Bird Movie Review 1988

The richly textured, though sadly one-sided biography of jazz sax great Charlie Parker, from his rise to stardom to his premature death via extended heroin use. A remarkably assured, deeply imagined film from Eastwood that never really shows the Bird's genius of creation. The soundtrack features Parker's own solos re-mastered from original recordings.

Distribution

Facets Multimedia, Inc., 1517 W. Fullerton Ave., Chicago, IL 60614, Phone: (773)281-9075, Toll-free: 800-331-6197, Fax: (773)929-5437, Email: sales@facets.org, URL: http://www.facets.org

Available on VHS, DVD
Running time 160 minutes.

Cast and Crew

Genres

Jazz & Blues, Biopics: Musicians, African America, Jazz & Blues

Screenplay

Joel Oliansky

Cast

Forest Whitaker, Diane Venora, Michael Zelniker, Samuel E. Wright, Keith David, Michael McGuire, James Handy, Damon Whitaker, Morgan Nagler, Peter Crook

Cinematography

Jack N. Green

Director

Clint Eastwood

Music

Lennie Niehaus

Producer

Malpaso Productions

Awards

Oscars 1988: Sound; Cannes 1988: Actor (Whitaker); Golden Globes 1989: Director (Eastwood); N.Y. Film Critics 1988: Support. Actress (Venora).