Customer Reviews

God's Trombones

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I was pleased to see this volume finally make it to DVD. I've appreciated the African-American Poem Sermons of James Weldon Johnson ever since I first heard a reading of his "The Creation" in High School Speech class. POWERFUL stuff. The DVD includes three of the original seven poem-sermons from Johnson's 1927 book God's Trombones. Included are The Creation, The Prodigal Son and Go Down Death (a funeral sermon). Missing are Listen Lord, Noah Built The Ark, The Crucifixion, Let My People Go, and Judgment Day. I'd seen the VHS years ago, and was impressed at the time. Wil Vinton clay-animates the three stories. If you fell in love with his California Raisins, expect something different. These shorts aren't quite so polished (I'm guessing they were made earlier in Vinton's career). But they are much more artful. Especially The Creation and Go Down Death, which are clay-animated on flat sheets of glass, so that they look like swirling, textured oil paintings. The Prodigal Son (recognized by the familiar line "your arm's too short to box with God") is animated in classic claymation style--three dimensional figures moving through three dimensional scenes. The Creation and The Prodigal Son are great for seeing old, familiar Bible stories from a new, eye-opening perspective. And Go Down Death offers a true spiritual epiphany--imagining death as a benevolent angel of God who is sent to ease the pain of an ancient dying woman. He is her ticket to paradise and the arms of a loving Father. I'm sure the finer (deeper) details will be lost on small children. And Go Down Death is a little scary. But for kids seven and up (as well as for families, Bible Study discussion groups, and even use in worship), these three stories are valuable, must-experience viewing.

This is a wonderful collection of James Weldon Johnson's poetry. I use his "Creation" poem as a powerful interpretation of the "Creation" story. This African-American poet deserves a place as one of the great poets on the American scene.

My wife and I were thrilled to find The Creation on DVD, having worn out our copy on VHS. A fabulous visualization of the poem by James Weldon Johnson, we showed this in children's church years ago and the kids loved it. When it illustrated the "God created man in His own image" by showing a series of multi-race/age/gender faces morph from one to another (long before Michael Jackson used the idea for his video), one of the African-American kids jumped up and said excitedly "You mean God looks like me?!" Wonderful narration by James Earl Jones and terrific music by David Friesen.

I wanted these voices giving these sermons and I decided to get it even though it was clay-mation--knowing the picture would not be middle road video--Clay is good or baaaad. This disk is well above the good mark--touching on spectacular. My advice:
1. Buy it.
2. Find box of tissues
3. Turn the sound way up on a good system
4. Brace yourself for an EXPERIENCE you will not soon forget.

Fred Waring did an LP of God's Trombones back in the 50s, which was really beautiful. I'll buy this version, (I'll give it a 3-star rating till I get it) but I certainly hope the Waring LP will appear on CD sometime before the Angel of death makes them obsolete!