Boris Vian, la vie jazz

Based almost exclusively on historical footage and documents this documentary does a good job in bringing to screen the fascinating figure of Boris Vian, writer, musician, jazz critic - a man of multiple talents who lived a too short and not very happy life but made a great impact especially after his death on the post-war French literature and culture. I liked the fact that the film avoided a too memorial tone, as well as interviews, but rather is built on documents and music. Luckily Vian lived part of his life under the lights of projectors and eyes of film camera, so authentic footage, his voice, his music are available. The common theme of the film is jazz music, which Vian discovered at young age, embraced, practiced and popularized in the French capital open as it has always been to all current trends and novelties. Balanced, well informed, and interesting all over its almost one hour of projection this documentary is an appropriate homage to the artist 50 years after his death.