‘Miles Ahead‘ is the title of an album by the legendary jazz trumpeter Miles Davis, released in 1957. Don Cheadle took the title of this album for the 2015 Miles Davis movie starring him. I have to be cautious in defining what genre this movie belongs to. Although it has the famous trumpet player as its main hero, it is not a biopic. The story focuses on two periods of Davis’ life and work, separated by almost two decades. The facts depicted in the film are mostly imaginary, but the essence of the character is accurate. I should be cautious about calling ‘Miles Ahead‘ a jazz movie, as well. We learned in this film that Miles Davis did not like the term ‘jazz’ and wanted his music to be called ‘social music’. To be honest, I don’t like this term – ‘social music’. But what does it matter? ‘Miles Ahead‘ is a wonderful movie with exceptional music, which satisfied me in many ways.
The film imagines the life of Miles Davis during two periods of personal crisis in his life. In the 70s, for several years, the trumpet player who was starting to become a living legend, retired from the musical life, from the stages or from the recording studios. It was rumored that he was making music in his studio, he even had a contract with Columbia studios which he was in no hurry to honor. During this time he was painting – Davis also being a talented plastic artist. The studio sharks want to get their hands on the tape with his studio recordings using mob means. A reporter, Dave Braden, tries to break through the artist’s wall of loneliness and interview him, perhaps to determine or hasten his return to the music scene. A relationship that could be called friendship develops between the two, but a friendship sprinkled with violence, drugs, fistfights (Miles Davis was a boxing fan) and shootings. The artist’s crisis may have its roots in older personal issues, particularly his failed marriage to the highly talented dancer Frances Taylor, who had gave up a fabulous career of ballet star to support him in his peak creative years. In fact, if this story has a moral, it would be that from personal crises art can emerge at the highest level. Personal and artistic crises do not necessarily go hand in hand.
The original script starts from real elements of the biography of Miles Davis, but creates around them a story and some fictional characters. It is a selective selection of events from the life of a complex artist, choosing moments of crisis but minimizing documented details such as the domestic violence in his marriage. That’s why categorizing this movie as a biopic doesn’t really work. The events of the 1970s are told almost in terms of Tarantino gangster movies, which combined with the flashbacks to the 1950s and the documentary-style interview that opens and concludes the film makes for an interesting mix. The acting creations are memorable. Don Cheadle for one melts into the role. The actor not only studied the physiognomy and gestures of Miles Davis, but also assimilated them perfectly, learning to play the trumpet as part of the process of creating the role. Emayatzy Corinealdi is a formidable cast – beautiful, charismatic, excellent dancer. Finally, Ewan McGregor creates one of the best roles of his career. But the real magic is the music, and it gives the exceptional quality of the film, reminding us that ‘Miles Ahead‘ is Don Cheadle‘s personal vision of an exceptional artist – Miles Davis.