Professional musician Daniel Pritzker has written and directed “Louis,” a black-and-white silent film with a live musical performance that starts its five-city tour in Chicago Aug. 25 at Symphony Hall.
Jazz legend Wynton Marsalis, renowned pianist Cecile Licad and a 10-piece, all-star jazz ensemble accompanies the film with a score comprised primarily of Marsalis’ own compositions.
“Louis” is a 68-minute re-imagining of the early silent films, complete with title card dialog, as an homage to Louis Armstrong, Charlie Chaplin, beautiful women and the birth of American music.
Set in a fantasy version of New Orleans of 1907, “Louis” follows the exploits of 6-year old Louis Armstrong in the days just before he starts his long, brilliant career ? although award-winning cinematographer Vilmos Zgigmond shot in Wilmington, N.C.
Anthony Mackie (“The Hurt Locker”) plays the adult Louis and Anthony Coleman is the young Louis. Jackie Earle Haley does a villainous Chaplinesque turn as a greedy politician and all three also star in “Bolden,” Pritzker’s other jazz-inspired film ? this one a full-length feature — that he also started working on in 2007.
