Hallelujah is a story that revolves around the life of a poor, black, sharecropping family and how they overcome tragedy. This sharecropping family has worked hard and is about to receive a large sum of money for their efforts. I think the title in itself represents a sense of dread and uneasiness surrounding the family. Each of the characters in this film, Zeke, Mammie, Missy, Pappy, Chick, Hot Shot and the children exhibit all the stereotypes that are associated with Blacks: always dancing, grinning, conning, goofing off and lacking commitment.
Zeke, the slacker, is given the task to take the crop to market and is accompanied by his younger, hardworking brother. A pretty woman, Chick, cons him into gambling and when he losses all the money for the crop that his family has worked hard for, a fight ensues and his younger brother, an innocent bystander, is shot and dies on the way home. Zeke is changed emotionally by the death of his brother. He sees the light and God calls him to go and tell the people to get on board or die and go to hell. This is ironic because Zeke’s brother in the opening scene is the one reading the Bible with Pappy.
Zeke and his family hold travelling revivals to save the souls of the lost. Chick is one of those lost souls. However, Zeke seems to be hypnotized by Chick and he runs off with her leaving his finance, Missy behind. At the end of the movie, Chick is killed after she runs off with her old flame Hot Shot; Hot Shot is killed by Zeke; Zeke returns to his family where Missy is waiting for him.
I find this plot very similar to non-white movie plots that surround an impoverished white family. For instance, this movie is similar to the Waltons, a poor white family. Their lives share a pattern of impending loss; whether financial lost, love lost or life itself. And with each loss, at the end of the day there is their religion and each other. This was a good way to describe the bonds of family.