''Wild Man Blues'' is a 1997

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...

directed by

Barbara Kopple Barbara Kopple (born July 30, 1946) is an American film director known primarily for her documentary work. She has won two Academy Awards, the first in 1977 for '' Harlan County, USA'', about a Kentucky miners' strike, /sup> and the second in ...

, about the musical

avocation An avocation is an activity that someone engages in as a hobby outside their main occupation. There are many examples of people whose professions were the ways that they made their livings, but for whom their activities outside their workplaces ...

of actor/director/comic

Woody Allen Heywood "Woody" Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American film director, writer, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades and multiple Academy Award-winning films. He began his career writing ...

. The film takes its name from a

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

composition, sometimes attributed to

Jelly Roll Morton Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe (later Morton; c. September 20, 1890 – July 10, 1941), known professionally as Jelly Roll Morton, was an American ragtime and jazz pianist, bandleader, and composer. Morton was jazz's first arranger, proving that a gen ...

and sometimes to Louis Armstrong, and recorded (among others) by each of them. ''Wild Man Blues'' is rated PG (Parental guidance suggested) because the film includes several profanities.

Theme

The film depicts Allen's love of early 20th century

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

music by preserving performances on the 1996 tour in Europe by his New Orleans Jazz Band. Allen has played clarinet with this band for over 25 years.

Musicians

Dan Barrett Dan Barrett is an American musician from Connecticut, New England. He is a member of the rock duo Have a Nice Life. Outside of this, he has released solo work primarily under the names Giles Corey and Black Wing. In 2003, he founded the record labe ...

, on

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate ...

* Simon Wettenhall, on trumpet * John Gill, on drums and vocals *

Greg Cohen Greg Cohen (born July 13, 1953) is an American jazz bassist who has been a member of John Zorn's Masada quartet and worked with numerous other noted musicians for over four decades. Career Cohen plays traditional jazz and other styles, includin ...

, on bass * Cynthia Sayer, on piano * Eddy Davis, band director, and on banjo * Allen, on clarinet Although their European tour is the primary focus, the film was also notable as the first major public showcase for Allen's relationship with

Soon-Yi Previn Soon-Yi Previn (; , ; born October 8, 1970) is the wife of filmmaker Woody Allen. They have adopted two children together. Born in Korea, she is the adopted daughter of actress Mia Farrow and musician André Previn. According to Soon-Yi Prev ...

Formats published

Since the deletion of its original, contemporaneous VHS releases, the film has had only an afterlife on DVD. In April 2012 the film was featured as a bonus disc on an Australian box set of Allen's films, and similarly appeared as an extra in a UK Region 2 box set in July 2014. Although the film is not available as a standalone DVD in any of the main English-speaking countries, it has been released singly in various Region 2 pressings around Europe, with relevant (optional) subtitles. * The film

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack ...

was released on

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

Compact Disc The compact disc (CD) is a digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then released in Oc ...

and later digitally

Reception

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film holds an 86% approval rating based on 37 reviews. Roger Ebert stated " opplemight seem an unlikely choice for this material, but no doubt her track record gained Allen's trust." Maitland McDonagh of ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program listings information as well as entertainment and television-related news. The company sold its print magazine division, TV Guide Magazine LLC, in 2008. Corpora ...

'' commented "Die-hard Woody Allen fans will be grateful for even these small glimpses of their idol at his most unguarded, but the less-devoted would be better off renting ANNIE HALL." Janet Maslin of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' wrote 'In her unexpectedly delightful documentary about Woody Allen as jazz musician, Barbara Kopple demonstrates cinema verite at its most seductive. Her ''Wild Man Blues'' invites its audience to take a grand tour of Europe, listen to jauntily exhilarating music and regard Mr. Allen in a colorful new light." Keith Phipps of ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

'' stated "...''Wild Man Blues'' nicely conveys a sense of its subject's dedication to his craft... Those interested in Allen simply because he's Allen will want to see ''Wild Man Blues'', but in the end, Kopple has been given a couple of interesting subjects (New Orleans jazz in its current state and Woody Allen), and her film fails to get at the heart of either."

References

External links

* {{Navboxes , title = Awards for ''Wild Man Blues'' , list = {{Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Documentary Film {{National Board of Review Award for Best Documentary Film 1997 films Documentary films about music and musicians Films directed by Barbara Kopple American documentary films 1990s English-language films Woody Allen Films produced by Jean Doumanian 1990s American films