Film Review: Bird (1988)

Film Review: Bird (1988) | Ecency

(source: tmdb.org)

In the long and fruitful career of Clint Eastwood there are two distinct periods – first, when he was Hollywood’s greatest action film star and second, when he was serious film author subscribed to rave reviews and prestigious reviews that included “Oscars”. The point of transition between the two could be found in his 1988 film Bird, biopic dedicated to legendary jazz musician Charlie “Bird” Parker.

Title character is played by Forest Whitaker. The film lacks linear plot and instead moves in time trying to tell coherent story by moving back and forward through various periods of Parker’s life. Those include his 1939 debut in Reno Club in Kansas City, Missouri, where he would first experiment with improvisational style of music later known as “bebop”, further developed by Parker’s friend Dizzy Gillespie (played by Samuel E. Wright); the relationship with common-law wife Chan Parker (played by Diane Venora) who met him as a fan; friendship with white trumpet player Red Rodney (played by Michael Zelnicker) with whom he would tour and defy laws of racially segregated South; his life-long struggles with alcoholism and drug addiction that would affect his career, sanity, health and ultimately lead to premature death at the age of 34.

Although Bird had been originally envisioned by someone else, it turned into rather personal project for its director and producer Clint Eastwood. He is known for his great love of jazz and in case of Charlie Parker he became lifelong fan after seeing his performance live as teenager in California. Made almost simultaneously with his last appearance as iconic Dirty Harry, Bird enjoyed support of Warner Bros. studio which clearly indulged Eastwood with his artistic ambition in a film which was clearly and unapologetically non-commercial in nature (and represented Eastwood’s first directorial effort with him not on screen, not even in cameo). Eastwood nevertheless had rather decent budget at his disposal, spent mostly on meticulous reconstruction of 1940s and 1950s America with authentic costumes, props and other period detail. Eastwood with the help of his long-time associate Lennie Niehaus brought impressive soundtrack using the most advanced technology of time in order to isolate sound of Parker’s authentic saxophone recordings and seamlessly mix it with modern-day musicians. For that achievement Bird was awarded Oscar for the Best Sound, first of many Academy Awards Eastwood would gather in next few decades.

On the other hand, Eastwood wasn’t that lucky with cinematography by Jack N. Green. Bird is simply too dark. It doesn’t matter if that was clear artistic decision and attempt to match the look with often depressive subject matter. The audience is simply going to be confused, a problem made worse by non-linear narration. Eastwood is also, like in some of his latter films, obviously too fond of his work to pay attention to editing, which results in a film which is rather overlong. However, audience which is patient enough or willing to tolerate those flaws will be rewarded by brilliant performance of Forest Whitaker in one of his first great starring roles. Whitaker (who received Best Actor Award at Cannes Film Festival for his work) invests a lot of talent and energy in his role, delivering portrayal of immensely gifted man who nevertheless seems powerless against his inner demons and feels deep guilt over effect his self-destructive ways have on his friends and loved ones. Diane Venora is also great in what is arguably the best role of her career. Relatively unknown Canadian actor Michael Zelnicker is also good in the role of Parker’s fan who becomes his good friend and bandmate, but also begins to share his drug habits. Despite having rave reviews and getting prestigious reviews, Bird failed at the box office and represented one of the worst commercial disappointments in Eastwood’s career. On the other hand, those who share Eastwood’s love of jazz would probably be quite pleased with this film.

RATING: 6/10 (++)