I mentioned this film on an earlier thread and having decided to put the Excel spreadsheets away, have just sat down to watch the animated film "Chico & Rita." I quite like animations and would have to admit to being a fan of the Pixar films and the Ghibli efforts. The quality of the animation is nowhere near the jaw-dropping brilliance of Ghibli yet "Chico & Rita" must rank as one of the best films about jazz I've seen. I'm staggered just how much it exceeded my expectations.
What I loved about the film is that the animation seems to take it's cues from the illustrations on the old Verve records. This made a favourable impression from the first frame. However, the amount of musical knowledge in this film is staggering. A whole host of famous faces crop up as animated characters including Bird, Dizzy, Woody Herman, Tito Puente, Ben Webster, Thelonious Monk and a very sinister Chano Pozo. The music , by Bebo Valdes, is terrific and excellently captures the Cuban / Be-bop sound and this is supplemented by some famous records of the time such as "Manteca." The line up of the musicians performing the sound track includes some quite well known names including the very great Jimmy Heath.
Usually films about jazz are a bit clumsy or full of stereotypes. This film has a few cliches in it but I felt this was a film made by a jazz fan for jazz fans. Many famous venues such as the Village Vanguard feature and the dialogue regarding the music is spot on the money.
I'm flagging this film up as there are others such as Bluesnik who share my interest in foriegn films. I cannot recommend this film highly enough. The story is great and ultimately very moving and there seems to be jazz played almost continually throughout the soundtrack. I would go as far as saying that this will eclipse the likes of "Breathless" and "Lift to the scaffold" (the latter being one of my favourite French films regardless of the Miles Davis soundtrack) in the pantheon of great films about jazz. I picked up my DVD for absolute peanuts and I can't recalling seeing many other films about jazz which nail the music as effectively as this. It feel it is as good as the "'Round midnight" film and certainly it is much faster paced than Tavernier's effort. Hugely entertaining and choc-a-block with great music. This film is essential viewing for jazz fans.
What I loved about the film is that the animation seems to take it's cues from the illustrations on the old Verve records. This made a favourable impression from the first frame. However, the amount of musical knowledge in this film is staggering. A whole host of famous faces crop up as animated characters including Bird, Dizzy, Woody Herman, Tito Puente, Ben Webster, Thelonious Monk and a very sinister Chano Pozo. The music , by Bebo Valdes, is terrific and excellently captures the Cuban / Be-bop sound and this is supplemented by some famous records of the time such as "Manteca." The line up of the musicians performing the sound track includes some quite well known names including the very great Jimmy Heath.
Usually films about jazz are a bit clumsy or full of stereotypes. This film has a few cliches in it but I felt this was a film made by a jazz fan for jazz fans. Many famous venues such as the Village Vanguard feature and the dialogue regarding the music is spot on the money.
I'm flagging this film up as there are others such as Bluesnik who share my interest in foriegn films. I cannot recommend this film highly enough. The story is great and ultimately very moving and there seems to be jazz played almost continually throughout the soundtrack. I would go as far as saying that this will eclipse the likes of "Breathless" and "Lift to the scaffold" (the latter being one of my favourite French films regardless of the Miles Davis soundtrack) in the pantheon of great films about jazz. I picked up my DVD for absolute peanuts and I can't recalling seeing many other films about jazz which nail the music as effectively as this. It feel it is as good as the "'Round midnight" film and certainly it is much faster paced than Tavernier's effort. Hugely entertaining and choc-a-block with great music. This film is essential viewing for jazz fans.
Comment