Jazz legend dies at 28. This Italian biopic asks: who was Bix when the music stopped?
Biopic of troubled jazz musician/composer Bix Beiderbecke (1903-1931), who played with the Paul Whiteman band, among others.
Direction
Avati's European eye reframes American myth with haunting distance.
Score
Reconstructed Bix performances that ache with authenticity.
Director
Pupi Avati
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Bryant Weeks was a jazz pianist, not actor—Avati cast musicians for authenticity, then had them learn to perform grief.
The 1991 release coincided with jazz's commercial nadir; this film helped spark 1990s Bix revival among historians.
IT
