‘There’s going to be a Birdland in every city one day…’
As someone with only a passing interest in jazz and a hatred for long films, a 161-minute biopic of legendary jazz musician Charlie ‘Bird’ Parker seems an odd choice. There are a few things that brought me here. Firstly, Clint Eastwood has always been a director I’ve admired. Secondly, teaching Whiplash in my role as a film studies teacher has awakened me to Parker’s story (as he is referenced throughout as both a cautionary tale and as someone to aspire to). Lastly, it is featured in this list of the greatest music biopics of all time from the NME, and I am diligently working through the ones I haven’t seen. So, here we are…
Charting Parker’s (Forest Whitaker) rise and considerable fall, Eastwood’s excellent biopic takes in his humble beginnings, his meteoric early success and his ruinous heroin addiction. Sadly, it is the former that most defines Parker’s third act, although his music will always be his legacy. Elsewhere, Diane Venora excels as Parker’s muse, minder and lover Chan.
I’ve long admired Eastwood as a director. His point-and-shoot directorial style oozes class and is indicative of the man himself, no matter what you think of him. He does a great job here in showcasing the life of a man who is a giant on the jazz scene, but who was a complete mess the moment he stepped off the stage. Financial woes plagued Parker throughout his career and he constantly had to sell his saxophone to fund his prodigious heroin addiction. Eastwood presents this without comment or sentiment, as is customary, and the result is a compelling treatise on the relationship between art and addiction. It helps that Whitaker delivers a career-best performance and the soundtrack, as you would expect, is stunning.
Bird won’t be for everyone, and it is definitely too long, but for those interested in Parker or in jazz generally, there is plenty here to enjoy.