A few weeks ago saw the rerelease of Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing on the occasion of the film’s 30th anniversary. In addition to being one of the great American films, it’s also one of the movies that best captures the feeling of summer heat. Cinematographer Ernest Dickerson, when I interviewed him a few years ago, explained that he and Lee achieved this effect by eliminating any “cool” colors from the film’s palette and by using the brightest lights they could find to shoot the daytime scenes; the mounting feelings of anger and frustration become palpable through the filmmakers’ aesthetic choices. (Viewers who appreciated seeing Lee and Dickerson’s work on film are highly encouraged to check out the Chicago Film Society’s 35-millimeter revival of Mo’ Better Blues, which screens tomorrow night at Northeastern University.)
Jazz on a Summer’s Day Bert Stern’s film of the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival (1960; his only film) features Thelonious Monk, Louis Armstrong, Eric Dolphy, Chuck Berry, Dinah Washington, Mahalia Jackson, Anita O’Day, Gerry Mulligan, Chico Hamilton, and many others. Shot in gorgeous color, it’s probably the best feature-length jazz concert movie ever made. Despite some distracting cutaways to boats in the opening sections, it eventually buckles down to an intense concentration on the music and the audience’s rapport with it as afternoon turns into evening. Jackson’s rendition of “The Lord’s Prayer” is a particularly luminous highlight. Stern doesn’t seem to know what distinguishes mediocre from good or great jazz, so all three get equal amounts of his attention. But he’s very good at showing people listening. —Jonathan Rosenbaum
