Let's Get Lost (film)

Infobox Film
name = Let's Get Lost


image_size =
caption = Theatrical poster
director = Bruce Weber
producer = Bruce Weber
writer = Bruce Weber
narrator =
starring = Chet Baker
William Claxton
Carol Baker
Vera Baker
Diane Vavra
Ruth Young
music = Chet Baker
cinematography = Jeff Preiss
editing = Angelo Corrao
distributor = Little Bear
released = September 15, 1988 (Toronto International Film Festival)
runtime = 120 minutes
country = USA
language = English
budget = $1,000,000 (estimated)
gross =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website = http://www.filmforum.org/films/letsgetlost.html
amg_id = 1:29062
imdb_id = 0095515

"Let's Get Lost" (1988) is a American documentary film about the turbulent life and career of jazz trumpeter Chet Baker written and directed by Bruce Weber.

Plot

A group of Baker fans, ranging from ex-associates to ex-wives and children, talk about the man. Weber’s film traces the man’s career from the 1950s, when he was in his prime, playing with jazz greats like Charlie Parker and Gerry Mulligan, to the 1980s, when he had become a skid row junkie unable to get a decent gig. By juxtaposing these two decades, Weber presents a sharp contrast between the younger, handsome Baker — the statuesque idol who resembled a mix of James Dean and Jack Kerouac — to what he became, “a seamy looking drugstore cowboy-"cum"-derelict,” as J. Hoberman put it in his "Village Voice" review.cite news
last = Hoberman
first = J
coauthors =
title = Self-Destructive Beauties
work =
pages =
language =
publisher = Village Voice
date = April 25, 1989
url =
accessdate = ]

"Let’s Get Lost" begins near the end of Baker’s life, on the beaches of Santa Monica, and ends at the Cannes Film Festival. Weber uses these moments in the present as bookends to the historic footage contained in the bulk of the film. The documentation ranges from vintage photographs by William Claxton in 1953 to appearances on "The Steve Allen Show" and kitschy, low budget Italian films Baker did for quick money.

Development

Bruce Weber first became interested in Chet Baker when he spotted a photograph of the musician in a Pittsburgh record store on the cover of the 1955 vinyl LP "Chet Baker Sings and Plays with Bud Shank, Russ Freeman and Strings" when he was 16-years-old.cite news
last = Adams
first = James
coauthors =
title = Through a Legend, Darkly
work =
pages =
language =
publisher = Globe and Mail
date = September 9, 2006
url =
accessdate = ] Weber first met Baker in the winter of 1986 at a club in New York City. and convinced him to do a photo shoot and what was originally only going to be a three-minute film.cite news
last = Kreigmann
first = Jame
coauthors =
title = Requiem for a Horn Player
work =
pages = 231
language =
publisher = Esquire
date = December 1988
url =
accessdate = ] Weber had wanted to make a short film from an Oscar Levant song called "Blame It on My Youth". They had such a good time together that Baker started opening up to Weber. Afterwards, Weber convinced Baker to make a longer film and the musician agreed.cite news
last = James
first = Nick
coauthors =
title = Return Of The Cool
work =
pages =
language =
publisher = Sight and Sound
date = June 2008
url = http://www.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/feature/49455
accessdate = 2008-05-20 ] Filming began in January 1987. Interviewing Baker was a challenge as Weber remembers, "Sometimes we'd have to stop for some reason or another and then, because Chet was a junkie and couldn't do things twice, we'd have to start all over again. But we grew to really like him".cite news
last = Lewis
first = Anne S
coauthors =
title = Chet Baker in Black and White, but Still Blurry
work =
pages =
language =
publisher = Austin Chronicle
date = April 27, 2007
url = http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/story?oid=oid:469170
accessdate = 2007-04-29 ]

In May 1987, when Weber's documentary "Broken Noses" premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, he brought Baker along to shoot footage for "Let's Get Lost". Weber spent a million dollars of his own money on the documentary and filmed it when he had the time and the money, describing it as a "a very ad hoc film". The film's title comes from a song performed by Baker and recorded on the album "Chet Baker Sings and Plays", which was the first Baker album director Bruce Weber bought when he was 16-years-old at a Pittsburgh record store.

Reception

"Let's Get Lost" had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.

The documentary was well-received by critics and currently has a 93% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. "Entertainment Weekly" gave the film an "A-" rating and said that Weber "created just about the only documentary that works like a novel, inviting you to read between the lines of Baker's personality until you touch the secret sadness at the heart of his beauty".cite news
last = Gleiberman
first = Owen
coauthors =
title = "Let's Get Lost"
work =
pages =
language =
publisher = Entertainment Weekly
date = June 13, 2007
url = http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20042381,00.html
accessdate = 2008-02-20 ] In her review for the "Los Angeles Times", Carina Chocano wrote, "If there's a driving force to Weber's film, it seems to be delving into the nature and purpose of star quality and personal magnetism, which Baker had in droves but which didn't save him".cite news
last = Chocano
first = Carina
coauthors =
title = "Lost" traces jazz legend's shocking descent
work =
pages =
language =
publisher = Los Angeles Times
date = January 11, 2008
url = http://www.calendarlive.com/movies/reviews/cl-et-lost11jan11,0,1913213.story
accessdate = 2008-02-20 ] In his review for the "Washington Post", Hal Hinson wrote that what Weber "provides us is rapturous, deeply involving, and more than a little puzzling".cite news
last = Hinson
first = Hal
coauthors =
title = "Let's Get Lost"
work =
pages =
language =
publisher = Washington Post
date = June 2, 1989
url = http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/letsgetlostnrhinson_a0a941.htm
accessdate = 2008-02-20 ]

A newly restored print will be screened at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival.cite news
last =
first =
coauthors =
title = Cannes Classics Set For Fifth Year
work =
pages =
language =
publisher = indieWIRE
date = May 7, 2008
url = http://www.indiewire.com/buzz/cannes.html
accessdate = 2008-05-08 ]

Awards

"Let's Get Lost" was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary, Features in 1988. Fact|date=March 2008

DVD

"Let's Get Lost" was originally going to be released in 2007 along with an expanded version of the film's soundtrack. According to Weber, the DVD was to be released in December 2007 but failed to do so. The DVD is to be released in the UK at least on July 28 2008. (source :Amazon UK)

References

External links

*
*
*
* [http://chetbakertribute.com/video.html chetbakertribute.com] , clips from the documentary
* [http://www.e.bell.ca/filmfest/2006/films_schedules/films_description.asp?id=182 e.bell.ca] , Toronto Film Festival listing
* [http://film.guardian.co.uk/features/featurepages/0,,2282745,00.html Weber's tribute to Baker]