MOVIE · 1988

Bird

Drama161 min

Charlie “Bird” Parker arrives in New York in 1940 and quickly becomes a force in bebop, even as heroin addiction begins to overtake his life. Forest Whitaker is Parker, the brilliant saxophonist whose innovations onstage sit beside hospital stays, unstable work, and mounting strain at home. Diane Venora’s Chan Parker remains his closest support as fame and self-destruction pull in opposite directions. Directed by Clint Eastwood, the film moves through clubs, rehearsals, and Parker’s private life to sketch the musician behind one of jazz’s defining sounds.