Review

The producers of this very rarely screened film notoriously rejiggered its sequencing after Herbert Danska finished it (much to his chagrin). Still, it remains a finely sustained, elegiac take on saxophonist savant Charlie Parker's life. The corrosive effects of drug abuse, racial hostility, and mental instability are seen gradually taking hold of the protagonist’s career, leading to his ruin. Pianist Mal Waldron scored the film brilliantly, no doubt thanks to his intimate knowledge of its subject matter—he suffered his own fabled mental breakdown a few years prior to taping. — Tayt Harlin