Released the same year as Super Fly and Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song, it's no surprise that the film industry chose to reward Sounder with four Oscar nominations, including Best Picture. Amidst a confrontational new Black identity on screen, Sounder is reminiscent of safer, post-war social problem films and casts the problems of racism into the past. But this isn't to say there is no value or strength in a film like this even if it's a bit maudlin at points (that reunion scene is untouchable though). Tyson's mother is a vision of determination amid impossible odds and Kevin Hooks delivers a strong central performance to latch everything onto. I'm reminded of films by Gordon Parks when watching this, especially The Learning Tree, which is probably the closest film to match the style and tone of this though there are certainly countless other stories about the humanity of poor Black families you can draw connections to. Well-crafted and hits the right emotional beats but also not the kind of film that stands out in any meaningful way above the pack of other films like it.
Released the same year as Super Fly and Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song, it's no surprise that the film industry chose to reward Sounder with four Oscar nominations, including Best Picture. Amidst a confrontational new Black identity on screen, Sounder is reminiscent of safer, post-war social problem films and casts the problems of racism into the past. But this isn't to say there is no value or strength in a film like this even if it's a bit maudlin at points (that reunion scene is untouchable though). Tyson's mother is a vision of determination amid impossible odds and Kevin Hooks delivers a strong central performance to latch everything onto. I'm reminded of films by Gordon Parks when watching this, especially The Learning Tree, which is probably the closest film to match the style and tone of this though there are certainly countless other stories about the humanity of poor Black families you can draw connections to. Well-crafted and hits the right emotional beats but also not the kind of film that stands out in any meaningful way above the pack of other films like it.
