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Born to Be Blue (2015)

Music | 97 minutes
3,28 67 votes

Genre: Music / Biography

Duration: 97 minuten

Country: United States / Canada / United Kingdom

Directed by: Robert Budreau

Stars: Ethan Hawke, Carmen Ejogo and Callum Keith Rennie

IMDb score: 6,8 (9.728)

Releasedate: 13 September 2015

Born to Be Blue plot

"Love is instramental"

Film about the life of Chet Baker. Baker (Ethan Hawke), who made his breakthrough as a jazz trumpeter in the 1950s and whose career seemed over when he lost his teeth in a violent attack. After a period of drug addiction, he tries to make a comeback in the 1970s.

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avatar van Pazmaster

Pazmaster

  • 2776 messages
  • 5872 votes

I'm not into jazz at all, but I still thought it was a great biopic. I don't know if it's entirely accurate, but I don't really care. I think it's a great film with a good story anyway. Hawke shows his best side; he's truly fantastic, and that alone makes the film worth watching. Not a cheerful film, but that doesn't always have to be the case.

dutch flagTranslated from Dutch · View original

avatar van mrklm

mrklm

  • 11374 messages
  • 9897 votes

A semi-biographical film focuses on the period following Chet Baker's release from an Italian prison. Under strict conditions, Chet (Ethan Hawke) is allowed to try to build a new life, one that seems to have little room for jazz, especially when, during the filming of an autobiographical film, he is beaten by his former heroin dealer and loses all his front teeth. No one believes Chet will ever reach his former heights, but that doesn't stop him from pursuing his dream: a new career as a trumpet player. The question is whether he can do that without what he considers his main muse: heroin.

The supporting cast is fine, especially Stephen McHattie as Chet's father and Kedar Brown as jazz legend Miles Davis, but this is a one-man show, and Hawke is superb. He plays the trumpet very well and sings impressive versions of the classics "I've Never Been In Love Before" and "My Funny Valentine." It's reminiscent in many ways of My Foolish Heart, about the last day of Chet Baker's life, so it's rather depressing. But Budreau offers an honest look at drug addiction, and the music is a jazz lover's delight.

dutch flagTranslated from Dutch · View original

avatar van Film Pegasus

Film Pegasus (moderator films)

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The story of legendary jazz legend Chet Baker. A musician in a world that, even more than in other music genres, struggled with addiction. The beauty of good jazz biopics is that they incorporate some improvisation, but because of that (like the film Miles Ahead, for example), they're less commercial and stay somewhat under the radar.

In Born to Be Blue, we see Ethan Hawke as Chet Baker in a somewhat fictionalized story, though the general outline is true. The filmmaker chooses Baker in the 1960s. He had already established a career and played with other big heroes. But drugs led to his decline, and it didn't help that he struggled to perform after a fight that shattered his teeth. Still dreaming of success, he's willing to risk everything to get there.

The film does choose a specific period, and one from the lowest point of Baker's life and career at that. But by looking back at his own past, that beautiful music does pop up occasionally. I also read here that you were left with a sad feeling after the film. But that's Chet Baker. Music full of melancholy, a life filled with even more tragedy, like a train that could derail at any moment. For his life story, you need a documentary; to try and understand who he was and why his music sounds the way it does, there's this biopic.

dutch flagTranslated from Dutch · View original