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Paris Blues
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray B - United Kingdom - British Film Institute Review written by and copyright: James-Masaki Ryan (23rd October 2016). |
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The Film
 “Paris Blues” (1961) Ram Bowen (played by Paul Newman) is an American expat jazz musician trombone player living in Paris playing to the hip jazz cats at his usual night club. To his side is Eddie (played by Sidney Poitier), another American expat who plays the saxophone on stage. The two are living comfortable lives in France as musicians, not worrying about race issues of them being black or white musicians where in Paris they are equally treated as just “musicians” without a race tag. But there has been tension recently between them as Ram is currently more concerned about writing original pieces for performances rather than practicing and flowing with the band’s standards. Arriving in Paris for concert appearances is “Wild Man Moore” (played by Louis Armstrong) - a major star in the music world as hundreds of fans storm toward the train station where he is arriving. Bound with his trumpet and his gorgeously happy grin, he delights and excites all the fans waiting for him to show his face. But one person is a bit more eager to meet him and that is Ram. Not only because they are friends from the days in America but that Ram hopes his connection to Moore can help with getting a record deal and better prospects with the newly written jazz compositions. Also at the train station he bumps into two American girls who arrive in Paris for a two week trip, Lillian (played by Joanne Woodward) and Connie (played by Diahann Carroll). He is smitten with both girls and invites them to come to the nightclub where he performs. Lillian is interested, but Connie not so much. From there on, Ram and Lillian start up a romantic relationship while Eddie and Connie also start seeing each other. With the two weeks that the two new couples have in Paris, their lives will forever change course. “Paris Blues” is fairly categorized with John Cassavetes’ “Shadows” (1959) and “Too Late Blues” (1961) which were both love stories centered around jazz - with the music being just as much centered on the emotional core. While “Shadows” was about an interracial relationship, “Paris Blues” is of two different couples - one white and one black, and surprising for its time period - both stories are equally given screentime. The film is also very casual with its depiction of “modern” love - how Ram makes eye contact and flirts with the black girl first, how Ram and Connie have sex on the first night they are together, for examples - things that were not common on screen at the time especially in Hollywood productions - though this film is set in France and was shot on location in France for many scenes. The racial angle is played nonchalantly for the most part - with Newman and Poitier treating each other like brothers, loving each other equally while being able to argue about anything. Black or white, they treat each other on an equal level as “people”, something more common in the jazz world at the time where jazz clubs were very multicultural - such as the opening scene showing white couples, black couples, interracial couples, and even suggesting gay couples enjoying the atmosphere. When jazz musicians went overseas for gigs they were never given the “black musician” title but as a “musician” - when Miles Davis went to France to score “Elevator to the Gallows” in 1958 for example, or when Mal Waldron went to France to score for the film “Three Rooms in Manhattan” in 1965, he eventually moved around Europe and settled there permanently. While France has had racial tensions with whites, blacks, Arabs as seen in such works like “La Haine” (1995) and also in devastating after effects of the terrorist attacks in recent years, many black American musicians did not find the same sort of racism in France as they did in America in the 1950s and 1960s. The character of Eddie is fine being away from all that - but while he starts to fall in love with Connie, conflicts arise as she wants him to return to America while he would rather have her remain with him in Paris. While the issue of race is part of the main characters and their emotional arc, there is a subplot with the jazz guitarist Michel AKA “Gypsy” (played by Serge Reggiani) who has a terrible cocaine addiction that is affecting the people around him, including the band. While it was not uncommon to see a film that deals with drug addicted characters at the time, the amount of white powder and sniffling being shown was quite surprising to say the least. Directed by Martin Ritt, the film is has many great tracking shots to show off the atmosphere both inside the jazz club and outside on the streets of Paris, and the black and white photography shot by veteran French cinematographer Christian Matras looks wonderful. The biggest highlight of all is the score composed by jazz legend Duke Ellington. While hot off the critical success of the jazz score he composed for “Anatomy of a Murder” in 1959, Ellington’s score for “Paris Blues” won him the Academy Award for Best Original Score. But the scoring sessions were not without compromises. Many changes were made from the studio choices including band members and composition lengths, but the score stills sounds wonderful and vibrant. Deserving of an Oscar? Possibly. But I’d have placed my money on his 1959 score for “Anatomy of a Murder” as the better one. The performances by the actors are especially great in the four leads. Paul Newman’s chemistry with Joanne Woodward couldn’t be more truthful - as they were a couple married for 3 years at that point and stayed together until Newman’s death in 2008. Sidney Poitier and Diahann Carroll previously played together in “Porgy and Bess” in 1959 and reportedly had an affair while they were both respectively married to their spouses. They may have not had a real life love affair a few years prior, but there was spark between them in this film as well. While the casting of Louis Armstrong as a world-famous trumpet player was an easy choice, it seemed like he was just playing himself - which is not bad at all. Armstrong had both a positive and negative reputation in the jazz world - one that was essential into bringing jazz to a worldwide phenomenon and being one of the most recognizable faces in jazz even to the 21st century, he also was criticized for bringing forward black stereotypes in many of his filmed appearances. “Paris Blues” is an enjoyable film but it is an imperfect one. The love story arc is quite plain, adding nothing incredibly noteworthy in terms of storytelling, and the most interesting idea of having two couples - black and white to contrast each other does not meld as well as it could have. Musically speaking, there are some great jazz scenes placed throughout including the jam session with Moore, Ram, and Eddie at the club, but timing-wise it disrupts the narrative portion, and the unsynched fingers of the musicians and the audience claps are too obvious. The film won an Oscar, had huge names attached but was not a big success on first run and was forgotten about for many years. Lucky for present audiences it can be seen as an interesting time capsule of a bygone era, and a very positive portrayal of race without silly stereotypes. Note this is a region B Blu-ray which can only be played on region B and region free Blu-ray players.
Video
BFI presents the film in 1080p in the original 1.66:1 aspect ratio in the AVC MPEG-4 codec. As the film was licensed from Fox/MGM, there was some skepticism - as the BFI’s previous discs which were Fox/MGM licensed titles for “Cry of the City” and “Odds Against Tomorrow” were a little on the weaker side. “Paris Blues” was a more positive surprise. Mastered in high definition by MGM, the black and white transfer looks excellent for the most part. The framing is great, there are no large damage marks to speak of, grey levels are stable, and detail is pin sharp. The print is very clean, but note that there are some minor scratches and specs if you look very closely at certain scenes. While it may not be a 4K or 2K restoration, it’s still an excellent job by MGM and the transfer by BFI. The film runs uncut with a runtime of 98:51.
Audio
English LPCM 2.0 mono The original mono track is in lossless LPCM 2.0. The Duke Ellington score sounds wonderful and all dialogue is reproduced without problems. There are no instances of pops, cracks, or hisses in the audio track. There are the usual limitations of it being a monaural track from 1961 but overall it is another excellent transfer in audio. There are optional English HoH subtitles for the main feature in a white font.
Extras
This is a dual format Blu-ray + DVD set with identical content on both discs, just with the Blu-ray having everything in high definition while the region 2 DVD has everything in standard definition PAL. Audio commentary by Adrian Martin Adrian Martin gives an insightful commentary that points out many of the key elements of the film - the actors, the crew, the behind the scenes process, and analysis of many scenes. He talks about the colorblind world of jazz it portrays, the Cassavetes influence, some of the negative press it received from contemporary jazz critics and much more. Martin says that he is not a jazz aficionado and so the commentary does not touch on the music element as much as it could have but it is still a very good listen. in English LPCM 2.0 with no subtitles Isolated Music and Effects track The Ellington score along with foley sounds is selectable. This track also has no hisses or pops and is comparable to the main soundtrack with dialogue. Unlike the 5.1 remix done with the “Anatomy of a Murder” Blu-ray where they went back to the original master tapes for the music, this track presents the music as it sounded mixed in mono form. The original soundtrack album had additional cues and extended versions of tracks but this isolated track only includes what was in the original film version. in LPCM 2.0 mono Stills Gallery (3:19) Black and white stills photos and a few color ones are played in slideshow form. Though why is there no music? With a film scored by Duke Ellington and set in 1960s Paris, it begs for something other than silence. in 1080p AVC MPEG-4, silent LPCM 2.0 Theatrical Trailer (2:49) Quite a few spoilers in this original American trailer filled with text and narration. in 1080p AVC MPEG-4, in 1.33:1, English LPCM 2.0, with no subtitles 24 page booklet The booklet includes three essays, film credits, notes about the presentation, acknowledgements, and still photos. ”That Autumn in Paris” by Nicholas Pillai talks about the jazz score, the film itself, differences between the original source and the filmed version, and the reception of the film. ”Behind the Scenes of Paris Blues: The Same Old Racism from a Different Angle” by Rashida K Braggs discusses the race relations point made by the film, jazz music, and the time period. Lastly, ”Martin Ritt: A Craftsman without Pretension” by Philip Kemp is an essay on the director. The film was previously issued earlier on Blu-ray by Kino Lorber in America, which only had the trailer as the sole extra. The UK BFI release clearly wins in the extras department.
Overall
“Paris Blues” is not a lost classic but is a highly enjoyable film with an excellent jazz score and fine performances by the main characters. The BFI’s dual format Blu-ray has excellent video and audio with good extras making this very recommended.
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