Given the technical limitations of 1929, King Vidor's Hallelujah! is nothing short of a revelation. It makes Harry Beaumont's The Broadway Melody (1929) look absolutely primitive. As a historical document, Hallelujah! is priceless: it was one of the first all-black films by a major studio, it presented African-Americans with an almost unheard of amount of dignity, and it contains authentic representations and reconstructions of black musical culture in the early Twentieth century. However the film falls apart about halfway through after a sudden murder takes place. Vidor's narrative cohesion disintegrates as the film stumbles from one romantic conquest and religious awakening to another. Individually these scenes have their merits. But by the last act it becomes almost impossible to keep track of who is loving and/or abandoning who for what. But the film is still admirable for its technical qualities and its historical significance.
7/10
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