This is a riveting treatment of a fascinating subject.
75
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
The film spends its first half explaining the song -- famously and vividly about the cycle of Southern lynching. Its better second half-hour unmasks its composer as a compassionate Jewish guy from the Bronx.
75
New York PostLou Lumenick
New York PostLou Lumenick
An absorbing documentary.
75
San Francisco ChronicleEdward Guthmann
San Francisco ChronicleEdward Guthmann
Takes a fascinating look at the origins and impact of a ballad that's been called "one of ten songs that changed the world."
Mining the song's associative richness, Katz's film works as jazz genealogy, Meerpol bio, Jewish-leftist puzzle piece, performance homage, and exegetic history of lynching.
70
Variety
Variety
Where pic excels is in the depiction of a rich leftist movement, with several cultures interacting expressively in the 1930s and '40s.