X
- 2021
- PG-13
- 1 h 58 m
- 2021
- PG-13
- 1 h 58 m
Summary In 1969, during the same summer as Woodstock, a different music festival took place 100 miles away. More than 300,000 people attended the summer concert series known as the Harlem Cultural Festival. It was filmed, but after that summer, the footage sat in a basement for 50 years. It has never been seen. Until now. [Sundance]
Directed By: Questlove
- 2021
- PG-13
- 1 h 58 m
- 2021
- PG-13
- 1 h 58 m
Summer of Soul (...Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)
7.1
Where to Watch
Summary In 1969, during the same summer as Woodstock, a different music festival took place 100 miles away. More than 300,000 people attended the summer concert series known as the Harlem Cultural Festival. It was filmed, but after that summer, the footage sat in a basement for 50 years. It has never been seen. Until now. [Sundance]
Directed By: Questlove
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
Based on 38 Critic Reviews
96
100% Positive
38 Reviews
38 Reviews
0% Mixed
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
Based on 38 Critic Reviews
96
100% Positive
38 Reviews
38 Reviews
0% Mixed
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Director Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson’s feature debut intertwines music and politics in one of the best concert movies of all time.
There are great concert movies and great socio-political documentaries, but Summer of Soul combines both in one gloriously entertaining and intellectually astute film.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 57 User Ratings
7.1
74% Positive
42 Ratings
42 Ratings
14% Mixed
8 Ratings
8 Ratings
12% Negative
7 Ratings
7 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 57 User Ratings
7.1
74% Positive
42 Ratings
42 Ratings
14% Mixed
8 Ratings
8 Ratings
12% Negative
7 Ratings
7 Ratings
[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]
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Of course, you could just watch this for the performances and it would still be one of the best movies of the year. But why sell yourself short? Watch it for everything that it is, a kind of miraculously unearthed treasure trove of music and politics and culture and soul. So much soul.
The lack of awareness of this event is another tragic example of black history being ignored. Only this time the record survived, and now we all get to share in it.
Thompson really lets the music play in order to appreciate the artists, augmenting that by interviewing people who attended the festival, reacquainting them with a time of cultural awakening during their youth.
Thank the cinematic and music gods it was never destroyed or lost, as Summer of Soul is an absolute found treasure of golden onstage moments, interspersed with interviews from participants such as Gladys Knight as well as attendees and cultural commentators, along with celebrity artists such as Chris Rock and Lin-Manuel Miranda.
As a filmmaker, Questlove utilizes his celebrity connections more than he does original directorial vision, trading instead in long-established, standard documentary structure and form. Summer of Soul is polished, but it pales in stark comparison to the raw footage and energy of the Harlem Cultural Festival.
"The United States has so much money, but it doesn't have soul"
Seeing this incredible documentary transported me back to when I was a child and used to watch Michael Jackson concerts recorded on DVD, but with the factor that this had not been released until now and the fact that it was a historical moment.
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I agree with Faxthtax. I found all the talking heads parts very distracting and overdone. The music should have been front and center with commentary either downplayed or provided on a commentary track that could be toggled on and off. This can easily be resolved by doing a disk rerelease with a second of the music only, as Faxthtax suggested. Given what we have, I can only give this a 5 score.
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If this gets a DVD release, it should be 2-Disc version. Disc 1 for this documentary.
And crucially a Disc 2 for the whole concert. Missing more from Simone´s blasting performance like her dynamite version of "I Got Life"
I was disappointed that much of the festival was left out. Instead it was stuffed with anti-racist material..
So please.. Full festival please..
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Production Company
Mass Distraction Media,
RadicalMedia,
Vulcan Productions,
Concordia Studio,
Play/Action Pictures,
LarryBilly Productions
Release Date Jul 2, 2021
Duration 1 h 58 m
Rating PG-13
Genres
Awards
Academy Awards, USA
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
Critics' Choice Documentary Awards
• 6 Wins & 6 Nominations
Cinema Eye Honors Awards, US
• 1 Win & 6 Nominations
