Go Tell It on the Mountain

Rating:
Summary: EXCELLENT ADAPTATION
Review: John Grimes is a sensitive young teenager who bears the daily criticism of his step-father. As he endures the redicule, resentment and anger of this man, John tries to understand himself and the world he is to inherit.

Go Tell It On The Mountain takes us on the journey of southern Black men and women as they attempt to survive in their rural south and run away to the urban north. While up "north", you witness their escapism into sanctified religion, the pull of the streets on their children, the secrets in their hearts and the bitterness of unfulfilled dreams.

Told from the perspective of John, the viewer sees a cultural change and transition in the lives of these new residents of urban America. Join in the pulsating rhythms of the sanctified store-front churches. Feel the needs of young people who want to be free but are held in bondage by the fundamentalist mindsets of their elders. What is most intriguing about the film is Gabriel, John's step-father. His life, loss, bitterness and inability to fully accept John shows what happens to a man who has no anchor.

An outstanding cast of actors portray the characters in this great film. Even though this is an adaption of James Baldwin's work of the same name it doesn't follow the book in its entirety. We get a deeper sense of the psychological forces that shaped John's parents and their world than from the book. In fact this film enhances the book and I highly recommend its viewing.