Round Midnight (Blu-Ray)

’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.

Special features:
– New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed stereo soundtrack
– Alternate 5.1 surround soundtrack, supervised by composer Herbie Hancock and presented in DTS-HD Master Audio
– New interview with jazz critic Gary Giddins
– New conversation with music producer Michael Cuscuna and author Maxine Gordon, widow of musician Dexter Gordon
– Behind-the-scenes documentary from 19TK[ck]
– Panel discussion from 2014 featuring director Bertrand Tavernier, Cuscuna, Maxine Gordon, 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[ck]
– Excerpt from the 1996 documentary Dexter Gordon: More Than You Know, by Don McGlynn ck]
– New English subtitle translation and English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
– PLUS: An essay by scholar Mark Anthony Neal