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entertainment1d ago
How, With ‘Everybody Digs Bill Evans,’ Grant Gee Turned the Music Biopic Inside Out
- Grant Gee helms a music biopic that centers on Evans's life during a 1961 hiatus rather than on virtuoso performances.
- The film explores Evans's struggle with drugs and personal loss after Scott LaFaro’s death and his retreat from touring.
- Gee notes the film’s structure was discovered in editing, with silences shaping the throughline of Evans’s story.
- Lie’s portrayal of Evans emphasizes restraint, vulnerability, and distance rather than flashy displays of technique.
- The film opens with a four-minute improv session from the Bill Evans Trio at the Village Vanguard.
- The project ends on a personal piano moment where Evans plays ‘Lucky to Be Me’ from On the Town.
- Everybody Digs Bill Evans was produced by Cowtown Pictures and Hot Property, with Mister Smith Entertainment handling world sales.
- The film uses black-and-white sequences for the 1961 focal period and garish color for later years to signal Evans's life arc.
- The film is still seeking U.S. distribution at the time of THR publication.
- Gee compares the film’s approach to his earlier work on Joy Division and Radiohead videos to capture mood over display.
- The documentary emphasizes Evans's emotional life and the silences between performances as core to his art.
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