A Love Supreme

Author: Brian C. (NJ)

A Love Supreme

Director- Jim Sheridan
Writers: Jim Sheridan and Terry George
Cinematography- Chris Menges
Editing- Naomi Geraghty
Musical Score- John Coltrane

CAST
Hakeem Kae-Kazim - John Coltrane
Anika Noni Rose- Juanita Naima Grubb
Idris Elba - Elvin Jones
Wood Harris- Jimmy Garrison
Mos Def- McCoy Tyner
Anthony Mackie- Eric Dolphy

Tagline: “It was more than music. It was his devotion, his passion, and his faith. It was A Love Supreme.”

Synopsis:
Acknowledgement
With one hand clutching a needle, and the other closed in a fist, John Coltrane sent his life tumbling towards a low point. Possibly the greatest musical mind of the 20th century, his thoughts were far away from music, not even focusing on the show he had that night. Instead, he was focused on the heroine that was flowing into his veins. After sitting for a moment, he staggered across the room to grab his saxophone, making sure not to forget the half empty bottle of gin on the floor. He knew he was late, but frankly he didn’t care.

Coltrane stood on stage next to Miles Davis, another great musical mind, but more importantly his boss. Coltrane was a member of Davis’s band, and he was in the middle of a show at Café Bohemia in New York. He stepped up to the microphone to take his solo, but the combination of alcohol and heroine proved to be too much. He passed out on stage, ending the performance for that night. He awoke backstage to a furious Davis, who pulled him off the floor and slapped him across the face before punching him in the stomach. Davis then fired him as he left the club. Realizing that his addiction had overgrown his musical talent, Coltrane finally acknowledged that he had hit rock bottom.

Resolution
Coltrane moved back to Philadelphia with a resolution. He wanted to rid himself of his addictions and emerge in touch with his music, but more importantly in touch with God. He and Juanita, his wife, moved in with his family. Dedicated to killing his addictions cold turkey, he locked himself in his room for two weeks, only letting Juanita in on occasion. By day, he suffered through the shaking and vomiting brought on by withdrawal. When he gathered the strength to focus his thoughts, he prayed. With Juanita as his spiritual guide, Coltrane used the pain to bring him closer to God.

By night, Coltrane played with McCoy Tyner, a pianist, at a nightclub called the Red Rooster. His mind was scattered and dysfunctional though, and he could not perform well. While his fellow musicians excused his poor performances, knowing what he was going through, audiences grew angry. They would jeer at him as he struggled through solos, when in fact he was really only trying to hide the symptoms of withdrawal. People left the club disappointed with what they had seen, but Coltrane knew that each show was a step closer to sobriety and a step closer to God. Each moment was a step closer to his resolution.

Pursuance
Reconnected with God and now flourishing in his revitalized musical talent, Coltrane set out to connect his musical creativity with his spirituality. He traveled to Paris with his pianist, Tyner, a new bassist, Jimmy Garrison, and a new drummer, Elvin Jones. Coltrane also brought Juanita and his dear friend and fellow musician Eric Dolphy. While Tyner, Garrison, and Jones partied their way throughout Paris, Coltrane remained focused on his spiritual rebirth. He and Dolphy would talk about God while the other musicians drank their way through the city. Between two performances, the three got excessively drunk and shattered the front window of a nearby store. Returning to the club laughing about their recent mischief, they entered to see Coltrane with tears in his eyes, saddened to see his friends engage in the behavior that had sent his own life in a downward spiral.

Tragedy struck the quartet though as they toured through Paris, when Dolphy collapsed and died in his hotel room. Dolphy had been playing a show in Berlin when his lifetime struggle with diabetes overcame him. The four musicians traveled back to Los Angeles to attend his funeral. Despite the sadness of the event, Coltrane was inspired. The death of his dear friend helped him realize that he had reached a point in life where he no longer needed to search for God. He had spent the last several years trying to connect with God and to revitalize his spirituality. Dolphy’s death helped him realize though that he had been pursuing something that he already had.

Psalm
On December 9, 1964, John Coltrane released himself musically in creating his ultimate gift to God. Coltrane met with Tyner, Garrison, and Jones in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey to record what would become one of the most monumental albums of all time. The four of them entered the studio with no previous rehearsal of the music. They dimmed the lights in the studio, and poured their passion and creativity into thirty-five minutes of jazz. When they finished, no one spoke, each of them realizing that they had successfully turned improvisation into spirituality. Coltrane had finally created his own gift to God, his own humble offering, his own psalm.

What the Press Would Say:
Jim Sheridan has successfully turned one of the greatest jazz albums of all time into what could possibly be one of the most inspiring films of the year. Sheridan takes an unorthodox approach to this film, separating it into four distinct parts, each named after a song on Coltrane’s album. Each part of the film directly relates to the title of the song it represents, illustrating the events in Coltrane’s life that inspired him to create “A Love Supreme.” In creating the film this way, Sheridan opens up Coltrane’s mind for the viewer to explore. This also helps him highlight the emotional changes that Coltrane endured throughout his life, eventually building up to his own personal climax, which was the creation of “A Love Supreme.” Sheridan has truly taken the most exciting part of Coltrane’s life and made an equally exciting film. His artistic vision has once again shined through, as it did with his films such as My Left Foot: The Story of Christy Brown, and Sheridan should gain some attention come awards season.

Hakeem Kae-Kazim has really burst onto the awards scene with his portrayal of John Coltrane. He has shown flashes of brilliance in supporting roles in films such as Hotel Rwanda, but his performance in A Love Supreme will undoubtedly garner him some awards consideration. Kae-Kazim not only had the difficult task of portraying one of the most complex minds of the jazz world, but he essentially had to play four different characters. Each part of the film represents a different John Coltrane as he changes throughout his life, and Kae-Kazim had the daunting responsibility of conveying the different emotional states of Coltrane in each part. While Kae-Kazim is surely surrounded by a strong supporting cast, he really does steal the show with his performance. Kae-Kazim has really delved into Coltrane’s psyche for this role, and he does a terrific job of illustrating Coltrane’s creativity and mental complexity on screen.

A Love Supreme truly does justice to the amazing and interesting life that John Coltrane led. The outstanding script, written by Sheridan and his longtime collaborator Terry George, is expressive and intense at the same time. As a whole, the film can be considered one of Sheridan’s best. Laced with Coltrane’s actual compositions, the film shows the emotional roller-coaster that was John Coltrane’s life, also managing to highlight his spirituality and his awesome abilities on the saxophone. This mixture of music and emotion truly creates for an interesting and inspiring film.

FYC:
Best Picture
Best Director: Jim Sheridan
Best Actor: Hakeem Kae-Kazim
Best Adapted Screenplay