A sincere tribute to a tenor saxophonist and
his stint in Paris, the film reveals an insight not only into the
craft of jazz but the mind of an artist who draws from past pain
to express his art and whose art haunts him as a draining and
exhausting talent. Unfortunately for Dexter Gordon - who plays
saxophonist Dale Turner - he also drinks or abuses drugs to dull
that same pain. The film covers his brief attempt at staying
clean in Paris, and his return to New York.
The film is most successful at depicting a
mostly African American quasi-jazz family in Paris. They live
together, they work together, they take care of Gordon the
impresario, and they live a life altogether different than the
average life of a black man in 1950s America.
In direction, I was reminded somewhat of
Scorcese's "The Color of Money" and "The Last
Waltz" in that the director keeps the camera moving and
varies his tracks and angles, a necessity in films where you are
devoid of action. A great deal of the time, Gordon is playing,
seated on a stool, or he is drinking, seated at a bar. The camera
movement is loving and gentle, necessary for the soft-spoken and
sometimes inaudible Gordon. Interestingly. Scorcese has a small
role as an unctuous agent for Gordon in New York.
But Paris is the center of the film, and Gordon
arrives to play at a small club. He has a built-in support group,
and he is denied alochol. He befriends a young Frenchman, Frances,
for whom the jazz great has been an inspiration. Soon, Gordon and
Frances are living together, and Frances is nannying the player.
The nannying transforms into a close friendship, and includes
Frances' young daughter.
Through this relationship, we get to see a
normalization for Gordon, a respite from his artistic demons, and
a mirror to his what-might-have-been life. We later find out he
has a largely neglected daughter in New York. But the music and
its attendant need for creation presses in on him. This is the
meat of the film.
A confession: I know very little about jazz. As
a novice, however, I was surprised at how haunting and touching
the many of Gordon's numbers were. And 'Round Midnite is first
and foremost a concert film, with at least 7 musical numbers (including
three vocals, two with Lonette McKee).
Effectively backed by Branford Marsalis on
piano, and a troupe of other musicians (always drums, upright
bass, and guitar, sometimes, an accompanying saxophone and a
xylophone), the music is lushly layered, with Gordon playing
prominent and mournful throughout.
The fact that it is a concert film is the movie's
biggest weakness. At times, the story is choppy and the strain
between giving us performance and giving us story is evident.
Still, all in all, the conflict is balanced.
I enjoyed this film, and it is a film I never
in a million years would have seen otherwise. I am also buying
the soundtrack, because, in a quasi-concert film, you get a
chance to listen to the music with the enhancement of visuals. It
helps when being introduced to something new.
