BIRD (DVD/WS/MUSIC ONLY TRACK/CAST&DIR FILM HIGHLIGHTS/TRAILER) DVD

Bird
Forest Whitaker stars as the brilliant jazz saxophonist Charlie "Bird" Parker in this elegiac biopic. Director Clint Eastwood pays full homage to Parker's musical genius, but also devotes ample time to the musician's twin demons--drugs and alcohol-which accelerated his death at the age of 34. In his struggles to gain widespread acceptance for his music, "Bird" is forever stymied by his own self-destructiveness, and forever bailed out by the love of his life, Chan Richardson Parker (Diane Venora). The film bemoans the decline of the brand of jazz fathered by Parker, which came to be replaced by more conventional material -- as illustrated by the "descent" into the mainstream of Parker's mentor Buster Franklin. Also starring in Bird is Samuel E. Wright as Dizzy Gillespie. That's the real Charlie "Bird" Parker on the film's soundtrack, though most of the background music has been re-orchestrated. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Cast Forest Whitaker as Charlie "Yardbird" Parker Diane Venora as Chan Richardson Parker Michael Zelniker as Red Rodney Sam Wright as Dizzy Gillespie Keith David as Buster Franklin Michael McGuire as Brewster James Handy as Esteves Damon Whitaker as Young Bird Morgan Nagler as Kim

Crew Phyllis Huffman - Casting Deborah Hopper - Costume Designer Glenn Wright - Costume Designer L. Dean Jones, Jr. - First Assistant Director Clint Eastwood - Director Joel Cox - Editor David Valdes - Executive Producer Lennie Niehaus - Composer (Music Score) Michael Hancock - Makeup Norman Langley - Camera Operator Edward C. Carfagno - Production Designer Jack N. Green - Cinematographer David Valdes - Production Manager David Valdes - Producer Clint Eastwood - Producer Judy Cammer - Set Designer Thomas Roysden - Set Designer Joe Day - Special Effects Willie D. Burton - Sound/Sound Designer Verne Poore - Sound/Sound Designer Joel Oliansky - Screenwriter

Bird
Apart from being a notorious tough guy, actor/director Clint Eastwood is also a notorious jazz aficionado, and Bird is his sprawling, impressive tribute to one of the great jazz saxophonists of all time, Charlie "Bird" Parker. Parker, one of the originators of bebop, died at an early age due to a long-standing relationship with the high life. Forest Whitaker, who won best actor at the Cannes Film Festival for this role, does an excellent job of capturing the larger-than-life, ultimately destructive man whom many credit for inventing "cool." The film follows Whitaker's somber example, eluding explanations or historical documentation. Though Eastwood has made some very fine movies as a director, Bird is certainly his most accomplished and mature visually. He pulls out techniques that one might not have suspected he had. He also breaks away from the straightforward narrative style of his mentors, Don Siegel and Sergio Leone. Eastwood's almost impressionistic memory montage as Bird lays dying is probably the most striking directorial achievement that he has produced. The narrative is a bit too disorganized to deliver the full thematic punch that the movie strives for, but the performances of (Whitaker and Diane Venora as Bird's wife) and the lasting images make it a significant achievement for Eastwood behind the camera. ~ Brendon Hanley, All Movie Guide
 

Clint Eastwood: Golden Globe, Best Director (winner) Diane Venora: Golden Globe, Best Supporting Actress (nominated) Diane Venora: New York Film Critics Circle, Best Supporting Actress (winner) Dick Alexander: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Sound (winner) Forest Whitaker: Cannes Film Festival, Best Actor (winner) Forest Whitaker: Golden Globe, Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Com (nominated) Les Fresholtz: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Sound (winner) Verne Poore: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Sound (winner) Willie D. Burton: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie, Best Sound (winner)

Cannes Film Festival, Grand Technical Prize (winner)

General Specifications: Language Options: English, French Subtitle Options: English, French, Spanish, Por Sound Processing: DD5.1: Dolby Digital w/ sub-woofer channel DDS: Dolby Digital Surround Additional Features: Soundtrack remastered in Dolby Digital 5.1 Music-only audio track Interactive menus Cast/director film highlights Theatrical trailer Scene access Languages: English and Français Subtitles: English, Français, Español, Portuguese DVD Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1: Theatre Wide-Screen MPAA Rating: R DVD Discs Included: 1 DVD Sides: 1 DVD DVD Region Code: 1 Content Length: 160 min   DVD Chapters: Side #1 -- 0. Scene Selections 1. Early days [1:59] 2. Lester Leaps In [2:10] 3. After-hours humoring [5:09] 4. Bad medicine [1:57] 5. The substitute is pain [3:03] 6. If I'm straight [3:26] 7. Special, creative man [2:05] 8. Mayor of 52nd Street [2:49] 9. Kansas City [4:00] 10. You'll dig him [2:59] 11. With Dizzy at 4 a.m. [3:17] 12. In pursuit of Chan [4:04] 13. "You stop reading my mind" [5:11] 14. Esteves and Mrs. Berg [3:40] 15. Mounted homecoming [2:21] 16. Chan's revelation [3:45] 17. Contributing factors [1:00] 18. Bebop invades [4:58] 19. Calling on Stravvinsky [2:24] 20. Bebop banned [2:11] 21. Recording studio [3:50] 22. A reunion and a ride [4:37] 23. "Don't ever leave ol' papa" [2:14] 24. Glory in France [3:12] 25. Junkies abroad [2:58] 26. Society gig [3:49] 27. South with Albino Red [5:44] 28. Now's the Time [6:17] 29. The fix: Bird's fault [4:42] 30. Back at Birdland [2:48] 31. Rodney busted [3:30] 32. Laura montage [3:50] 33. "You have a daughter" [3:21] 34. Not the way it works [2:40] 35. His song [2:35] 36. Paradise [1:40] 37. Martyr in the making [2:45] 38. Telegrams [5:44] 39. Inside the melody [4:29] 40. Moving out of the city [3:31] 41. Rock 'n' roll [4:02] 42. Showing up eventually [3:01] 43. Hating to hang up [3:27] 44. Nica's doorstep [2:45] 45. Balancing act over [3:07] 46. Coroner's report [1:08] 47. Coda, Dedication and End Credits [5:59]