Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench

 

Written, shot, co-edited, and directed by Damien Chazelle, Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench is the story of a jazz trumpeter who meets and falls for a shy woman on a park bench as they embark on a relationship until the trumpeter tries to find a muse whom he thinks would inspire him to make great music. The film is genre-bender that mixes the romantic comedy with old-school musicals set in a modern world as it plays into two people trying to find themselves. Starring Jason Palmer, Desiree Garcia, and Sandha Khin. Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench is a wondrous and evocative film from Damien Chazelle.

The film revolves around the lives of a couple who had met on a park bench as they would break-up where both of them go onto separate journeys to find themselves. It is a film that explore these two people who would meet as they had this relationship but it would fall apart after a few months as a jazz trumpeter falls for a more outgoing woman who believes would inspire him to make great music. Meanwhile, his former lover is an introvert trying to find work as she would also travel to New York City from Boston where she would find ideas for herself. Damien Chazelle’s screenplay is largely straightforward yet doesn’t have much of a plot as it play into the life of these two people.

Notably as Guy (Jason Palmer) is a jazz trumpeter trying to get a big break as he is starting to get more gigs and recording sessions while his then-girlfriend Madeline (Desiree Garcia) is an aimless woman trying to find herself though she loves Guy’s playing. One day at a subway, Guy meets Elena (Sandha Khin) as they fall in love as Guy breaks up with Madeline who would wander around Boston trying to find work as it lead her to New York City where she would find something. Yet, it all play into these two people still trying to find themselves with Guy also coping with the fact that his new romance with Elena isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be.

Chazelle’s direction is definitely inspired by films of the French New Wave in terms of its overall presentation as it is shot on 16mm black-and-white film stock in its 1:37:1 Academy aspect ratio and shot largely on location in Boston and New York City with a small $60,000 budget. The usage of hand-held cameras with Chazelle serving as the film’s cinematographer does allow the film this sense of improvisation and looseness that is common with films of the French New Wave while Chazelle does a lot to maintain this look that does have a sense of grit while not hiding its low-budget aesthetics in its interior settings. Even as he uses medium shots and close-ups to capture some of the parties and sense of improvisation in which music is a key part in these moments with some tap dancing. Chazelle also creates some intriguing moments that do play like a musical through a couple of songs he wrote with composer Justin Hurwitz where Madeline sings about her situations. The second song features intricate dance choreography by Kelly Kaleta, with Julia Boynton as a tap dance consultant, to play into this somewhat fantasy world that Madeline dreams about.

With co-editor William Adam W. Parker, Chazelle keeps things straightforward as well as using the music to maintain a rhythm into the editing. Still, Chazelle does know when to cut and when not to cut such as the film’s finale as it relates to its main protagonists where there’s a shot that goes on for a few minutes in one unbroken take. It adds to Chazelle’s sense of drama as well as how music can help create something emotional while also playing into this sense of uncertainty that occurs in the film’s ending. Overall, Chazelle crafts a riveting and mesmerizing film about a couple’s life after a break-up as they go on different journeys to find themselves.

Sound designer Geof Thurber does superb work with the sound in the way everything is captured on location as well as how music is heard being recorded and from afar. The film’s music by Justin Hurwitz is incredible with its jazz-based score that helps play into the film’s offbeat tone as well as into the original songs Hurwitz and Chazelle create that Madeline sings including a few jazz standards and an original piece from Guy.

The film’s wonderful ensemble cast largely features some unknowns and local actors including Damien Chazelle in an un-credited role as a drum teacher that Madeline goes to, his father Bernard as a man that Madeline would date in New York City, Andre Hayward as a fellow musician Guy works with, Frank Garvin as a man Elena meets late in the film, Alma Prelec as that man’s daughter, and Willie Rodriguez as a friend of Guy that Elena isn’t fond of. Sandha Khin is excellent as Elena as this woman that Guy falls for at a subway as they would have this lively affair despite the fact that Elena doesn’t share the same interest in jazz that Guy does. Desiree Garcia is amazing as Madeline as a young introvert who isn’t sure what to do with her life following her break-up with Guy as she goes on a journey to find herself while lamenting her own life through the songs she sings. Finally, there’s Jason Palmer in a brilliant performance as Guy as this jazz trumpeter that is trying to find inspiration in his music as he believes that Madeline isn’t the right person as he falls for Elena where he copes with trying to get ideas much to Elena’s annoyance leading him to feel lost.

Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench is a phenomenal film from Damien Chazelle. Featuring a great cast, wondrous visuals, a compelling story of heartbreak and searching, and an exhilarating music score/soundtrack. The film is a look into two people who fall in love, break-up, and then go on their own individual journeys to find themselves with the aid of jazz music. In the end, Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench is an incredible film from Damien Chazelle.

Damien Chazelle Films: Whiplash (2014 film) - La La Land - First Man - Babylon (2022 film) - (The Auteurs #76: Damien Chazelle)

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