Sounder

Composite Score: 82.27

Starring: Cicely Tyson, Paul Winfield, Kevin Hooks, Carmen Mathews, Taj Mahal, James Best, and Janet MacLachlan

Director: Martin Ritt

Writer: Lonne Elder III

Genres: Drama, Family, History, Coming of Age

MPAA Rating: G

Box Office: $3.1 million worldwide

Why should you Watch This Film?

                Sounder is the film adaptation of William H. Armstrong’s novel of the same name, following the story of the oldest son of black sharecroppers in Louisiana in the 1930s as he grows up after his father’s incarceration. The film and novel are named for the family’s coon dog, Sounder, who serves as a mirror for Nathan (the father) in the story, allowing even younger audiences to connect with that character’s experience without having to have a full grasp of everything that’s going on. It’s a well-crafted family film, providing substance for both children and adults, and leaving the audience with a note of hope by its end.

Why shouldn’t you Watch This Film?

                While Sounder provides substance for audiences of all ages, its overall action lags at times. If you struggle to form emotional connections to film characters, much of this film’s story will not be overly gripping or moving. Much of what keeps the audience invested in the Lees’ story is the emotional connection that is forged during the film’s first act through showcasing family and community interactions that help make them sympathetic and/or empathetic characters. Once that connection has been made, the action that follows, minimal though it may be, must be watched to see how things will turn out. If that connection isn’t there, the action of most of the film’s second and third acts won’t compel an audience member to keep watching. Keep that in mind if you decide to take the blog’s suggestion and Watch This Film.

So wait, why should you Watch This Film?

                In terms of content about black characters in America, Sounder stands out as unique, both in its own time and in modern day. Much of the film’s early critical success came from its contrast with many of the “blaxploitation” films of the late-60s and early-70s, as Sounder features a more grounded narrative, more wholesome content, and stars a child as its protagonist. Much of the film’s continued success stems from much of those same differences with modern films about black Americans – the difference being that most films about the history of race in America in the modern day tend to feature black trauma as a selling point (see 12 Years a Slave or The Hate U Give or Amistad for examples). The other trait that helps separate Sounder from its more recent contemporaries is its marked lack of “white savior” characters, which certain recent films have worked to reduce as well. Sounder features a black family with a mother and a father mostly present (minus the months the father spends at a prison camp) struggling to survive against institutions (Jim Crow laws in Louisiana and the practice of sharecropping) that are designed to keep them poor and to promote their children into better lives than their own. It also features a female black teacher character who educates David (the main character) on important figures in black history and on the writings of W.E.B. DuBois, which is fairly revolutionary for a film made in the 1970s (and for a film viewed in the 2020s).

                Sounder’s thematic uniqueness is built upon by Oscar-nominated performances from Cicely Tyson and Paul Winfield. Tyson plays David’s mother, Rebecca, whose efforts to keep her family afloat after Nathan’s arrest feature as the most prominent story line in the film’s second act. Tyson plays the role of confident black woman, forced to work and live within the confines of a society designed against her, tactfully and with genuine emotion throughout. Winfield plays Nathan, whose theft of food out of desperation for his family lands him at a prison camp. Both his presence at the film’s start and end and his absence during the middle portion of the film are felt deeply. At the start, he serves as this almost heroic character to his son, as most fathers are to their own boys. His absence forces David to grow into manhood, adopting certain traits of his father while growing from others. Nathan’s return at the end sparks at first a regression in David before Winfield delivers a heartfelt fatherly speech to David about his desire for his son to end up better than him, breaking out of the cycle of sharecropping through education and self-betterment, which then allows David to step into his independence fully with the blessing of his father bolstering his efforts.

                Strong, award-worthy acting from the parental figures of the film, combined with a relatively unique and hopeful take on the black experience in the American South, propels Sounder beyond the simplicity of its story and into a place of greatness in film history. Its ability to deliver truths about institutional racism while also providing hope for improvement and breaking out of those institutions independent of any action from others makes the film remarkably poignant even today. Though some may be turned off by its overly simple action, the emotional truth that emerge from Sounder’s story makes it one of the Greatest Films of All Time, worth checking out. This film is currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video, if you are interested.