Director Grant Gee has reimagined the music biopic format in 'Everybody Digs Bill Evans,' focusing on jazz pianist Bill Evans' period of grief after his bassist's death. The film premiered at the Berlinale, where Gee received the Silver Bear for best director. It stars Anders Danielsen Lie as Evans, with Laurie Metcalf and Bill Pullman as his parents.
Grant Gee, known for documentaries like 'Meeting People Is Easy' (1998) about Radiohead and 'Joy Division' (2007), has long been interested in musicians' lives but dislikes traditional music biopics for their awkward performance scenes. In his debut feature, 'Everybody Digs Bill Evans,' Gee centers on a challenging time for the legendary 1960s jazz pianist: the year 1961, following the car crash death of his bassist and collaborator Scott LaFaro.
After recording acclaimed albums 'Portrait in Jazz' and 'Explorations' with his trio, Evans canceled tours and retreated to his parents' home in Florida, grappling with heroin addiction and the loss of his musical partner. The film, adapted from Owen Martell's novel 'Intermission,' explores Evans' struggle to return to playing amid grief. "To do a music biopic without much music in it," Gee noted as an appealing aspect.
Norwegian actor Anders Danielsen Lie, seen in 'Sentimental Value' and 'The Worst Person in the World,' portrays a gaunt, introspective Evans. The story unfolds in black-and-white for the main 1961 narrative, with color flashes to 1973, 1979, and 1980, highlighting later losses including Evans' own death. Parallel threads feature Evans' brother Henry (Barry Ward), a resentful music teacher, and father Henry Sr. (Bill Pullman), who admits, "I spent years squeezing myself into a life that was too small."
Despite its focus on silence, the film includes key musical sequences. It opens with a live improv by the Bill Evans Trio at New York's Village Vanguard, performed by Lie and professional jazz musicians who praised his solo. The story closes with Evans playing Leonard Bernstein's 'Lucky to Be Me' from 'On the Town,' a poignant nod to resilience.
Gee drew parallels to his Radiohead video 'No Surprises,' describing the film's structure as cycles of submersion and emergence. Produced by Dublin's Cowtown Pictures and London's Hot Property, the film is handled for world sales by Mister Smith Entertainment and seeks U.S. distribution.
