The Hand That Giveth, Also Taketh Away
Swedish director Kasper Collin embarked on a journey seven years ago when he decided to make a film on jazz musician Lee Morgan. His second multiple award-winning documentary entitled I Called Him Morgan is a fresh take on jazz music, and, according to a few, it also feels like a jazz number due to the repetitions in it. But does the film really about Lee Morgan and not about his wife Helen?
Making a documentary that blows people’s minds requires plenty of time, effort and determination –especially if it’s about a legendary jazz musician and trumpeter whose life ended way too soon. Lee Morgan was only 33 years old when his wife, who previously saved and helped him, and gave the recourses to him to start his life over, shot him dead in a bar in New York. Lee Morgan was an exceptional talent, and everybody knew him in the jazz circle in New York. Hence, his death was a real shock back in 1972. Such a shock that decades later his friends and fellow musicians are still talking about Lee’s life and the tragic night with voice full of pain. Lee was indeed such a person whom nobody could ignore. Just like his music, he is immortal, too.
Therefore, presenting his legacy on screen couldn’t be the simplest task at all. Nonetheless, Swedish director Kasper Collin has overcome all the obstacles and directed a film that wholeheartedly captures the life and death of Lee Morgan and his wife, Helen, who called him Morgan. Whereas this stunningly well-crafted music documentary guides its viewers through all the crucial moments that occurred in Morgan’s life, it also unveils Helen Morgan’s complex and devoted character. Eventually, despite all the sounds the trumpet exhales, Helen’s vocal presence becomes ubiquitous. Without Helen, there is no Morgan, and vice versa.
This is cleverly shown in the documentary that more or less follows a linear timeline and incorporates jazz, and archive footage comprised of mainly still photos in a splendid manner. The interviews done with Lee’s friends hit a genuinely personal tone effortlessly, which is beyond doubt one of the director’s greatest merits. The entire film flows like a river, reaching milestone after milestone that shaped or pushed the Morgans’ life forward in one way or another. No unnecessary moments made it to the screen, everything falls into place, and the rhythm completely silences our thoughts on other than the film, Lee and Helen and jazz a.k.a. “the classical music of black people”.
Kasper Collin’s second music documentary deserves all the praise it’s given to it. Its pace sometimes might be surprisingly slow, sometimes a bit too fast to absorb it all. After all, it’s all about jazz and the way in which Lee lived his life. When he hit rock bottom, an unexpected meeting his future wife led him to the second part of the invisible melody that sadly ended in sorrow and tears. The hand that giveth, finally taketh away…
