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MILES DAVIS: BIRTH OF THE COOL
Director: Stanley Nelson MPAA
Rating: Running Time: 1:55 Release Date: 8/23/19 (limited); 10/4/19 (wider) |
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Review by Mark Dujsik | October 3, 2019 A straightforward and shallow documentary, Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool tells us what happened in the eponymous musician's life, in between assorted interviews with people telling us how amazing the man's music is. The music itself is here, of course, although it mostly fades to the background shortly after starting. Those talking heads, saying how incredible the music is, have to be heard, after all. Director Stanley Nelson structures his recap of Miles Davis' career and personal life as a chronological biography, beginning with his birth, ending with his death, and offering seemingly arbitrary place markers of time throughout. It's as simple as such a documentary can be. That's just the way of biographies in general. The more important feature is what information is revealed and how it's placed within a broader context—of the subject's life, society, culture, history, etc. Here, though, the information is so basic, while the context is so simplistic, that the pedestrian form of Nelson's documentary is only highlighted. Davis' career—not, importantly, his music—is the primary focus. After a brief discussion of his childhood (Carl Lumbly narrates the musician's writings), the movie explains how Davis, attending Juilliard, started performing in New York City clubs, before gaining the attention of one record executive after another. Gigs were performed, and albums were recorded. The major components of his music, repeated again and again by the interviewees (fellow musicians, family members, and "writers" of the unspecified variety—all of whom eagerly offer an impersonation of Davis' raspy voice at least once), were improvisation, a keen understanding of musical composition, and a desire to stay "hip" to the contemporary music scene. One really would rather listen to the music, instead of hearing the same talking points about it. As for Davis' personal life, Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool mentions but mostly glosses over the man's demons—alcoholism, drug dependence (One interviewee laughs while telling the story of Davis' increased paranoia during one period, which is just discomforting), abusive behavior. The suggestion—basically stated by at least one person here—is that we should ignore or forgive such elements of Davis' life, because the music wouldn't have existed without them. That's a tough sell—and even tougher coming from a movie that doesn't seem to interested in the music in the first place. Copyright © 2019 by Mark Dujsik. All rights reserved. |
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