AllMovie

The reflective documentary Pete Seeger: The Power of Song explores the legacy of revered American folk singer and activist Seeger - written and directed by filmmaker Jim Brown when Seeger was in his late '80s. In lieu of recounting the narrative of Seeger's life note-for-note, however, Brown uses that individual biography as a contextual lens, through which he recounts decades of American social history. To tell his story, the filmmaker interpolates original, exclusive interviews with such Seeger contemporaries as Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen, archival footage of Seeger in concert, and extracts from Seeger's private home movies. In the process, Brown unveils the extent to which Seeger continually prompted societal change through his consciousness-raising music and offstage social efforts.