First let me give you some adjectives which in my opinion describe this limited showing new film.
Awful, demeaning, racially uncomfortable, sadistic, masochistic, dark, morbid, artistic (in a bad way), tiring, boring, confusing, creepy, erotic, brutal, suggestive, irritating, inaccurate, uninspired, irritating, sickening, unfocused, meandering, uninformative, endless…………….
Now that I have given my opinion on this disappointing film, I will give some of the many examples which brought me to this conclusion.
As soon as I heard that they had done a film about Buddy Bolden and that Wynton Marsalis was involved with the music for the film, I had great expectations of its possible value. Unfortunately I was deeply disappointed as were the other three people in the theater today.
Few musicians know the history of New Orleans as well as the Marsalis family for this is their home turf. Few musicians are as well educated as Wynton on the history and the art form of Jazz. With that said you can imagine how excited I was to find out that this film showcased an important and little known giant of Jazz called Buddy Bolden. How could this film not be the highpoint of my movie going year?
Both my wife and I longed for it to be over so that we could leave. Scenes of brutal body disfigurement, repeated bare knuckle brawling, drug induced overdoses, abandon promiscuity, repeated full length nudity, foul language and (and as true to life as I would ever want to experience) life in a mental ward during the early years of the last century.
One issue I found very disturbing was the fact that the trumpet player (Louis Armstrong) and the subject of the film (Buddy Bolden) weren’t even close to using the correct fingering throughout the film. The only time the fingers matched the notes was at the end of the film when they had Satch and Bolden playing a fantasized duet on the last number. That was well done.
As we left the theater, I wanted to try to get my money back but my wife as always was more tactful.
Now, if you see the film and you have a different opinion, please let me know for I may have missed something. Or, if you liked the film, you need professional help.
I Completely agree. How disappointed I was. In fact, I didn’t wait for the film to finish. The good point is the music itself. Despite the fact that no recordings of Bolden’s music had survive, I still have some trust on Wynton’s historical knowledge and fidelity to the original music and its reconstruction.
Wynton has an excellent grasp of the history of New Oreans as well as the history of Jazz.