Sacha Jenkins’ film excels, both in digging up enough talk-show and similar footage to see how comfortable white celebrities felt around him, and in finding the unguarded moments in which he discussed his uglier interactions with white folks. Jenkins is interested in the man who was Armstrong, and that means a more complete, nuanced picture - a portrait of a human not so easy to categorize.
Unwilling to make this a single-issue movie, Jenkins also touches on everything from Armstrong’s close relationship with his fourth wife to the modest home he loved for decades in Queens. Jenkins has made a fascinating portrait of one of 20th-century America’s most essential characters.
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‘Jazz Biopic Talk’ plus ‘Louis Armstrong’s Black and Blues’ for Only £13 (Friends £10)
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