Musicians, scholars, family and friends reflect on the life of jazzer Miles Davis to reveal the man behind the legend. Full access to Davis' estate provides rare footage and photos, outtakes from recording sessions and new interviews.... (Full plot summary below)
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Musicians, scholars, family and friends reflect on the life of jazzer Miles Davis to reveal the man behind the legend. Full access to Davis' estate provides rare footage and photos, outtakes from recording sessions and new interviews.
Leave your thoughts about Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool.
| Film ThreatLorry KiktaI highly recommend this decades-spanning, engrossing, hilarious, sad, and informative documentary to all music fans, whether you liked Davis beforehand or not. |
| VarietyOwen GleibermanAs someone who’s absorbed bits and pieces of the Miles Davis story over the years but never felt like I had the big picture, I found “Birth of the Cool” to be intensely gratifying. Nelson is a filmmaker with a sixth sense for how to nudge history into the present. |
| Los Angeles TimesGlenn WhippThe considerable achievement of “Birth of the Cool” comes from the way it understands those words and places them in the context of American history. You’ll want to listen to Miles’ music after watching the film and, when you do, you might feel it a little deeper. |
| Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenNelson has gifted us with a thoughtful and rich profile which, like a fading note escaping from Davis’ trumpet, leaves us wanting more. |
| Wall Street JournalJohn AndersonMr. Nelson’s movie is a gossipy and very musical primer on Davis, who is, needless to say (though it is said and said), among the giants of jazz. |
| The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeFor those with only a glancing knowledge or none at all, this is as good an introduction as you could want. |
| The New York TimesGlenn KennyMore than a few moments here are new, and real grabbers. |
| RogerEbert.comNick AllenFor either newcomers or fans, the documentary’s cradle-to-grave, talking head approach too readily threatens to take the zip, romance, and funk out of a fascinating subject who would be nothing without those very elements. |
| User Reviewdrecool95A great profile of one of the greatest musicians to ever live. Miles Davis changed music forever. Whether you know his music well or know none of it, give this documentary a watch. |
| User Reviewfede01_8"VERY long"? It's only two hours! "Miles was a superficial artist and person"? I don't know what these two morons here watched but it certainly wasn't this great documentary. |
