Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5960 in DVD
• Released on: 2006-09-06
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 154 minutes

Synopsis
Charlie Bird Parker had been a hero of Clint Eastwood's since childhood, and Eastwood, having been disappointed in such jazz biopics as YOUNG MAN WITH A HORN, really wanted to make a true jazz fan's movie about the music. He cast Forest Whitaker as Parker, the legendary alto sax player, and Diane Venora as Chan, Parker's wife. The film shows how Parker, a genius who changed the face of modern music, was hampered and eventually destroyed by his appetite for women, food, and drugs. The two leads do a great job giving a recognizable human face to the characters' complex relationship. With wit and warmth, BIRD tells the story in direct and honest terms, avoiding all sentimentality. Eastwood's love of Parker's music comes across in the tremendous care that he and composer Lennie Niehaus took with reconstructing it, using Parker's original solos. Eastwood and cinematographer Jack N. Green also patterned the dark, moody look of the film after old photos of musicians who used to appear in jazz magazines. Music lovers will be thrilled with the result, and movie lovers will find plenty to engage them in this moving tale of a great man battling his demons.

Customer Reviews

Good portrait of Charlie 'Bird' Parker
"Bird"(1988) directed by Clint Eastwood (Unforgiven,1992; Mystic River,2003; Million Dollar Baby,2004) is first and foremost a great 1940s period drama. Secondly it just happens to be about one of jazz's great musicians, Charles "Bird" Parker. Bird was a great jazz innovator with the development of Bebop which really moved jazz on from just being mere entertainment toward art, drawing heavily on the music of Stravinsky and Varese. Sadly Bird died just as jazz beginning to feel the threat of Rock 'n' Roll although jazz would continue to evolve further into the 1960s.

Clint Eastwood's direction can't be faulted in this loving portrait to Bird who is performed by Forest Whitaker (Platoon,1986). The film uses stylistically a lot Film Noir elements and at times resembles films of the period. Even if you're not a jazz fan check it out because it's a good film and that really is Bird playing on the soundtrack.

This Film Changed My Life.....
I was a punk rocker when my girlfriend at the time made me sit through this, but by the end my life was turned around music wise and I became a Jazz head.
Even though I later discovered that Eastwood had played around with some facts in the film, this still is a outstanding story of a man who lived a true "Jazz" sytle life, the music, the drink, the women, and the drugs which sad to say made his music so perfect and blue.
Even if your not a jazz fan you should at least give the film a chance.
One of Eastwood best todate....

Very good film
I've just bought this in HMV so I don't know why Amazon can't supply it (update they can now)!

Anyway its a very good biopic of the great Jazz Alto Saxophonist Charlie Parker. This is a warts and all film, so all the bad things in Birds life (drugs etc) are covered as well as his marvellous playing. For the film his original sax playing was used, but new backing was put to it using modern musicians (such as Herbie Hancock). I imagine this was done to improve the overall sound quality.

In many ways its a very sad story, but Eastwood shows a steady hand and does a good job balancing the great music with his troubled life. Well worth getting.