Review of The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman

The first time I saw The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittmann I remember how riveted I was by the story, the acting and the way the film was packaged together in a simple, yet powerful manner. Back in the early Eighties, there was not much to go on as far as films went that captured some of the amazing and humbling history of African Americans. I was reading Roots at the time and I found this film to be somehow more touching and more special. The memory of the film from that first viewing (which was, by the way, a well-dubbed Italian version) faded away in time, until it was reduced just to a pleasant memory of a wonderful film experience. I was not particularly looking for it when I came across it on Amazon. A flood of memories, not of scenes (well, just one), but of warmth, flooded over me. I ordered the special edition and, when it arrived, spent a delicious few hours watching the film, the included specials and rekindling all those warm feelings which I have obviously harboured for over twenty years. What a wonderful, touching, excellent film, as moving as I remember and, in my opinion, a truly little (near-perfect) gem!