Music from the Big House
Music from the Big House Image
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44 out of 100

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  • Summary: Music From the Big House is an extraordinary story about finding hope, joy and music behind bars. Rita Chiarelli, Canada’s Queen of the Blues, takes a pilgrimage to the birthplace of the Blues: Louisiana State Maximum Security Penitentiary, a.k.a Angola Prison – formerly the bloodiest prisorison in America. Rita’s trip turns into an historic jailhouse performance, playing with – rather than for – musician inmates serving life sentences. Their shared bond of music, and Chiarelli’s ebullient personality, draw striking revelations from the inmates. Rather than sensational stories of convicts, we witness remarkable voices of hope as their love of music radiates humanity and redemption on their quest for forgiveness. (Matson Films)… Expand

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 0 out of 5
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 5
  3. Negative: 0 out of 5
  1. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Frank Scheck
    Jun 4, 2012
    60
    The proceedings have a certain haunted quality, thanks to the dramatic setting and the stark black-and-white cinematography by Steve Cosens that fully conveys its bleakness.
  2. Variety
    Reviewed by: John Anderson
    May 30, 2012
    50
    The performances are fun, if musically only adequate -- there are no evident virtuosi languishing within Angola's walls -- and Chiarelli's attempts to frame matters philosophically fall a little flat.
  3. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Robert Abele
    Jun 15, 2012
    50
    Even with a gripping subject like blues-singing convicts, the documentary Music from the Big House has a disconcerting emotional distance.
  4. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Benjamin Mercer
    May 30, 2012
    50
    It finally feels too cautious, as if digging a little deeper might compromise the prevailing tone of tentative uplift.

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 2
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 2
  3. Negative: 0 out of 2
  1. joannefilm
    10
    Disclaimer: I have a thing about prison movies - not sure why. This is perhaps gives the most airtime to inmates who discuss their lives - including their crimes - in a profoundly self-reflexive way. They discuss philosophy, spirituality, forgiveness, redemption with the ease of those who have searched their own souls deeply. In this case, at great length as well. These are all lifers who after imprisonment for their crimes have outgrown their youthful violent, impulsive behavior, and have now arrived at a place where they accept their fate with the equanimity of those of faith. And the music is great too!… Expand
  2. MonicaM
    10
    The birth of true blues does not come from the streets of Louisiana; real music comes from inside the walls of Angola Prison. Rita Chiarelli shows us the powerful music that has developed from these prisoners in the documentary â… Expand

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