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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 Read all reviews

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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Cast & Crew

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Chris Hegedus

Director

D.A. Pennebaker

Director

Nick Doob

Director

T Bone Burnett

Self

Terry Bulger

Self

Joel Coen

Self

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Down From the Mountain

Down From the Mountain (2001) Down From the Mountain (2001) View more photos

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