Rewind & Play

Released Mar 10, 2023

1 hr. 5 min.

Documentary

Music

List

100%

8 Reviews

Tomatometer

December 1969, Thelonious Monk arrives in Paris. Before his evening concert, he recorded a program for French television. The rushes that have been preserved show us a Thelonious Monk who is rare, close, and in the grip of the violent factory of stereotypes from which he tries to escape. The film becomes the crossing of this great artist, who would like to exist only for his music. And the portrait in hollow of a media machine as ridiculous as revolting.

Read More

Read Less

Prime Video

Apple TV

Rent Rewind & Play on Prime Video, Apple TV, or buy it on Prime Video, Apple TV.

Vincent E

One of the greats in jazz.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

05/01/23

Full Review

Richard B

A weird and exhilarating combination of an interview with outtakes with an awkward, clueless French interviewer, and some of the most astounding, satisfying piano playing ever captured on film. The camera is tight on Monk as he tries to react or not react to the nonsense surrounding him. Some people might not think this is what a documentary should be, but other people don't care, myself included,

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/23/23

Full Review

Read all reviews

Post a rating

Alain Gomis

Director

Thelonious Monk

Self

Anouk Khélifa

Producer

Arnaud Dommerc

Producer

Alain Gomis

Film Editor

Show Less Cast & Crew

Show More Cast & Crew

%

%

Fern Brady: Autistic Bikini Queen

%

%

Tiger

%

%

Hip-Hop and The White House

%

%

Tigers on the Rise

88%

84%

Monkey Man

TRAILER

for Monkey Man

93%

%

Something You Said Last Night

%

%

Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths Part Two

%

92%

La Cha Cha

%

%

The Moon and Back

%

%

Max Beyond

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

View more photos

Ty Burr

Ty Burr's Watch List

Gomis’ film features long, uninterrupted passages of Monk playing the studio’s grand piano, and they are the meat and marvel of the film...

Rated: 3/4

Apr 28, 2023

Full Review

Peter Rainer

FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles)

A film that ought to appeal to fans of Thelonious Monk -- but even if you don't know him, you should watch it anyway because everyone should be a fan of Thelonious Monk.

Apr 7, 2023

Full Review

Robert Abele

Los Angeles Times

In the stretches when Monk is playing, he gets to be exactly who he is, his exhilarating music doing the talking, his exquisite dissonance suddenly more revelatory than perhaps intended.

Apr 6, 2023

Full Review

Alex Heeney

Seventh Row

In Rewind & Play, Alain Gomis re-edits an interview jazz pianist Thelonius Monk gave on French TV in the 1960s to expose the sneering racism of the host.

Mar 22, 2024

Full Review

Elissa Suh

Screen Slate

Fundamentally an essay film, Rewind & Play illuminates the chasm between tendentious interviewer and inscrutable subject and exposes the slyly pernicious relationship between Black artists and white media machine in the process.

Mar 13, 2023

Full Review

Read all reviews

Synopsis

December 1969, Thelonious Monk arrives in Paris. Before his evening concert, he recorded a program for French television. The rushes that have been preserved show us a Thelonious Monk who is rare, close, and in the grip of the violent factory of stereotypes from which he tries to escape. The film becomes the crossing of this great artist, who would like to exist only for his music. And the portrait in hollow of a media machine as ridiculous as revolting.

Director: Alain Gomis
Distributor: Grasshopper Film
Production Co: Andolfi
Genre: Documentary, Music
Original Language: French (France)
Release Date (Theaters): Mar 10, 2023, Limited

Most Popular at Home Now