The film is a redo of the 1927 AI Johnsons Jazz Singer, which is among the triumphant talking movies (Abbott, 2020). The film places its characters in a time capsule despite its story set in the present (1980). This movie seems to be confusing to other western films, which are meant to portray some virtuous issues in society (Agnew, 2020). It is slightly believable since the film’s main character is too aged to familiarize themself with what is ensuing him. The jazz singer is a beyond-belief flawed motion picture set. The behaviors of the characters in the film seem old-fashioned. The movie depicts a young man who sets foot in Los Angeles to pursue his loving and passionate career in music, particularly singing. The circumstance is relatively awkward for a middle-aged man. It is uncomfortable in the state that the young man breaks ties with his dear family and leaves almost everything behind in New York to follow his dreams. Luckily thanks to a female agent Lucie Arnaz he gets his first debut in Los Angeles, where he performs an opening act. He acts beside Laurence Olivier, who plays the old father, where he used the German accent that he had previously used in some of the movies he was cast in, such as A bit of romance and Marathon Man.
Diamond debuts as a teenage soloist in his old man’s abbey who composes melodies and tunes for an African American band; one day, a crucial member of the band becomes ill, and Diamond is given the task to replace him during a performance in a nightclub where he appears in black face. This instance, among others, explains how the scenes in this film are unfathomable. Over and above that, the use of black faces seems racist, which puts the movie directors and everyone involved in a position that conveys them as racially insensitive. The Jazz Singer is an artifact compared to the current crop of films being made. Even so, it offers some appreciation of the years preceding the 90s life in the expression of the makeover and the early 20s in the expression of the indigenous movie (Abbott, 2020). The filmmaker goes overboard to paint the challenges immigrants faced while assimilating into the western (American) society while linking with other immigrants, which pulls away from the racial issues in the film.
To add on, there is a scene designed to demonstrate Diamond as a lonely and hurting soul where he leaves his newly pregnant girlfriend Lucie and goes on to a roadshow. Nonetheless, this plan boomerangs as the director represents the movie’s main character as a narcissist and selfish. Diamond’s existence in the film is so self-centered, and his songs, instead of appearing artistic and masterpieces, come off as melodramatic and loud anguished shouts. The director has done a not very good job as he poses Diamond as an overprotected character over the others since they are not willing to stand up to him and tell him the truth because they fear disgruntling him.
References
Abbott, P. H. (2020). The Cambridge Introduction to Narrative (Cambridge Introductions to Literature) (3rd ed.). Cambridge University Press.
Agnew, J. (2020). The Landscapes of Western Movies: A History of Filming on Location, 1900-1970. McFarland.
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