The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman

The excellent script that traces the 110 years of the title character includes many of the critical points in the life of African-Americans from Reconstruction on to the Civil Rights struggle of the early 1960's. This is history that is informative as well as entertaining.

As an educator by profession, I heartily recommend this film to be a staple in every media center's video library. Timeless and relevant, "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman" is an undeniable masterpiece!


Civil war to civil rights   January 3, 2006
FrKurt Messick (Bloomington, IN USA)
9 out of 9 found this review helpful

It surprises me how many people think that The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman is an actual biographical/autobiographical work. It is not -- it is fiction. It is a brilliantly crafted work interweaving historical references and recollections into an overall framework of the life of a woman born into slavery who survived to the point of the beginnings of the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s.

The style of the book made into a film is one of oral history. The editor interviewed and transcribed Miss Jane's stories beginning in 1962 and going on for nearly a year. The editor also talked to other people, particularly when Miss Jane would fall silent or forget things (he couldn't tell if she was doing this deliberately or not), and also talked to people after Miss Jane's funeral. Some of this is lost in the film, but the overall narrative flow does keep this flavour in the story.

In a small space, the author (who is to be distinguished from the editor, a character in the novel) shows his intention -- this is to be an overarching story of black experience from the Civil War to Civil Rights, seen primarily through the experience of one woman, but incorporating and representing the experiences of all others.

The telling of the tale begins in the Civil War, where Miss Jane is child (she can't actually remember when she was born). Her name at that point was Ticey. Her first story deals with negotiating the delicate balance between fleeing Confederate soldiers, arriving Union soldiers, and the dominant presence of the mistress of the plantation. It was a Union soldier who suggested the name of Jane to Ticey ('Ticey is a slave name' the corporal said). Thus she became Jane. Jane Brown, adopting the last name of the corporal. These scenes are portrayed in the movie with strong performances.

Unfortunately for Jane, the mistress didn't like this, and tried to beat the name out of her. Jane refused to recant the name, and got put out in the field for her 'sass'. A year later, when the war ended, she set out for Ohio, the state where the corporal who named her had lived. The decision was a tough one -- the older folk didn't want to risk the journey, perhaps a case of better the devil you know. The young folks, however, were having none of the continuing presence of a master and mistress. They set out right away. Jane bid farewell to her Uncle Isom and set out with a group of people, some misfits, some smart.

Soon they had their first run-in with the forerunners of the Klan. From her hiding place, Jane watched the 'patrollers' kill Big Laura, the mother-figure of the group, and all of the rest of the travellers. Suddenly she was alone save for Ned, Big Laura's little boy. She was a mother figure right away. Being resourceful and pragmatic as a slave is forced to learn to be from earliest days, she grabbed the supplies and left with Ned, still hoping to travel to Ohio.

However, fortune and lack of proper directions led Jane and Ned into many encounters through the south, and when finding someone who has a map, they also come to the realisation that there might be difficulty in finding soldier Brown in Ohio. Which part of Ohio is he in?

Jane and Ned end up on a plantation, doing work like they had done before. Jane remained behind to experience ongoing strife and trouble, encountering carpetbagger politicians, business dealings, and abandonment. The plantation was purchased by an old Confederate office, Colonel Dye, and the people supporting the blacks all left. Cicely Tyson takes over the role as the adult Jane Pittman at this point, and does an absolutely stunning job at the part.

Ned left for the North, having changed his last name to Douglass, after Frederick Douglass. His life was in danger, so he had to go. After Ned left, Jane began her relationship with Joe Pittman; living together outside of marriage at first, which Jane justified in a way by explaining that black folk didn't have church marriages in slavery times, and they just weren't sure what to do now.

Joe and Jane left for east Texas for their own land after a time, after having an altercation with Colonel Dye over $150, plus surprise interest. Joe worked at breaking horses, becoming 'chief' Pittman, something of which both Joe and Jane were proud. Jane worked in a house as a servant. They did this for about ten years. Joe was killed by a horse no one could break, including Joe -- Jane had premonitions of the death, but Joe had to go 'a man's way'.

The story of Miss Jane continues apace through experience on another plantation and finally ending up in the Quarters. This is where she helped give birth to and raise Jimmy.

Anytime a child is born, the old people look in his face and ask him if he's the One. No, they don't say it out loud like I'm saying it to you now. Maybe they don't say it at all; maybe they just feel it -- but feel it they do. "You the One?" I'm sure Lena asked Jimmy that when she first held him in her arms. "You the One, Jimmy? You the One?"

Jimmy was the one who would get Miss Jane involved in the Civil Rights struggle late in her life, a struggle which she had in fact been participating in all her life. Jimmy, like so many in Miss Jane's life, like so many in black experience, would end up being killed, this time over protests for drinking fountains and bathroom privileges. But as Miss Jane said, just part of him was dead.

The greater part of Jimmy was still alive, and with the courage and example of Miss Jane, they went to Bayonne to stand up for their rights. Miss Jane was affected by many events; Miss Jane finally stopped reacting and acted up.

The author of the story, Ernest Gaines, was born on a Louisiana plantation. His descriptions and situations are authentic and mesmerising, and these are captured well in the film. Cicely Tyson's portrayal of Miss Jane in the film is an endearing performance, but one misses much if one relies solely on the film (plus some of the details are changed, sometimes inexplicably). One thing I would recommend is watching the film and reading the book as companions to each other -- some of the dialogue in the film supplements the book (like Miss Jane's final speech to the reporter), and the book fills in (as all books do) many of the details glossed over in the film.



IF Movies Were Gem's This ONE IS A Flawless Beauty   January 18, 2006
1 WOLF CITY PLAZA (Baltimore, Maryland USA)
7 out of 9 found this review helpful

This movie moves me to tears everytime I am honored to see it. The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman ~ Cicely Tyson is as real as television or movies can get. The acting is so trueful and understated allowing the shear power of the subject matter presented to reach up and envelope the viewer. The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman movie can change the coldest of bigoted hearts if you allow it to do so. The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman teaches without preaching. This movie is a beautiful strong black woman's unflinching look at a lifetime of the most hiddious ugliness possible in the hearts of so many in her community. Fiction Mrs Jane Pittman defeated with charm grace and defiant dignity the most potent bile hate and evil people in her world could muster and yet she rises above it all with a humble quiet dignity lost to so many in todays world.

I have been blessed to know real people who lived through the indignities portrayed on this DVD who have survived with the same quality of forgiving humble dignity and enhanced sense of self worth. That people can survive the brutal banal atroscities born of hate in this country with the sense of inner peace shown in this DVD movie is entirely true for I have witnessed it in the hearts of some special people I have known. When Mrs Pittman takes a drink from the Whites Only fountain I totally lose it crying like a baby because everything about the DVD builds so effectively to that piviotal moment that my heart leaps with joy when it finally happens.

This is one DVD I am honored to have in my collection, I am enriched far beyond the meager price I paid for this DVD for the priceless lesson it teaches me and all who watch it. If I could buy just one more DVD in life this would be The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, and I would purchase it reasons far too numerous to count or put into words.



The Role God Wanted Cicely Tyson to Play   April 27, 2006
Neil Cotiaux (North Canton, Ohio United States)
7 out of 8 found this review helpful

Much has been said about the role that network television news played in shining a spotlight on Bull Connor and the rest of the racists in the Old South of the Fifties and Sixties, and those observations are correct. By the late Sixties, with the passage of landmark Civil Rights legislation and grudging acceptance by some that change was here to stay, real barriers began to be broken and doors opened. But, like all seismic shifts in culture, change would have to be reinforced to make it complete.

"The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman" proved again what the small screen can do to change hearts. The measure of a truly great work of art is that it can be viewed in any number of settings and never have its impact diminished. "2001: A Space Odyssey" is nearly as mesmerizing on television as it was on the theatre screen, so groundbreaking was its approach to the question of human potentiality. In equal measure, "Autobiography" is worthy of the big screen, so artful and compelling is its treatment of the issue of human dignity.

Thanks to extraordinarily skillful makeup artists, but largely to her own meteoric talents, Cicely Tyson turns in a flawless performance that will never grow old. Her facial expressions, voice timber, eye movements - her complete persona - embody the convictions of a woman growing more mature, more realistic, but still never losing her hope and dreams. It is an astonishing performance that demands exposure to the widest possible audience.

Regrettably, I wondered just recently whether the reaction of the townfolks to Miss Jane's final act of courage at the end of this masterpiece occurred more out of respect for her age than her color. As this is fiction, we want to, and can hope to answer "no". But as fiction based on history, we might hesitate before answering.

This film is a truly transformative experience - for a beloved actress, those in the film surrounding her, and most of all, for the viewer. One of my Top 5 picks of all time.




This is a made-for-television movie? Wow!   October 25, 1999
5 out of 5 found this review helpful

"The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman" was produced for television? Wow! It's much better than most theatrical films of its kind. As a perfect example of less-is-more film-making, this gem should be required viewing in all screenwriting courses. The word "masterpiece," abused in every other film review of today, truly applies to this film. Its lean-yet-shining production values make the seamless acting, tight writing, and important conflict all the more captivating. The climax? Do you enjoy a healthy, euphoric cry? A long LONG cry? One of the best cries you'll ever experience? SEE THIS FILM!!! Once you've stopped crying after a couple of days, be wicked and invite a toughie over to your home to see this film. Watch the toughie turn into jelly during the Water Fountain climax.