg Aloi

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Apr., 23 2009 03:16 AM

Boston Phoenix

tomato
A-

John A. Nesbit

Joan Baez calls Pete a "saint," and Jim Brown's documentary makes a strong case for his canonization.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Sep., 07 2008 10:45 AM

Old School Reviews

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Peter Margasak

irector Jim Brown tells the story well even if he refuses to address any of the singer's missteps (such as becoming infuriated when Dylan first plugged in at the Newport Folk Festival).

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Jan., 18 2008 03:15 PM

Chicago Reader

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B+

Harvey S. Karten

A love letter to the singer.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Dec., 26 2007 03:09 PM

Compuserve

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7/10

Tony Medley

Forget the controversial politics (that's what folk music is all about), this is a fascinating story with great music, despite the tedious last 15 minutes.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Nov., 10 2007 10:22 AM

tonymedley.com

tomato
A

Owen Gleiberman

A stirring, revelatory film, which captures Seeger as the media-age Johnny Appleseed of folk.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Nov., 07 2007 04:07 PM

Entertainment Weekly

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3/4

Elizabeth Weitzman

Fans like Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan express unvarnished awe, but it's the well-told arc of Seeger's life that makes the strongest impression, as director Jim Brown takes us from the highs to the lows and back up again.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Oct., 26 2007 01:34 PM

New York Daily News

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4.5/5

A.O. Scott

As the loving documentary, Pete Seeger: The Power of Song, makes clear, Pete Seeger is still busy, still angry, still hopeful, still singing.

comment Comment | Oct., 26 2007 11:37 AM

New York Times

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3/4

Rafer Guzman

Pete Seeger: The Power of Song could have been called Pete Seeger: The First Punk. As the film traces the singer's long life, it also, inevitably, tracks the evolution of American countercultures through much of the 20th century.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Oct., 25 2007 01:52 PM

Newsday

splat

Brian Miller

Shallow, very officially sanctioned, and overly compressed.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Oct., 23 2007 01:04 PM

Village Voice

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10/10

Edward Douglas

An amazing man and an amazing film.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Oct., 23 2007 08:58 AM

ComingSoon.net

tomato
4/5

Marjorie Baumgarten

More than an appreciation, Pete Seeger: The Power of Song is an inspiration.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Oct., 19 2007 04:34 PM

Austin Chronicle

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4/4

Steven Rea

The Power of Song shows this icon of 20th-century music to be a man of passion and principle, and a true American. An important figure, an important film.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Oct., 11 2007 07:02 PM

Philadelphia Inquirer

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3/4

Terry Lawson

[Seeger] traversed decades, styles, even continents to bring the people's music to the people. This distinction is made with suitable and skillful great appreciation by director Jim Brown in Pete Seeger: The Power of Song.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Oct., 05 2007 02:37 PM

Detroit Free Press

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3/4

Ty Burr

A full and fond documentary.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Sep., 28 2007 03:08 PM

Boston Globe

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3.5/4

Rob Thomas

You sense that Seeger may feel his greatest legacy is not what he accomplished, but what his presence gave others the courage to accomplish. Even if it was just singing along with a roomful of strangers.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Sep., 27 2007 09:07 AM

Capital Times (Madison, WI)

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3.5/4

Rob Thomas

You sense that Seeger (still around and spry at 88) may feel his greatest legacy is not what he accomplished, but what his presence gave others the courage to accomplish. Even if it was just singing along with a roomful of strangers.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Sep., 27 2007 09:02 AM

Capital Times (Madison, WI)

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3.5/4

Ted Fry

If you've never heard of Pete Seeger or if you've known him all your life, see this film. Walking out, you might just be ready to put the world together.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Sep., 21 2007 01:07 PM

Seattle Times

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B

Bill White

Director Brown has made a career of chronicling the history of American folk music, and Pete Seeger: The Power of Song is a worthy companion piece to his 1982 debut, The Weavers: Wasn't That a Time?

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Sep., 20 2007 06:46 PM

Seattle Post-Intelligencer

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4/4

Joel Selvin

The filmmakers treat this aged curmudgeon almost too reverently, but it is hard not to be awed by this gentle, resolute soul because of the ideas he steadfastly and faithfully represented.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Sep., 14 2007 05:15 PM

San Francisco Chronicle

 
 
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