Vera Brandes, who, in 1975 and at the age of 18, staged the famous Köln Concert by jazz musician Keith Jarrett.
Keith Jarrett is an American pianist and composer who to my shame, I knew very little about ahead of seeing this film (I’ll confess I didn’t read the description properly and thought it was about Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards!). As the title of this film suggests, it takes place in the German city of Cologne (or Köln) in 1975, where Jarrett has been booked to play an improvised jazz concert that will over time become regarded as an iconic landmark of musical history. Starring John Magaro as Jarrett, the film isn’t really about him despite it centering on his concert, with the focus more on Vera Brandes (Mala Emde), an 18-year-old German concert organiser who became famous in her own right as a result.
Beginning with a focus on Brandes, we are introduced to a carefree young woman living in what was West Germany at the time, with a domineering father and a tetchy relationship with her brother who is also part of her wider friendship group. She is entrepreneurial in spirit and instead of focusing on studying, she starts booking concerts for various acts, with Jarrett the biggest to date. Emde delivers a good performance as Brandes and it was fun spending time in 1970s Germany with her and her posse of friends. About half way through the film, the narrative switches to focus on Jarrett, who is struggling after being dropped by his record label and is now touring Europe by limited means, travelling in an old car with his friend and producer Manfred Eicher (Alexander Scheer).
Thrown into this mix is Melody Maker journalist Mick Watts (Michael Chernus), who joins Keith and Manfred on their journey to Köln, as well as acting as an audience surrogate and introducer to jazz which he explains through several fourth wall breaking explanations. I think ‘Köln 75’ is a film that you’ll get more out of if you’re familiar with Keith Jarrett and the history of jazz more broadly, but even for someone like myself who was unfamiliar there is much to enjoy. I liked the setting, the performances and felt the approach to telling the story kept things light and breezy, just like good jazz should be, and this was a pleasant way to spend a couple of hours at the cinema.
Rating: 3/5
Directed By: Ido Fluk
Starring: Mala Emde, John Magaro, Michael Chernus, Alexander Scheer, Susanne Wolff, Ulrich Tukur, Jördis Triebel and Corey Johnson
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