Let's Get Lost (1988)

Documentary on the life of jazz trumpeter and drug addict Chet Baker. Fascinating series of interviews with friends, family, associates and lovers, interspersed with film from Baker's ... See full summary »

Director:

Bruce Weber

Stars:

Chet Baker, Carol Baker, Vera Baker

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 3 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Chet Baker	...	Self
Carol Baker	...	Self
Vera Baker	...	Self
Paul Baker	...	Self
Dean Baker	...	Self
Missy Baker	...	Self
Dick Bock	...	Self
William Claxton	...	Self
Flea	...	Self
Hersh Hamel	...	Self
Chris Isaak	...	Self
Lisa Marie	...	Self
Andy Minsker	...	Self
Jack Sheldon	...	Self
Lawrence Trimble	...	Self

Storyline

Documentary on the life of jazz trumpeter and drug addict Chet Baker. Fascinating series of interviews with friends, family, associates and lovers, interspersed with film from Baker's earlier life and some modern-day performances.

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Plot Keywords:

jazz | drug addict | trumpet | interview | musician | 

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Genres:

Documentary | Biography | Music

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

Four months before the film's release in September 1988, Baker died under mysterious circumstances in a fall from his hotel room window in Amsterdam. It's been variously speculated his death was an accident, suicide or revenge by drug dealers to whom he owed money.

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Quotes

Jack Sheldon: Chet, he never practiced at all. He could just play and he knew every song. He could just play any tune and he knew the melody, he could play jazz to it, and he always knew where he was. And it was real hard for me; I never knew where I was and I would always forget what bar we were in... in fact, where are we now?

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Connections

Referenced in Alfie (2004)

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Soundtracks

I Remember You
By Victor Schertzinger and Johnny Mercer
Paramount Music Corporation
Under License from Capitol Special Markets

User Reviews

Unpretentious high art

Let's Get Lost could have so easily been done badly. Intense fandom doesn't often make for objectivity, and the tragic-artist-gone-to-seed narrative is so, so tired. But this film kicks those limitations right over. It's tough about the ugly facts of Chet Baker's life as a liar, user, and junkie. At the same time, it never allows the viewer to forget the intense beauty Baker created as a musician, and embodied as a young man of perfect allure.

There are images I'll never forget: the expressions of his family as they listen to his music, his ex-wife lost in remembered pleasure; his daughter, pained; his dead-ringer son, uncomfortably smiling. The older, ravaged Baker, in the back seat of a convertible with two women, murmuring to them like he's in a dream. The stills of he and his second wife, both so stunning and so clearly in love, burning for each other. And more than that, the music, aching and romantic, and always so lonely, always about longing for some woman in some place that's beyond reach.

I am grateful to Bruce Weber for creating this film. It's why I go to the movies like some people go to the mountains or the sea, to church or to some lover's arms: it got me lost.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [United Kingdom] Wild Side Films [France]

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

5 October 1989 (West Germany)

Also Known As:

Let's Get Lost

Filming Locations:

Palais des Festivals et des Congrès - 1 Boulevard de la Croisette, Cannes, Alpes-Maritimes, France

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$538,735

Company Credits

Production Co:

Little Bear Productions, Nan Bush

Technical Specs

Runtime:

120 min 103 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1