Directed by Ido Fluk, Köln 75 tells the story of teenager Vera Brandes' determination to book Keith Jarrett to play a concert at Cologne Opera. An everyday occurrence...not! Mala Emde as the teenage Brandes (Susanne Wolff plays Brandes at 50), John Magaro as Keith Jarrett, the two principals first meet on screen approximately 75 minutes into the drama.
The story is as much about Brandes' difficult family relationships - Herr Brandes' life-long disappointment with his daughter, Brandes' brother hating her - as it is about Keith Jarrett's 1975 European tour.
Hiring a concert hall (1300 capacity), as one does, on the day of the concert persuading Maestro Jarrett to play a wreck of a rehearsal piano, as one does, it's pure fiction, isn't it? Well, not so. The various characters - Brandes, Brandes' family members, boyfriends - aren't particularly endearing types, the storyline somewhat repetitive, 117 minutes later, Jarrett's performance, of which we see or hear nothing, is about to enter (jazz) folklore.
Is Köln 75 worth seeing? If you're a jazz nut, yes, if not, maybe/maybe not.
Today (Wednesday 17th) the Tyneside Cinema screens Ido Fluk's film one last time at 2:45pm. If you can't make it, it's sure to turn up at your local 'art house' cinema at some point in the not too distant future. Russell
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