Brianland

Musicians’ Movie Masterpiece — ‘Round Midnight movie breakdown, background & review

.

Jazz sparks the synapses and lifts the spirits — and ‘Round Midnight lives up to its genre.  I can barely get through any 15 minutes of this film without it firing me off into unexplored stratospheres of beauty, tingling with goosebump awe.

There’s the music of the script’s dialog … the music cookin’ by the A-list jazz musicians … the story of an innocent appreciator connecting with a master … the setting of Paris jazz clubs in 1959 … alcoholism and drug addiction lingering like a hanger-on that won’t leave … the process of creation never shutting off for those gifted with it and afflicted by it … all of it is soaring through every minute of this sonic cinematic masterpiece.

While this is probably the greatest film ever made about music & musicians – it’s also a movie about friendship and love — the love among collaborators who share a collective creation, in this case a band making music on a stage in a club — the love of an artist for his or her craft — the love of a devotee for the work of a genius — the love between a father and daughter — the love between old friends and old flames — the love that transcends ages and cultures — the love of life … and art … and beauty.

Based on the true story of Parisian jazz enthusiast Francis Paudras who befriended and cared for aging bebop pioneer Bud Powell, shepherding him back to health and back to New York.  It also blends in saxophonist Lester Young’s life story, all manifested thru real-life saxophone master Dexter Gordon, who actually recorded with Bud.  But it’s also the story of all Black jazz expatriates who left the rank racism of 1950s America and relocated to Paris, including Lester, Thelonious, Sidney Bechet, Josephine Baker, Kenny Clarke (the bebop drummer), and also unappreciated white cats like Bill Evans & Chet Baker who followed them, many of whom were also in the real Francis’s orbit.

Wildly, Francis wrote an autobiographical biography of jazz giant Bud Powell, much like another bilingual French-English bebop-enthusiast writer named Jack Kerouac who wrote autobiographically about his life among artistic giants and bebop music.  And in another crazy twist, the actor who plays Francis bears a striking resemblance to Kerouac in those jazzy ’50s years.

The great socially conscious award-winning French director Bertrand Tavernier took up the project in the 1980s, co-writing the screenplay based on Paudras’ memoir, and enlisting Hollywood producer Irwin Winkler who championed stories of heroic underdogs going up against seemingly insurmountable odds like Rocky and The Right Stuff.

It was Tavernier who insisted on casting the real jazzman Dexter Gordon, who had never acted before, and was in the twilight of his career – dying at age 67 less than four years after the movie came out. 

His performance is so outstanding he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, the first & only jazz musician ever so honored.

And Tavernier continued his authentic jazz casting, bringing in a young-looking 45-yr-old Herbie Hancock to lead the on-screen band and compose, arrange & conduct the score — which led to him winning the Oscar for Best Original Score, the only time he ever appeared on that stage.

A movie about music and musicians . . . and the music comes first

Tavernier wanted all the music to be played & recorded live on camera, so they brought in a who’s-who of jazz masters who could lay down perfect takes every time, including John McLaughlin, Wayne Shorter, Ron Carter, Tony Williams & Freddie Hubbard among others.  Herbie also plays the bandleader in the movie, and renown vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson plays a confidant to the Dexter character, appropriate since the two were actually friends since childhood.  Plus, unlike pretty much every other dramatic film about music, the songs here are complete (or nearly complete) and not the 60-second versions we’re teased with in other films.

Herbie Hancock, Dexter Gordon, Pierre Michelot, John McLaughlin

The other musical casting gem is the sonically soulful Lonette McKee who delivers one of the most divine duets ever captured on film sharing voice and sax with Dexter on the Gershwins’ How Long Has This Been Going On?

The non-musical roles are also perfectly cast, including the heart-on-his-sleeve jazz pupil, co-lead Francis played by the in-demand French character actor François Cluzet, who, again, has a striking resemblance to the Franco-American jazz disciple Jack Kerouac.

As if this mind-blowing A-list cast isn’t enough, the film has a comedic ace up its sleeve that’s not revealed until an hour & 45 into the movie when we’re surprised by the comically fast-talking New York impresario played as only he could by no less than Martin Scorsese.

By 1985, producer Winkler had shepherded Marty’s Raging Bull and New York, New York thru production, and surely the busy director would never have set aside the time to play this role if not for his love & respect for Winkler — who would later go on to produce Marty’s Goodfellas, The Wolf of Wall Street, The Irishman & others.

To me, this movie is the miracle Alejandro Iñárritu was talking about when he famously said — “To make a film is easy.  To make a good film is war.  To make a great film is a miracle.”

No other filmmaker had ever picked up on this real-life story of a jazz fan and a jazz master connecting.  And it all happened in France, so a North American director would never have had the same sensibilities or brought the same authenticity that a local arts connoisseur would imbue the project with.

And there is no other capture in a non-documentary film that I’ve ever seen or heard of like Dexter Gordon’s here.  This is a genuine jazz genius being his eccentric self in front of a camera.  There are so few of these humans ever born.  That one has been captured in a masterpiece of a dramatic film puts this movie in a class of its own.

Dexter in Copenhagen during his 10-year exile

Then add to that an absolutely great dramatic script with so many fully fleshed out & fun characters … the exciting puts-you-there cinematography … the quick cool jazzy editing … the realistic production design of down-&-out Paris & New York circa 1959 … and the phenomenal sound editing and live recording of both the music and Dexter’s soft non-theatrical vocal projection.  They had to capture him live because he’d never be able to loop this chit.

Musical highlights to savor

Right after Dale & Francis first meet, then go back to the Blue Note, we’re treated to the song Bud Powell actually wrote for the real Francis — the joyous uptempo Afro-Cuban Una Noche con Francis (A Night with Francis) — with fellow tenor master Wayne Shorter duetting with Dex (the only time they ever shared a stage!), and Bobby Hutcherson joining on vibes.  It is deep-cut touches like this by Herbie & Bertrand that put this film on the top shelf.

Besides the 20 or so jazz classics sprinkled throughout this symphony, one of the hottest musical moments is Herbie’s original score when Dale/Dexter goes missing (41 mins in) and Francis is frantically looking for him on the streets of Paris.  Since so much of the movie’s music is focused around a horn player, Herbie takes full advantage of the break and writes a thrilling dramatic polyrhythmic drum-forward sequence.  With the disc at home, I replay this 2-minute passage over & over a dozen times whenever I’m watching the movie cuz it’s just so rockin’–cool!

Also, right after the Lonette McKee masterpiece I mentioned above, How Long Has This Been Going On?, we’re taken to a musicians party at Francis’s apartment that begins with Herbie’s classic Watermelon Man, and the proverbial microphone is passed around the party as everyone plays for fun for their friends.  Attempts at this kind of scene have been staged by many different filmmakers, but this one was clearly created by the musicians themselves.  This is a small private family gathering that outsiders don’t get invited to, and it’s a real treat that this film takes us to one.

As Dexter’s character says at one point — “You just don’t go out and pick a style off a tree one day.   The tree is inside you growing naturally.” 

Dexter, Wayne, Billy, Ron, director Bertrand Tavernier & Herbie

This movie takes us inside the mind & life of jazz musicians like no other.  The original Francis was entrusted with the access of a bandmember.  He captured Bud & others on film, on tape, and in words, and ultimately shared it all with the world.  Thank god an artist of similar sensibilities, Bertrand Tavernier, took that treasure trove and crafted it into this masterpiece of a dramatic film . . . co-creating it with living jazz masters Dexter Gordon and Herbie Hancock and all the other geniuses they wove in.

Both the music and the film worlds are forever richer for this masterpiece having been forged from the smithy of their souls.

.

=========================================

.

.

.

======================================

.

Here’s the full masterpiece of a performance . . .

.

And here’s the all-star Una Noche con Francis with Wayne Shorter & Bobby Hutcherson joining in . . . 

.

======================================

.

Here’s a tale of another musical movie . . . set  in Europe . . . featuring jazz and Jack Kerouac . . .

On The Road to On The Road in London — Sex, Drugs & Jazz

.

And here’s where ‘Round Midnight joins 24 other masterpieces on my Greatest Movies of All-time list . . .

Greatest Movies Ever Made — Brian’s Version

.

Or here’s some of Brian’s tips to maximize your experience at the New Orleans Jazz Fest . . .

New Orleans Jazz Fest for someone who hasn’t been

.

==================================

.

by Brian Hassett

karmacoupon@gmail.com   —  BrianHassett.com

Or here’s my Facebook page if you wanna join in there —

https://www.facebook.com/Brian.Hassett.Canada