Round Midnight (DVD)

IMHO, most reviewers are putting too much emphasis on the jazz side and content of this movie, failing to realize that the jazz back story is just incidental. There is much more to "'Round Midnight" than just jazz - even though there is a lot of TOP QUALITY jazz there. You don't even have to like jazz to like this movie (even though I think one has to be an ogre not to float on the clouds with the magnificent soundtrack put together by Herbie Hancock and played in modest, nearly anonymous, but unsurprisingly superb cameo performances by the likes of Wynton Marsalis, John McLaughlin, Wayne Shorter, Freddie Hubbard, and of course, Herbie Hancock and Dexter Gordon themselves - not to mention Lonette McKee's AWESOME rendition of "How Long Has This Been Going On?").But "'Round Midnight" is NOT a musical, nor is it about music, musicians or jazz, and if you just want to listen to its (fabulous and Oscar-winning) music, you can buy the CD instead, or download its tracks. What makes it such an outstanding film that hasn't got old almost 30 years later, and the reason why it's one of my all-time favorite movies, is the sensible way it portrays the beautiful friendship of two men from very different backgrounds. When I want to show someone what my definition of TRUE friendship is - not mere "social acquaintance" - I tell them to watch this movie and see the lengths French fan and friend Francis Borler goes to for his idol Dale Turner, an African American saxophonist who, like many of his peers in the 1950s, flees racism and discrimination in his own country by going to Paris, where they were more accepted for their music. Among other things, Francis humiliates himself with his ex-wife, confronts the police and even beats up a drug dealer! I would be capable of doing things like those as well for my true friends (well, maybe not the beating up the drug dealer part...), so I see a lot of myself in Francis.While full of (spectacular) music, this is not a film about music or jazz; it's a film about human nature - and about the better part of it. Just this sets this movie apart - there are LOTS of movies about the worse part of human nature, but not many about its good side that don't fall into the abyss of kitsch and cheesiness. Bertrand Tavernier did that magnificently. Human nature can create Hitlers, but it can also create sublime music, as well as bridges between all kinds of cultural and personal differences, in the name of friendship, shown as a form of love - Socratic love, that intense and special bond that can exist between two men, without any homosexual undertone (in spite of the expression having been used as a euphemism for that in the past).See, for example, how Francis's little daughter Berangère at first is hurt for feeling neglected by her dad, but eventually understands, appreciates and partakes in her father's devotional friendship to Turner. Berangère is a little like us, spectators. And Turner is idolized only up to a certain extent: Francis is an artist himself, albeit of a different kind (a graphic designer), and he is moved above anything by gratitude for the personal growth that Turner's music had catalyzed in him, but he doesn't fail to acknowledge Turner's many flaws, starting with a bad case of alcoholism, self-destructing tendencies, and only relative gratitude. Instead of reproaching his friend, Francis helps him overcome his problems, but keeping in mind that the ultimate choices are Turner's and no one else's, which becomes very much evident at the end.And yes, Dexter Gordon's acting as Dale Turner is surprising and outstanding, as much as his sax playing. Pity that we only had this movie to enjoy it, as his acting talent was discovered only in his old age, and he died shortly after completing this movie.Those who are not used to the European style of cinema may find the movie boring, because its pace is definitely slow, with lots of dialogue interspersed with long silent shots, and psychological atmosphere. Those who are used to it, or who are willing to open their minds, will find this movie beautiful and sensible, and it will give you food for thought for a lifetime. I couldn't recommend it more emphatically!

First: if you are not a jazz musician or drawn to Bud Powell (or to a degree, the expat American jazz musician scene in Paris), you may wonder why I awarded this five stars. To be honest, it's not for everybody, and as a purely fictional or semi-fictional flick it would probably bore a non jazz musician.I pull this video out at least once a year just because Lester Young is my musical inspiration and Bud Powell is one of my top three pianists. While the main character is an amalgamation of Powell and Young, the story is closer to Bud Powell. In fact this is loosely based on Francis Paudras' book,  Dance Of The Infidels: A Portrait Of Bud Powell .Although liberties are taken to make the film more interesting to a wider audience, much of what is portrayed actually happened. Perhaps not exactly as portrayed, but close enough. Francis Borler in the movie is based on Padruas who took the real Bud Powell in. Later in life Parduas was more critical of Powell, but that is not shown or mentioned in the movie. Dale Turner, whose role is based on Bud Powell, is a fairly accurate characterization of him, although Powell was a pianist and Turner in the film is a tenor saxophonist. The Lester Young connection is tenuous at best. Turner uses a lot of phrases that Young was known for (and happens to be a saxophonist), but that's where the similarities end. Moreover, while Powell was an expatiate jazz musician living in Paris, Young never was.Some of the scenes ring true, and certainly from what I know about Powell and Paduras the storyline is more on target than not in the larger sense. This movie certainly does NOT follow Dance Of The Infidels to the letter, nor is it a biography. It's entertainment with facts tossed in.The music scenes were highlights for me. Especially since this film has Dexter Gordon in the lead role. He had played with Bud Powell and had met Lester Young (and perhaps performed with him as well), so his characterization of Powell's behavior and Young's turns of phrases is based on first hand knowledge. More importantly, Gordon is not an actor - he is a musician who is from the same world as Powell and Young (and spent time himself as an expat.)Of course, having real musicians in key roles add to the realism. Those are not actors who just happen to be musicians, but world class musicians like Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Ron Carter, Pierre Michelot, Billy Higgins and Tony Williams playing either themselves or fictional roles. I only listed some of the key musicians from memory - there are more that I cannot think of at the moment who are in the same class as those mentioned.Bottom line: this movie is in many ways more meaningful to insiders and fans than average watchers. While I find it fascinating enough to rewatch it at least once a year, I have friends who wondered what the point was and why I waste my time. Both my and their opinions are equally valid.

My comments are about the quality of the disk set and not the details of how I felt about the movie. This is my favorite jazz movie. I've owned the original DVD set for several years. This new Blu-ray edition is an improvement over the DVD. The video quality is certainly better, still a bit grainy in some areas but I'm certain that is the way the movie was filmed back then. There is a huge improvement in the sound quality, the music sounds clearer and wonderful. I also need to mention that this movie is in English as the original movie was. The American characters are speaking English and the French characters are speaking in French with English subtitles. The listing here on Amazon incorrectly lists the language on this movie as French and because of this I didn't purchase this set until verified from a friend that it was in fact in English as the original movie. The packaging is improved as well with a nice large folded insert with liner notes and artwork. Sit back, watch, and listen to this movie with a glass of wine.

A beautifully lyrical, melancholy-tinged period drama that centres around the relationship of jazz fan and commercial artist Francis (François Cluzet) and the musician Dale Turner (Dexter Gordon); Turner is a composite character based on Lester Young and Bud Powell and the background is that of the exiled American black jazz community of Paris in the late 50s-early 60s.I saw this when it came out in 1986 at the Glasgow film Theatre and it`s always been a favourite film of mine, with Gordon portraying a creative, sensitive but self-destructive jazz musician; the music is excellent, played by the musicians who also play the characters in the story and any serious jazz fan will get the many cultural references and names that are liberally scattered throughout the storyline.The Region 1 DVD from Warner Brothers will require a region free player; it is in English/French languages with on-screen subtitles for the French dialogue; English subtitles for the whole film can also be selected if required.There are no significant extras.

If you're reading this review then you're probably already familiar with the fact that the story is based on incidents in the lives of Lester Young and Bud Powell's periods of living and playing in Paris (and captured in the fictional character of Dale Turner played by the late, great Dexter Gordon). As such, the central plot is fairly nebulous and not a lot happens BUT that's not the point! This isn't a Hollywood film. This is a film about music and the obsession of two men with jazz, one a fan and the other a musician and the friendship they form. It is frankly one of the best fictional films about jazz, if not THE best, which I've ever seen. We all know that Dexter can play but he can also really act too, far better than many of the so-called actors who appear in many a modern Hollywood film today. One of the joys in watching this film is spotting whose who in the cast of supporting musicians, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, Wayne Shorter, etc, - a roll call of jazz talent. Highly recommend.

Adored this film when I first saw it back in January 1987. Rushed out and purchased the soundtrack, and now I'm a delighted recipient of this Bluray.For me, the finest jazz picture ever made.

Film about jazz. Lots of music, Nice cinematography, good performances. Very slow. Set in Paris in the late 1950s but released in 1986. There's also a story connected about a single French father who is a major fan of the music. As often with these films about a musical genius it's also a story about addiction.

This film beautifully evokes the feel of the artist trapped in his art moving towards destruction by his means of relief from intense absorption, dope. Exhaustion seeps from Dexter Gordon dispersed temporarily by his relationship with the French fan and his daughter who adopt him for a while in Paris. When finally Gordon's character returns to New York and dies as he takes up his old habits again, we are confronted by tragedy as shocking and inevitable as anything the Elizabethans showed us. Strongly recommended to film buffs and jazz fans alike. This from one who never really liked cool jazz anyway.Brain Pickering