Writer/director Ido Fluk spins his imagining of Keith Jarrett’s 1975 improvised concert performance into an energetic but bipolar film. For the first half hour, we follow teenager Vera Brandes (Mala Emde) in a comedic rush through her accidental launch into a career as a concert promoter. The next half hour tracks the dreary road grind of depressed and ailing Jarrett (John Magaro, Past Lives) and his manager as they glumly trek from one European outpost to the next while Jarrett frets about his intense back pain and career burnout. It’s only when the two finally cross paths around the film’s midpoint that their wildly diverse plotlines and moods begin to gel into a slightly more cohesive whole.
Buy Köln 75Vera is a fervent “jazz bunny” superfan who knows nothing about promoting concerts, but befriends a touring, veteran jazz musician who believes in her moxie so much he hires her to book his future concerts. It’s true, as played by the effervescent but clearly not teenage Emde, Vera seems unstoppable and scrappily proves her mettle as she finagles clubs into booking her sole act. When she learns that Keith Jarrett will be passing through town, she somehow manages to both book an opera house and rope him into playing it, mostly just because she loves his music and wants it presented in the best available setting.
As played by Magaro, Jarrett is a mopey sad sack questioning his career and life on the road, going through the motions as he and his manager cut their expenses to the bone to keep the show going. I have no familiarity with Jarrett’s appearance or music, but Magaro seems a bit ill-fitted to the role, never fully disappearing into the character with his goofy perm wig and lack of practical piano expertise, and his typical understated style no match for Emde’s firecracker performance. He’s also saddled with a bummer of a character, the cloud to Vera’s unstoppable sun.
The film culminates at the Köln venue where we watch Vera desperately trying to source the correct piano at the last moment while Jarrett contemplates pulling out of the show, leading to Jarrett’s legendary improvised hour-long performance that became the best-selling solo jazz album of all time, The Köln Concert. Fluk’s take on this monumental event overcomes its split personality to end up wholly entertaining, even though it’s more about Vera than Jarrett and features none of the actual music.
The Blu-ray presents the film in 1.85:1 aspect ratio, with 5.1 surround and 2.0 stereo options. Picture quality is as expected, slightly grainy with somewhat dull hues nicely mirroring the ‘70s era of the gloomy urban German settings. The language is listed as “German with optional English subtitles,” but once again it’s more like two different films since Jarrett only speaks English and Vera switches to English for all scenes with him. Bonus features are included, featuring two press junket interviews: one with Magaro and Emde, and the other with the real-life Brandes and Emde. Charmingly, the final bonus feature is the film’s wrap video, apparently sourced from a crew member’s candid phone footage as the team calls wrap on the final scene, mingles and disperses for the last time.
