'Round Midnight [Criterion Collection] [Blu-ray]

Director: Bertrand Tavernier Bertrand Tavernier

Overview

"In the hushed, spotlit darkness, the smoke from a hundred cigarettes curls and billows around the world-weary old black men as they shuffle on stage to their battered instruments and hunker down for another night's toil at the Blue Note. Sax player Dale Turner is their center. Rumpled as a flop house bed and haggard from years of too much booze, he picks up his axe and after a few tentative puffs, ensnares the listeners in a brooding spell of haunting notes that wind freely around the melody, escaping and transcending all notion of time and space, transforming Turner into the earthy essence of American jazz. 'Round Midnight is French filmmaker Bertrand Tavernier's loving tribute to jazz music. The film is loosely based on the life of be-bop pianist Bud Powell and filled with plenty of authentic atmosphere, made even more so by the presence of saxophone great Dexter Gordon in the role of Turner, an aging alcoholic artist who tires of impersonal late-1950's New York and goes to Paris, the center of Europe's American jazz scene in hopes of finding salvation. Despite the presence of many old-time friends who try to help him, Turner seems on an unstoppable downward slide. Still he plays every night at the Blue Note, not knowing that outside, his most devoted fan, Francis Borier, listens to every note, dreaming of the chance to meet his hero Turner. One night his dream comes true and the impoverished Frenchman buys Turner a badly-needed beer. In return, Turner sees that Borier is allowed into the club for free. A friendship begins that night and the story centers on how Borier attempts to inspire Turner to create his most beautiful work while also trying to save the old jazzman's life."

Product Details

Release Date:	04/26/2022
UPC:	0715515271318
Original Release:	1986
Source:	Criterion Collection
Language:	English
Sales rank:	2,855

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Dexter Gordon	Dale Turner
Francois Cluzet	Francis Borler
Gabrielle Haker	Berangere
Sandra Reaves-Phillips	Buttercup
Lonette McKee	Darcey Leigh
Christine Pascal	Sylvie
Herbie Hancock	Eddie Wayne,Conductor,Composer
Bobby Hutcherson	Ace
Pierre Trabaud	Francis's Father
Frederique Meininger	Francis's Mother
Liliane Rovere	Mme. Queen
Hart Leroy Bibbs	Hershell
Ged Marlon	Beau
Benoit Regent	Psychiatrist
Victoria Gabrielle Platt	Chan
Arthur French	Booker
John Berry	Ben
Martin Scorsese	Goodley
Philippe Noiret	Redon
Alain Sarde	Terzian
Eddy Mitchell	A Drunk
Wayne Shorter	Saxophonist
Cheikh Fall	Percussionist
Cedar Walton	Pianist
Charles Belonzi	Actor
Marpessa Djian	Actor
Patrick Massieu	Actor
Jacques Poitrenaud	Actor
Jimmy Slyde	Actor
Pascale Vignal	Actor
Arnaud Chevrier	Actor
Guy Louret	Actor
Philippe Moreau	Actor
Luc Sarot	Actor
Pascal Tedes	Actor
Noel Simsolo	Actor
Tony Williams	Drums
Palle Mikkelborg	Trumpet
Freddie Hubbard	Trumpet
Eric Le Lann	Trumpet
Michel Perez	Guitar
John C. McLaughlin	Guitar
Mads Vinding	Bass
Pierre Michelot	Bass
Ron Carter	Himself (Bass)
Billy Higgins	Drums
Davout Studio	Actor
Cheikh Tidiane Fall	Percussion
John McLaughlin	Guitar

Technical Credits

Bertrand Tavernier

David Rayfiel

Amanda Mackey Johnson	Casting
Bertrand Tavernier	Director,Screenwriter
Irwin Winkler	Producer
William Flageollet	Sound/Sound Designer
Michel Desrois	Sound/Sound Designer
David Rayfiel	Screenwriter

Editorial Reviews

'Round Midnight, a film inspired by the lives of Bud Powell and Lester Young, is director Bertrand Tavernier's audio-visual lament for the impending death of jazz. Tavernier utilizes a roving camera and be-bop editing to tell this story of the relationship between a self-destructive, emotionally-disintegrating but technically-brilliant jazz legend (Dexter Gordon) living and working in exile in France, and his fawning Gaullic admirer (Francois Cluzet). A subtle chauvinism underlies the story, as America is the land that devours its genius, while France succors it. The startlingly authentic performance of real-life tenor-sax legend and non-actor Dexter Gordon in the lead role is a stroke of genius. His raspy staccato delivery captures the world-weariness of his character perfectly, while he and fellow players' superb musicianship in the key performance passages adds an important element of authenticity and verisimilitude to the proceedings (all performances were filmed live, with no post-production dubbing). Herbie Hancock's Academy Award-winning musical helmsmanship layers the film with a moody melancholia, allowing it to tell its story with jazz riffs as much as words. The story is thinly-plotted, lyrical, and romantic, guided by the spirit of the art form it celebrates. -- Dan Jardine