_Lost and found

In the late 1960's, cool jazz trumpet player and crooner Chet Baker lost his teeth in a street fight with junkies. Though his ex-girlfrend, the acerbic singer Ruth Young and him disagree on the details of the scuffle, they agree that his later dental work involved each stub of a tooth being pulled out one at a time. He learned to play with dentures. Bruce Weber's Let's Get Lost, his documentary on the musician, is chocked with uneasy recollections such as these, but the incidents don't interfere with his adoring homage. At its heart, the film is a meditation on the nature of coolness from someone who'd know—Weber is one of the most famous fashion photographers working today.

Weber frames the film so Baker's youthful mystique remains intact. Early concert footage blends into present day shots of him driving around in a Cadillac, surrounded by beautiful women. Spliced with these wistful images are interviews with Chet's ex-wives, girlfriends, colleagues and deserted family, who elaborate on his manipulative behavior, substance abuse (heroin, mostly, though he didn't discriminate), and constant need for sympathy. Oftentimes, despite such behavior or perhaps because of it, they become ensnared in Baker's seductive myth. Young admits, "It took me twenty minutes to get hooked." The intention is super-romantic, though some inconsistencies between Weber's fascination and the interview subjects' bitterness linger throughout the film. It's hard, for example, what to make of the moment when the camera slowly pans across high-contrast close-ups of disappointed family members, as Baker's singing plays in the background. His delicate voice almost triumphs their mixed facial expressions. As New Yorker critic Pauline Kael had pointed out, it is one of the "most suggestive (and unresolved) films ever made."

The film was last shown to the public at Film Forum in 1993. After fourteen years, Weber has restored his 1989 documentary in all of its black and white splendor.

Plays through June 28th.

For info: www.bruceweber.com; www.filmforum.org