Sounder is a
1972 filmThe year 1972 in film involved some significant events.-Top grossing films :- Awards :Academy Awards:*Avanti!, directed by Billy Wilder, starring Jack Lemmon and Juliet MillsB...
starring
Cicely TysonCicely Tyson is an American actress. A successful stage actress, Tyson is also known for her Oscar-nominated role in the film Sounder and the television movies The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman and Roots....
,
Paul WinfieldPaul Edward Winfield was an American television, film, and stage actor. He was known for his portrayal of a Louisiana sharecropper who struggles to support his family during the Great Depression in the landmark film Sounder which earned him an Academy Award nomination. Winfield also portrayed Dr....
,
Kevin HooksKevin Hooks is an American actor, and a television and film director; he is notable from his roles in Aaron Loves Angela and Sounder, but may be best known as Morris Thorpe from TV's The White Shadow....
, Carmen Mathews,
Taj MahalHenry Saint Clair Fredericks , who uses the stage name Taj Mahal, is an American Grammy Award winning blues musician. He incorporates elements of world music into his music...
, Eric Hooks and
Janet MacLachlanJanet MacLachlan was an American character actress who had roles in such television series as The Rockford Files, Alias and The Golden Girls.-Career:MacLachlan was born in New York City on August 27, 1933...
. It was adapted by
Lonne Elder IIILonne Elder III was an American actor, playwright and screenwriter. In 1973, he along with Suzanne de Passe became the first African Americans to be nominated for the Academy Award for writing...
and directed by
Martin RittMartin Ritt was an American director, actor, and playwright who worked in both film and theater. He was born in New York City.-Early career and influences:...
from the 1970
Newbery MedalThe John Newbery Medal is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association . The award is given to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children. The award has been given since 1922. ...
-winning novel
Sounder by
William H. ArmstrongWilliam H. Armstrong was an American children's author and educator, best known for his 1969 Newbery Medal-winning novel, Sounder....
and spawned a sequel,
Part 2, Sounder (1976).
Differences between the book and the film
- The film established names for the characters, which the book did not.
- The white people in the book are more truculent, cruel and racist than those in the film.
- In the book, the father is on the chain gang for multiple years, not just one year, as in the film; the boy begins spending his winters with the teacher long before his father's return.
- Both Sounder and his master's father are more grievously injured in the book than in the movie, and they both die within months of the father's return from the chain gang.
Realistic casting of minor parts
- A notable aspect of casting in the film is that the Minister is played by an actual minister and the Judge is played by an actual judge.
Critical analysis
Based on sixteen reviews,
Sounder carries an 88% score (and an average of 7.7/10) on
Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
. In his
Family Guide to Movies on Video, Henry Herx wrote: "[
Sounder] captures the humanity of [its] characters and a fine, distanced sense of its sleepy Southern locale. The movie earns a deep emotional response from its audience because its [appealing] story and characters are believable. Not only a valid examination of the black experience in America, it is also a fine family experience." He added that the boy's search for his father "provides additional drama".
Accolades
The film was nominated for four Academy Awards:
Best PictureThe Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only...
(by Robert B. Radnitz),
Best ActorPerformance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
(Paul Winfield),
Best ActressPerformance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
(Cicely Tyson) and
Best Adapted ScreenplayThe Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay is one of the Academy Awards, the most prominent film awards in the United States. It is awarded each year to the writer of a screenplay adapted from another source...
(by Lonne Elder III).
Television version
In 2003,
ABCThe American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
's Wonderful World of Disney aired a new film adaptation, reuniting two actors from the original: Kevin Hooks (who played the son) directed and Paul Winfield (who played the father) played the role of the teacher.