Round Midnight (1986) [The Criterion Collection]

Director: Bertrand Tavernier
Writer: David Rayfiel (screenplay), Bertrand Tavernier (screenplay), Colo Tavernier (French translation)
Stars: Dexter Gordon, François Cluzet, Gabrielle Haker

Round Midnight is a love letter from director Bertrand Tavernier to the heyday of bebop and the Black American musicians who found refuge in the smoky underground jazz clubs of 1950s Paris. In a sui generis, Oscar-nominated fusion of performer and character, legendary saxophonist Dexter Gordon plays Dale Turner, a brilliant New York jazz veteran whose music aches with beauty but whose personal life is ravaged by addiction. Searching for a fresh start in Paris, Turner strikes up an unlikely friendship with a struggling single father and ardent jazz fan (François Cluzet) who finds his life transformed as he attempts to help the self-destructive musician. Herbie Hancock’s evocative, Oscar-winning score sets the mood for this definitive jazz film, a bittersweet opus that glows with lived-in, soulful authenticity.

Extras:
- New 4K digital restoration, with 2.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray
- Alternate 5.1 surround soundtrack, presented in DTS-HD Master Audio
- New interview with jazz and cultural critic Gary Giddins
- New conversation with music producer Michael Cuscuna and author Maxine Gordon, widow of musician Dexter Gordon
- Before Midnight, a 1986 behind-the-scenes documentary by Jean Achache
- Panel discussion from 2014 featuring Cuscuna, Maxine Gordon, director Bertrand Tavernier, and jazz scholar John Szwed, moderated by jazz critic and broadcaster Mark Ruffin
- Performance from 1969 of “Fried Bananas” by Dexter Gordon, directed by Teit Jørgensen
- New English subtitle translation and English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- PLUS: An essay by scholar Mark Anthony Neal




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