A
good conversation should be like jazz: a little call and response, plenty of
riffing, and everyone gets a chance to make their solo statement. Two estranged friends will try to talk out
their complicated history amidst the soulful sounds of a jazz club in John
Harkrider’s docu-hybrid-hybrid All the
Beautiful Things (trailer
here), which
screens during the 2014 Sundance Film Festival.
Harkrider
grew up on the wrong side of the tracks before making good as a Wall Street
attorney and eventually segueing into the lucrative world of independent
filmmaking. His friend Barron Claibourne
is a successful photographer who happens to be African American. Issues of race
and class will haunt their discussion, particularly when it turns into an
argument.
It
all revolves around a woman, but ironically neither man was particularly
interested in her romantically.
Harkrider never had the desire or the opportunity to leave the friend
zone. However, the woman in question had eyes for Claibourne and acted on her
impulses. He did not really reciprocate her interest, but he slept with her
anyway, thinking little of it. Needless
to say, things turned rather ugly, leaving Harkrider caught in the middle.
Presumably,
whether you think Harkrider did right enough by Claibourne depends on which man
you instinctively identify with. Yet,
the stunning African American bartender acting as a neutral referee seems to
lean towards Harkrider’s side of things.
Of course, this could also be a function of gender identification, with
respects to the unseen woman. While the inherent drama is obvious, it is highly
debatable whether the legal events surrounding the Harkrider-Claibourne feud
merit the feature documentary treatment. Nevertheless, the democratic ethos of
jazz argues everyone deserves a chance to have their say.
Indeed,
the better show is probably happening on the bandstand, where trumpeter Jeremy
Pelt’s quartet will perform John Coltrane’s A
Love Supreme in its entirety. It is an impressive interpretation that adds
spiritual gravitas to the two friends’ bickering and bantering.
Essentially,
ATBT was outlined but not scripted,
introducing substantial improvisation into the mix. Believe it or not, this
approach sort of works. Harkrider has an
acerbic wit, often making hip pop culture references, whereas the more blunt-spoken
Claibourne has a knack for cutting to essence of each issue. Still, their
purported insights into race and class do not readily suggest wider universal
truths, reflecting more specific circumstances instead.
