Thelonious monk documentary movie#

Thelonious monk documentary movie#

(The narration is in German, subtitled the movie was made for West German television.) ItвЂ™s a film of relationships-of the filmmakersвЂ™ connections with their many subjects-and, as such, itвЂ™s a remarkable early example of the influence of the participatory direct-cinema ideas developed by Robert Drew and realized by the cinematographer-filmmakers who emerged from his circle, including Albert Maysles and D. Christian (credited as Schwarzwald) co-directed with Robert Leacock and conceived the project with the novelist Uwe Johnson, who wrote the voice-over commentary. documentary, вЂњ Summer in the City,вЂќ which is entirely about the Upper West Side. In 1968, Christian Blackwood made another great N.Y.C. ItвЂ™s a haunting, anecdotal cross-section of city life, and New YorkвЂ™s personalities seem to burst forth from the screen. The movie teems with daily dramas: teen-agers in poufy dresses appear headed to a prom an elderly woman is teaching a child to read. Then as now, buskers display their talents in transit, and beggars make their way through the cars. Blackwood calls attention to some prevalent activities, such as sleeping in the subway (he filmed many people, seemingly commuters, dozing during their late-night travel), and to others that seem to have caught him by surprise, such as a child standing at the open doors between cars to catch the breeze, and a group of people playing cards during their trip.

He shows men in straw hats, tightly coiffed women in dresses, and a general trend toward formality in apparel-yet also a diversity of attire among the young that belies easy generalizations. (ItвЂ™s a silent film, featuring spare music by Howard Gilbert.) Blackwood flings himself into the action, keeping his camera running in the center of a crowd densely packing into a train. The movie, filmed mostly during the evening rush hour and late at night, is a nineteen-minute symphony of faces and gestures, of styles and habits. It starts with a conductor in a train yard preparing an A train for its journey to Rockaway. Michael BlackwoodвЂ™s first film, the short вЂњ Broadway Express,вЂќ from 1959 (streaming on Kanopy and Vimeo on Demand), is an intimate spectacle of the New York subway. In the process, I discovered several other films of theirs, available to stream (on Vimeo, posted there by Michael Blackwood Productions), which deserve recognition as classic documentaries of New York public life. (Their original family name was Schwarzwald.) I was recently digging around for the work that theyвЂ™re best known for-the 1967-68 footage of Thelonious Monk in performance that is prominently featured in Charlotte ZwerinвЂ™s documentary вЂњThelonious Monk: Straight, No Chaser,вЂќ which was released in 1988. John purportedly to be produced by Impact Artist Productions (and Management) and Radical Media,вЂќ the estate said in a statement.The brothers Michael and Christian Blackwood, documentary filmmakers, were born in Berlin-Michael in 1934, Christian in 1942-and came to the United States in 1949.

John, clarifies that the Estate has not authorized the recently announced documentary on the life of Dr. вЂњThe Official Estate of Malcolm John Rebennack, Jr., p/k/a Dr. John issued a statement denying their involvement in the upcoming Dan Auerbach-directed documentary about the late New Orleans legend. Only a day after the statement from the Monk estate, Yasiin Bey announced that he is pulling out from the project due to these objections.ДЄt the same time, the estate of late R&B great Dr. вЂњThere isnвЂ™t any involvement by anybody within the Monk household with this project, and we actually condemn the trouble.вЂќ вЂњI hate the script and I control the music in TheloniousвЂ™ catalog,вЂќ Monk mentioned. Monk, the musicianвЂ™s son and the head of the organization that runs the Thelonious Monk property, told Pitchfork that the вЂњproject and its announcement are completely unauthorized!вЂќ Just 24 hours after it was announced that rapper Yasiin Bey (formerly known as Mos Def) will play late jazz legend Thelonious Monk in a new biopic film titled Thelonious, the artistsвЂ™ estate came out with a statement вЂњcondemningвЂќ the film as unauthorized.