Get Your Reps In: “Bird” Still Soars Over Modern Music Biopics

What to see at Portland’s repertory theaters.

Bird (1988) (IMDB)
By Chance Solem-Pfeifer

Bird (1988)

No proper artist—least of all bebop visionary Charlie Parker—deserves the decidedly unartistic formula of most Hollywood music biopics.

On the other end of the spectrum, there’s Bird, director Clint Eastwood’s homage to Parker and his nickname. It’s a film so true to its subject that it failed to connect with anyone but a few critics and awards bodies, most of whom wanted to recognize Forest Whitaker’s tragically playful and lovesick performance as Parker.

Fittingly, neither Bird nor Bird were fully appreciated in their time. Luckily, the biopic now screens Aug. 23–29 at the Academy Theater, just ahead of the neighborhood’s Montavilla Jazz Festival (Aug. 30–Sept. 1).

The film slips into a level of dreamy, nonlinear creativity seldom found in Eastwood’s unfussy directorial style. Would-be framing devices become multidimensional narrative portals. A story haunted by heroin hides all the drug use. Pain and ambition invert and explode a life story like Parker turning one chord into a galaxy. Academy Theater, Aug. 23–29.

Also Playing:

5th Avenue: A New Leaf (1971), Aug. 23–25. Academy: American Graffiti (1973), Aug. 23–29. Thief (1981), Aug. 23, 24, 28 and 29. Cinema 21: Rushmore (1998), Aug. 23 and 24. The Wild Bunch (1969), Aug. 24. Cinemagic: Big Trouble in Little China (1986), Aug. 22. Child’s Play (1988), Aug. 22. Darkman (1990), Aug. 26. Clinton: Twilight (2008), Aug. 22. Final Destination (2000) and Final Destination 2 (2003) with creator Jeffrey Reddick attending, Aug. 23. The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), Aug. 24. All About Evil (2010), Aug. 25. Slither (2006), Aug. 27. Hollywood: The Intruder (1962), Aug. 22. Targets (1968), Aug. 23. Masque of the Red Death (1964), Aug. 24. Piranha (1978), Aug. 24. Death Race 2000 (1975), Aug. 24. The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre (1967), Aug. 25. The Trip (1967), Aug. 25. Building Bombs (1990), Aug. 25. Bucket of Blood (1959) and Little Shop of Horrors (1960) double feature, Aug. 26. The Lady in Red (1979), Aug. 27. Tomorrow: Friday the 13th Part III (1982) in 3D, Aug. 23. Rosemary’s Baby (1968), Aug. 25.

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