Bix (1991) User Reviews

A hometown film ...

[ebethgrace · 7/10 · 19 January 2005]

Bix was filmed almost entirely on location in Davenport in 1991. The filmmakers, Pupi and Antonio Avati, are huge fans of Beiderbecke's music, and came to Iowa to make Pupi's dream film about Bix's life. The brothers even bought the family home in Davenport and owned it for many years after the filming. I am not sure about the status of the home now.

Most of the actors were cast from an open, cattle-call audition in the Quad-City area. A few exceptions included Bryant Weeks, who was a professional stage actor in Chicago at the time. I haven't seen him since. That might explain why most of the cast is uncredited. The Avatis wanted to use real people from the town where they were making the film. Because of the way credits work in Italian films, most of them did not receive a credit.

The film was edited oddly. It jumped around a great deal through Bix's life, making it difficult to understand the chronological details. However, Weeks delivers a gentle performance and the cinematography is beautiful. The sentimentality, paired with original scores of Bix's music, makes it worth seeing.

I have one good line in it too..

Great music, but many faults

[dalogue · 6/10 · 18 July 2006]

As an avid fan of Bix Beiderbecke, I was anxious to see this film, which I purchased on VHS through half.com years ago. I can't say it was a waste of money, as the film does have its moments. But if you are looking for a true depiction of Bix's life, sadly there is no such thing available (unless you count Brigitte Berman's excellent documentary BIX, available on Playboy video).

The filmmakers have visually made a concerted effort to make the film appear in the correct period. Their use of Davenport period landmarks deserves to be commended (as a Beiderbecke fan I was thrilled to see the interior of the actual Beiderbeck home). However, they have taken several liberties in other areas. Namely, the overuse of foul language (sure it existed then, but I don't think it was quite as prevalent) and a suggestive scene that does not seem plausible for that era.

Additionally, there are numerous blatant, historical inaccuracies in the film, but the filmmakers seem to have covered themselves by subtitling the film "An Interpretation of a Legend".

The acting in this film is not the best, but it could be much worse. The lead player, while not a horrible actor, seems to lack the depth of character to make Bix come alive. Personally, I can't get beyond Bryant Weeks' "pretty boy" image. The real Bix was ruggedly handsome but had a little edge.

What stands out in this film is the excellent music, faithfully recreated by diligent musicians like Tom Pletcher.

This film could have been so much better with a few changes. A proper film about the legendary Bix Beiderbecke is long overdue. Until then, this film serves as a pale representation. Watch it with the understanding that its 90% fiction and do yourself a favor and watch the Berman documentary instead.

Looks Great, but falls short

[-214 · 3 March 2000]

While this film is wonderful at capturing the look of the "Jazz Age" it falls short on the script side. The performances are uneven and average at best and the story is close to incomprehensible at times - as well as fairly inaccurate re: Bix. I really wanted to like this film, but instead I found it to be long and boring. The music, on the other hand, is fantastic.

Brilliant Music, Mark Sovel steals the show as Frankie Trumbaeur.

[Elvis11 · 10/10 · 19 October 1999]

Although the timeline can be a bit confusing, this is a beautiful peek into the hot jazz age and the true life characters who lived it.The music scenes are the best ever filmed of this era. No closer representation can be found of Bix and these legends at work. The cast is great and Mark Sovel steals the show with his sublime and witty portrayal of sax legend Frankie Trumbaeur. There are some flat points but overall one must be awed by life as it was in the 1920s.

Realistic view of Bix Beiderbecke

[SpeedyJ · 28 October 1998]

This is a wonderful film in my light as it shows the true roaring 20's in full glory. It clearly depicts Beiderbeckes life and experiences, the viewer get's into the film. For some it may be hard to watch, as the entire film is a flashback from one of Bix's friends, and the flashbacks don't take a chronological order. If you miss the date and time, that are presented on the bottom of the screen from time to time, you can get lost easily. This movie hit home with me as Beiderbeckes music is not recognized by many, and probably never will be. Go rent this movie. In the words of Louis Armstrong, "Ain't none of them play like him yet."

Inaccurate romantic fantasy

[beyondbelief · 30 August 2000]

Avati seized on the life story of Bix Beiderbecke and filtered it through his unique interpretation and then mangled facts to serve this fictional view. The movie is interesting in as much as it is a rare insight into this side of the roaring twenties and the fascinating story of Bix Beiderbecke's meteoric rise and fall. But despite being plainly shown the fundamental inaccuracies in the script, Avati chose to inject wholly fictional scenes. These were not merely the normal adjustments to make the movie move smoothly and advance the plot, but fundamental distortions of the record. Thus, it is sad that this movie, which had the potential to really stand as the definitive work on Bix Beiderbecke, whose true life has more than enough elements to make a great movie, instead stands as yet another distorted vision.

amazed

[filmmth · 6 August 2003]

I am amazed at the amount of comments. I would like to thank the guy who said that even the ugly guys were attractive (I played Pee Wee Russel) Like many I think the music is great but oh the script not entirely the directors fault English not his first language, view his films in Italian they are breathtaking.

How fine is this biopic,how unconventional and well-conceived!

[Cristi_Ciopron · 24 July 2007]

Avati's less famous biopic "Bix" is very far from hagiography;in fact,it ingenuously ignores the pious legends and incensing that usually pollute the musicians' memories.Like Christmas Present (and unlike Graduation Party), Bix (1991) is a work of impassible,dispassionate analysis and lancing.The sadness that impends over the banality and ugliness of Bix' life is sensible through a narrative technique that goes farther and farther back into Bix' simple, ignoble and imbalanced life.

Bix is exposed being prodigal,uninviting and profligate,unbalanced,self-destructive,dingy,hurtful,a drunkard—Avati accumulates the disgusting features of Bix' life—Bix is shown drunk,viscous,a wreck, no redeeming qualities—yes,Avati accumulates Bix' mistakes without redundancy or reduplication:on the contrary,he has for his rather long movie enough misdeeds of Bix'—not a very flattering portrait! This biopic is the work of an objective moralist,interested mainly in deepening the sad and sordid aspects of a banal lad's life.

Bix, waddling, viscid,hidden,mostly silent,a waverer—his whole youth wasted with licker—a weak-minded stained by his vomit and urine ….Avati's narrative is made of accurate notations,with strong and exact touches,and,what can I say,with a clinical sense of the waste—Bix' decline is not in any way spectacular ….

Bix—untidy,unbalanced,seedy and filthy,bewildered,clumsy,uncouth and miserable—a wretch,his lack of poise ….The impartial Avati exposes Bix' dim,troubled,loser vitality.Avati does this without obligingness,and without indulging in the things exposed.He shows Bix churlish,unruly and puzzled,he depicts him as an crotchety,erratic,twisted human;there is debasement to one's heart's content.

The Bix Beiderbecke Story for Gay Men

[fordraff · 17 April 2009]

This is the Bix Beiderbecke story for gay men. The film appears to have been made by a combination of GQ, the photographers for the Abercrombie & Fitch catalogue, and Bruce Weber. It's filled with beautiful twenty-something guys (Beiderbecke died at 28), all of them wearing nice clothing--often tuxedoes, posed against vintage 20s automobiles or in art deco theatre lobbies and nightclubs, in prep-school dorms, or on warp-around porches of large Midwestern homes bathed in a soft golden light. Even when the men are a bit scruffy and in need of a shave, they appear as if in high-fashion photo layouts. This is a film where even the ugly guys are handsome. Watching it is like turning the pages of a deluxe coffee table book about Bix's life.

What does the film tell us about Bix? He was a fabulous trumpet player; a disappointment to his parents, who wanted him to live a conventional middle-class life; an alcoholic. But who cares how inaccurate most of this film's details are? The film's subtitle is "An Interpretation of a Legend," and I can only thank director Pupi Avati and cinematographer Pasquale Rachini for interpreting Bix's life in this lush manner.

Bryant Weeks as Bix is a handsome, blond cutie with a sweet, slightly mischievous smile that no one could resist. Emile Levisetti, with his large dark eyes, is thick chocolate, creamy, delicious! (Note: Levisetti is not a black actor. This is not a racist comment! I mean to suggest the warm and sensual nature of this actor.) Why go on to delineate the beauty of the others? Just see them and drink in their handsomeness. But be warned: there's no nudity, though the director did get Week's shirt off in two scenes, and in another, there's a brief glimpse of his great thighs. Other than that, everybody is buttoned from top to bottom. Of course, none of these men look a bit like their actual counterparts. In real life, Beiderbecke was ordinary looking, if not downright ugly. And Romano Orzari as Hoagy Carmichael gave me a laugh, precisely because he's so unlike the real Hoagy, familiar to me from his movie appearances.

Forget women. They don't count for anything here, and aren't much seen--except for Bix's mom.

The film has a solid musical background, recreations of many Beiderbecke numbers. And "Bix" was filmed in authentic Midwestern locations, including the actual home Beiderbecke grew up in in Davenport, Iowa.

Banjo/guitarist Eddie Condon described Beiderbecke's clear, clean tone as "like a girl saying yes." Well, maybe that quote was taken as the key to interpreting Bix's story in this lush, sensual manner. Yes, yes, yes! Don't miss it.

Most of the actors here, among them Bryant Weeks, have no other screen credits. I'd be interested to hear from anyone with further information about Weeks or the other actors. According to Leonard Maltin's comments, "Bix" was originally 120 minutes, cut down to 100 minutes. Does anyone know if a 120-minute video version exists?