Behind the scenes with Thelonious Monk in ‘Rewind & Play’
Richard Brody, writing at The New Yorker:
In “Rewind & Play,” [Alain] Gomis does more than reveal the discussion that didn’t see the light of day in 1970; he reveals the cinematic methods by which the fabricated and tailored view of Monk’s life and work were crafted. Not only does Renaud repeat questions to Monk (including other, anodyne or trivial ones) in the hope of getting an answer crafted to his specifications, he also appears on camera alone, in Monk’s total absence, feigning the posing of a question and the listening to an answer. His monologues about Monk’s career are delivered from the same position—standing at or leaning on the piano—in which he questions Monk, as if to simulate their delivery in Monk’s presence. What Renaud and Lion are doing is nothing unusual, and that is the point.
It is inconceivable that the great documentary filmmakers, whether Frederick Wiseman or Claire Simon, Rosine Mbakam or the Maysles brothers, Garrett Bradley or Robert Greene, Sara Fattahi or Khalik Allah, would coax participants to repeat answers until they sounded right or fabricate their own presence amid subjects who are absent. But Renaud’s practices are common coin in the documentary industry, where information takes precedence over experience and packaging is more important than discovery.
Trailer. New York Times review. An essay by Ethan Iverson that accompanied an earlier release of the concert on DVD.