Round Midnight (film)
| Round Midnight | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster by Steven Chorney
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| Directed by | Bertrand Tavernier |
| Produced by | Irwin Winkler |
| Screenplay by |
David Rayfiel Bertrand Tavernier Colo Tavernier (French language translation) |
| Based on |
Dance of the Infidels by Francis Paudras |
| Starring |
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| Music by | Herbie Hancock (original music) |
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Production
company |
Little Bear
PECF |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
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Release date
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September 12, 1986 (Toronto Festival of Festivals) October 3, 1986 (United States) |
|
Running time
|
133 min. |
| Country | United States France |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $10 million |
Round Midnight is a 1986 American-French musical drama film directed by Bertrand Tavernier and written by Tavernier and David Rayfiel. It stars Dexter Gordon, François Cluzet and Herbie Hancock. Martin Scorsese, Philippe Noiret and Wayne Shorter appear in cameos.
The protagonist jazzman, "Dale Turner", was based on a composite of real-life jazz legends Lester Young (tenor sax) and Bud Powell (piano). While the film is fictionalized, it is drawn directly from the memoir/biography Dance of the Infidels written by French author Francis Paudras, who had befriended Powell during his Paris expatriate days and on whom the character "Francis" is based. The film is a wistful and tragic portrait that captures the Paris jazz scene of the 1950s.
Gordon was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role and won a Grammy for the film's soundtrack entitled The Other Side of Round Midnight in the category for Best Instrumental Jazz Performance, Soloist. Hancock won the Academy Award for Best Music, Original Score. The soundtrack was released in two parts: Round Midnight and The Other Side of Round Midnight.
Dale Turner, a famous tenor saxophone player in Paris in the 1950s is befriended by Francis, a struggling French graphic designer specializing in film posters, who idolizes the musician and who tries desperately to help him to escape alcohol abuse. As he succeeds, the budding friendship they develop changes their lives forever.
Round Midnight was filmed in Paris and New York City. It was produced by Irwin Winkler.
Tavernier defied the movie studio by insisting that real-life jazz tenor saxophonist Dexter Gordon play the role of Turner. Gordon, who himself played with Bud Powell in Paris in the early 1960s, helped to revise and rewrite the script. The supporting cast is likewise composed of jazz musicians (mainly from the generation which followed Gordon and Powell) such as Herbie Hancock, Bobby Hutcherson, John McLaughlin, and Wayne Shorter, among others who play the music live throughout the film. The musicians are joined by actors François Cluzet, Gabrielle Haker, Sandra Reaves-Phillips, Lonette McKee, and Christine Pascal.
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