Annette

film roundup

KEITH UHLICH

Annette

Annette (Dir. Leos Carax). Starring: Adam Driver, Marion Cotillard, Simon Helberg. Everunpredictable French filmmaker Leos Carax (Holy Motors) and eccentric pop band Sparks, comprised of brother duo Ron and Russell Mael, team up for this sprawling, tone-shifting masterpiece of a rock opera. A love affair between a crude, confrontational stand-up comedian (Adam Driver) and a beloved opera singer (Marion Cotillard) begets high emotion, brutal tragedy, and a “miracle” of a daughter, Annette, who is treated less as a person than as a prized possession with a short, exploitable shelf-life. The film is a parable in song—the lyrics often tending toward mantra-like repetitiveness—about the harm we do to ourselves and others. It leans conceptually hard into concerns of the moment (see the #MeToo-esque musical interlude), and in the process lays the groundwork for its heartbreaking final scene between parent and child, certainly one of the most devastatingly personal things Carax has ever shot. [R] HHHHH Evangelion: 3.0 + 1.01 Thrice Upon a Time (Dirs. Hideaki Anno, Mahiro Maeda, Katsuichi Nakayama, Kazuya Tsurumaki). Starring: Megumi Ogata, Megumi Hayashibara, Yûko Miyamura. The four-movie “rebuild” of influential anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion concludes in this two-and-half-hour animated blockbuster that is quite entertaining, yet still has a “too much and not enough” feel. It was always going to be difficult to follow the series’ prior finale, 1997’s The End of Evangelion. That supreme work of art visualized the death and rebirth of mankind in nerve-shreddingly visceral fashion, reflecting the manic-depressive headspace in which the show’s creator Hideaki Anno, a Hayao Miyazaki protégé, was then ensconced. Thrice Upon a Time, by contrast, is the product of a mellower, more hopeful man who is also working with less constraints emotionally and economically. Though Anno wrote the screenplay, the army of technicians and co-directors he has at his disposal unfortu-

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A.D. AMOROSIA All that he is and then some, jazz piano kingpin, talk show bandleader, and activist, Jon Batiste has a lot to say JON BATISTE interview

AFTER SEVERAL YEARS OFwatching mainstream audiences fall in love with contemporary jazz composer and pianist Jon Batiste on a nightly basis as bandleader of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, that talk show host’s congenial foil has brought that same crowd—and more—to his wide-ranging brands of genre-jumbling music and ardent activism. Along with releasing unedited, hardcore jazz with Anatomy of Angels: Live at the Village Vanguard, in 2019, the flighty R&B-ish single We Are in support of Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, and the multi-genre-jumbling full-length album We Are in 2021, the pianist, melodica player, organist and singer known for his eclectic crossover compositions juxtaposing pop, gospel and the R&B of his Louisiana youth with an adventurously spritely and subtly avant-garde brand of sonorous jazz, has also been gifted roses (Oscars, Golden Globes) for his score for Soul.

A beloved animated Pixar studio film, co-written with ambient, industrial soundtrack composers Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, both of Nine Inch Nails, the flip and flighty score to Soul is both a definitive landing place for Batiste’s art as well as a fresh jumpingoff point for re-discovery—for himself and new audiences. And like We Are, there is social relevance at every one of Soul’s twists and tones.

Though this interview was long in the making (e.g., right before his Academy Award ceremony victory), ICON caught up with Batiste the day after his first night back to “The Late Show” in Manhattan, in a live studio setting, with a live audience before him.

The Oscar win for “Soul” still fresh in your memory, what do you recall most about getting that unique score together with its other composers?

The spiritual, existential quest was but one part of the story. An homage to the tradition of jazz, along with being something that really blended with the styles of the music of Trent and Atticus—bringing the genre into the present, even into the future was also on our minds, especially when you consider that what we did with Soul is something that had not been done before, that blend. So the authenticity of dealing with the themes of the movie—the themes of existentialism, the themes of jazz—as well as playing with the animation was a big deal. Pixar has always led the charge across the world, out of all the studios in the world that do animation, so that was a big deal. Bigger still, though, was that they were portraying Blackness. There were many central characters in the narrative that were Black. The matriarchs, the musicians, the mentors in the film are all Black or all women of color. Soul was very kind in its portrayal of women and Black people; when you think about the history of cinema, that hasn’t always been a given. All of these things were done with a great deal of authenticity. That was my biggest takeaway from the Soul experience. That’s the real victory. Before even winning any awards, seeing the film's first cut, seeing how they put everything together with such care and authenticity.

I want to discuss everything about “We Are,” from its tone to its levels of activism. But, thinking about the latter, I have to ask about your relationship with Wynton Marsalis. Not so long ago, he and I spoke, and he couldn’t stop talking about how much of an inspiration you are to him, not only musically but because of your activist ardor. In fact, on Marsalis’ “The Democracy! Suite,” he has a song dedicated to you, “Out Amongst the People (for J Bat).” Tell me a bit about the reciprocal relationship between you and Marsalis.

Wynton is one of those people who comes along every two or three generations. There are not many people I consider his peer when you think about jazz, and you think about our music. He’s someone who has spoken about the music at the same level in which he has played the music through his horn. To be able to articulate the depth and the nuance of the music as he does….that has been a joy and an education to be around.

Talking about mentors, not only are Mavis Staples, Zadie Smith, and Quin-

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