Bird (1988)

Bird is a 1988 American biographical musical drama film about jazz saxophonist Charlie "Bird" Parker, directed and produced by Clint Eastwood and written by Joel Oliansky. The film stars Forest Whitaker as Parker, and Diane Venora as his wife Chan Parker. It is constructed as a montage of scenes from Parker's life, from his childhood in Kansas City, through his early death at the age of 34.

The film moves back and forth through Parker's history, blending moments to find some truth to his life. Much of the film revolves around his only grounding relationships with Chan, Bebop pioneer trumpet player and band leader Dizzy Gillespie (Samuel E. Wright), and his influence (both musically and into the world of heroin addiction) on trumpet player Red Rodney (Michael Zelniker).

Despite a lukewarm commercial performance, the film was well received by critics, with particular praise toward Whitaker's performance, which became his breakthrough role. He won the Best Actor Award at the 1988 Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama at the 46th Golden Globe Awards, while Eastwood won the award for Best Director. Cahiers du Cinéma ranked Bird at #5 on its end-of-year Top 10 List.