Rated G and based on a Newberry-winning book for children, Sounder has the earnestness and obviousness you might expect, as well as a languid pace that suggests a fear on the filmmakers’ parts that younger audiences might not be able to keep up. Set in 1933 Louisiana, the film follows a family of Black sharecroppers whose tenuous life becomes even more so after the father (Paul Winfield) is sent to prison for stealing food—food which his wife (Cicely Tyson) and three children desperately need. Though filtered through a white lens—the novel was written by William H. Armstrong, while the movie was directed by Martin Ritt (Hombre)—the missteps are mostly of the well-meaning variety. (It’s worth noting that a Black screenwriter, Lonne Elder III, wrote the adaptation.) Yes, there’s a white savior figure (Carmen Mathews as a kindly, affluent neighbor), but Sounder spends most of its time with the central family, without reducing them to either the nobly downtrodden or the pitiably oppressed. Instead, the movie depicts their life as one of resilient beauty, especially in the scenes with the older boy (Kevin Hooks) and his dog, Sounder, even as it also emphasizes the powerlessness of their situation. As Rebecca and Nathan Lee, Tyson and Winfield are especially good in their tender early moments together, before Nathan is arrested. (Her laugh is the soundtrack to their shared life.) In an attempt to bring representation to the Academy Awards, Sounder was nominated for Best Picture, while Tyson, Winfield, and Elder III all received nods in their respective categories. None of them won.
