Soundtrack for a Revolution

This documentation of the turmoil, anguish and victories of the 1960s civil-rights movement and the “freedom songs” that fueled its resolutely nonviolent protests is an oddly discordant mash-up of archival news footage and talking-head interviews with modern musical performances. The archival footage is just as disturbing and relevant as the day it was shot, and the hindsight of former Martin Luther King aides, congressmen, reverends and other 1960s civil rights activists add to its potency. But the film sacrifices some of its chronological momentum, grit, and sense of raw outrage and determination when it intermittently yanks us onto a soundstage for slickly produced numbers by such popular recording artists as John Legend, Wyclef Jean, Mary Mary, Richie Havens, Joss Stone and the Blind Boys of Alabama.