Details
Directed by: Charlotte Zwerin
Country:
US
Runtime: 1h 33min
Certificate: PG
Year: 1988
Topics:
Music
Last Screened:
Sun 31st Aug 2025
The closest a film camera ever got to enigmatic jazz visionary Thelonious Monk, this intimate portrait sheds light on the corners of a brilliant and complex life.
Superbly crafted by ‘Direct Cinema’ pioneer Charlotte Zwerin from a trove of precious 1960s archival footage, Thelonious Monk: Straight, No Chaser captures the pianist, composer, and bebop innovator in rare, unguarded moments on- and offstage, revealing an eccentric and complicated personality.
Made with the same freedom of spirit that defines Monk’s artistry, this essential slice of jazz history is a unique glimpse into the quixotic world of one of the twentieth century’s most revolutionary artists.