Down From the Mountain

Play trailer

Down From the Mountain

G

Released Oct 27, 2001

1h 38m

Documentary

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

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.

Liam Lacey

Globe and Mail

A film that's lovely to hear, though not much to look at.

Rated: 2.5/4

May 31, 2002

Full Review

Richard Harrington

Washington Post

The music is grand, the performances are direct and Down From the Mountain is unpretentious in its presentation of both.

Jan 6, 2002

Full Review

Carrie Rickey

Philadelphia Inquirer

In her performances and asides to the documentarians, it is Welch who best articulates why this music is so moving.

Rated: 3/4

Nov 8, 2001

Full Review

Film Threat

Rated: 3.5/5

Dec 6, 2005

Full Review

Philip Martin

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Rated: 3/5

Jan 29, 2005

Full Review

Ken Hanke

Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

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.

Rated: 4/5

Feb 18, 2004

Full Review

Read all reviews

Audience Member

Could have been better, but some terrific music.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/27/23

Full Review

Audience Member

A very enjoyable concert film and a must see for any fan of O Brother, Where Art Thou?.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/23/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Excellent music, some great old-timey stuff going on here...

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/23/23

Full Review

Audience Member

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.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/06/23

Full Review

Audience Member

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.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/08/23

Full Review

Audience Member

A little boring and disappointing.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/12/23

Full Review

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

POST RATING

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

Chris Hegedus

Director

D.A. Pennebaker

Director

Nick Doob

Director

T Bone Burnett

Self

Terry Bulger

Self

Joel Coen

Self

Calle 54

87%

87%

Calle 54

Watchlist

Genesis

84%

83%

Genesis

Watchlist

U2

92%

93%

U2

Watchlist

Microcosmos

97%

91%

Microcosmos

Watchlist

It's All True

83%

70%

It's All True

Watchlist

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

View more photos

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