“700 miles away from Cologne, where Keith Jarrett played a concert in 1975 stands the Sistine Chapel where 400 years before Keith took the stage, Michelangelo stood on a scaffolding painting the ceiling. Today anyone can visit the chapel but imagine having been there, having see Michelangelo up on that scaffolding, that’s an entirely different thing, isn’t it? But this is not a film about the Cologne concert. It’s not about the mural, or the ceiling, or Michelangelo. It’s about the scaffolding.” – The opening voiceover to KÖLN 75
KÖLN 75 is one of those true stories that would likely have been rejected by a studio for being too far-fetched had it been fiction. It centres on Vera Brandes who, at 18 in 1975, is living a double life: school by day, jazz club by night. She has a fractious relationship with her family being at odds with her brother and a disappointment to her strict dentist father who expects study, college, career from her wayward ‘jazz bunny’ daughter. Vera meets Ronnie Scott at the ice cream parlour / jazz bar (an amazing concept that should be in every town) and he asks her to promote his German tour.
Almost every scene that involves Vera is hectic and fast-paced with quick cuts that match her youthful exuberance, often moving through the frame at speed or running through the Cologne streets, always crackling with energy. The teenage bravado and fierce determination that leaps off the screen is a testament to Mala Emde who lights up every scene with infectious energy and a 1000-watt smile.
While the film mainly centres around Vera there are complementary sections featuring the journalist Mick Watts (Michael Chernus) that slow the pace and give us time to breathe. Watts is following Keith Jarrett through Europe trying to get an interview. He part narrates through voiceover and also occasionally breaks the fourth, such as the time he gives a lecture on ‘false starts’ in music, and a moment nearly halfway through the film when he explains the reductive evolution of jazz from the era of big bands and their leaders, through improvising trios, quartets and quintets, to jazz standards and free jazz. This leads us to Keith Jarrett’s completely improvised solo sets where he sits down at the piano with no notion of what he is going to play. John Magaro’s performance as Jarrett is a brooding joy with hints at Jarrett’s mystical beliefs, the rage of his back pain or the moments of perfect stillness at the piano before his fingers touch the keys.
The set dressing and clothes are exceptional, and you can almost smell the dank odour of Brandes’ rain-soaked Afghan coat through the screen. But the design never gets in the way of the story; whether it’s 70’s fashion, hippy hair, drooping moustaches, old Renaults or classic posters being put up it’s the story that drives the success of this film. There is real jeopardy in the fragile house of cards that Brandes builds. Her determination leads her to persuade the director of the 1,400 seat Köln Opera House to have Jarrett play at 11.30pm after a performance of the opera Lulu despite not having the 10,000 DM to secure the slot. Local radio doesn’t show interest in promoting it, and upon arrival in Cologne Brandes discovers that, not only does Jarrett has severe back problems, but the promised Bösendorfer 290 Imperial concert grand piano he expects to play is actually an out of tune practice baby grand with a broken pedal. As this is based on a real recording you know if happened, but I doubt there are many films where two of the stories’ heroes are a pair of piano technicians who get it back into working order in a matter of hours.
A note on Keith Jarrett and The Köln Concert. Jarrett was a child piano prodigy who ended up studying jazz at high school and then going on to play with jazz greats such as Art Blakey’s Messengers and Miles Davis. He started his fully improvised solo sets in 1973 and The Köln Concert was recorded on Friday 24 January 1975. It is the best-selling solo piano recording in history having sold over 4 million copies. Sadly, Jarrett, now in his 80s, has distanced himself from the recording possibly due to its ubiquity overshadowing his extensive catalogue of work. So, for a film about Vera Brandes putting on a Keith Jarrett concert, the film contains no actual Jarrett recordings. This does not hamper the film at all, and director Ido Fluk has brought this compelling story to life with such joy for the subject matter that the film is never the poorer for the music’s absence. There is not a weak member of the cast and I loved the dead pan political dogma of Brandes’ best friend, the activist Isa (Shirin Lilly Eissa), her crazy, lovesick boyfriend Jan (Enno Trebs), and Jördis Triebel as Vera’s mother Ilse who conveys incredible dignity and love for her daughter in one of the most touching scenes in the film.
KÖLN 75 is acted and edited like bebop with the cast all playing together in harmony like a great jazz band. The ensemble cast are all in the pocket with Mala Emde’s turn as Vera being every bit as perfect and exhilarating as a Charlie Parker solo. There are moments of stillness and plenty of peril (much like improvisation), but the core of the film is its raw look and the frenetic energy it conveys. You certainly don’t have to be a jazz lover to enjoy KÖLN 75, and I highly recommend seeking it out during its theatrical run as well as earmarking it for repeat viewing when it starts streaming.
I would also highly recommend the BBC World Service programme A teenage jazz promoter and a masterpiece saved from oblivion a documentary that was broadcast as is part of the Outlook series.
Review by Paul F Cook
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