The Ralph Stanley Story (2000)
The Stanley sound is true old-time, mountain style bluegrass music. This film tells Ralph's story through interviews with Ralph, fellow musicians, and those who know Ralph best. Rank Stranger, White Dove, Pretty Polly, Man of Constant Sorrow, and over twenty other songs help tell the story. Ralph performs with Dwight Yoakam, Patty Loveless, Junior Brown, Larry Sparks, George Shuffler, Ricky Skaggs, and members of the Clinch Mountain Boys.
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Too much of everything
It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny
Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.
It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.
I suspect that most people never heard of Ralph Stanley until they saw O Brother Where Art Thou. He never went the route of the Buck Trents and Roy Clarks -- not that I am complaining, because I respect both of then and enjoy their work. What I am saying is Ralph stayed on the less lucrative, more obscure trail and stayed faithful to his roots and fans. People familiar with bluegrass festivals have known him forever as the king of the banjo and the guy with the voice that could serve at the encyclopedia example of how a mountain music voice should sound. One of my friends had met the Stanley brothers on occasion at festivals and remarked on how different they were. Carter had a terrible habit of getting totally smashed with fans out in the crowd before and after playing. Bottomline is the bottle killed him. That is why Ralph bans alcohol from his band and has fired some fairly prominent people over the years. This movie is a great bio and full of new information for just about anyone. It is also beautiful to watch. I give it an 8/10 within its genre.
I worked under Herb E. Smith shortly after this film was finished and had a chance to see some of it before editing was compleate. The film itself is amazingly well, thought out, put together, and a testiment to over 5 years of work. The most intresting shots of the film are not the interviews with Ralph, which in themselves are eye-opening, but the nature footage is second to none. The film is packed with shots of the mountains, water falls, and old time home places. The footage I found to be the most intresting was the funeral footage. The fact they got the footage amazed me. I also enjoyed the 8-mm footage with ralph talking over it. It has those simple human moments that you can see Ralph takes from to make his music. Finally, the film itself is easy to watch, at 82 mins, when it's over you are left wanting for more.