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6.9/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 6.9/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. Five from the Jazzband remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
You should probably watch this if you have a soft spot for early sound-era chaos and don't mind a plot that makes zero sense. It is perfect for a lazy Sunday afternoon when you want to feel like you are in a smoke-filled Berlin cafe in 1932.
You will probably hate it if you need your movies to have things like 'logic' or 'realistic character motivations.' It is loud, it is fast, and it is very, very silly.
Jenny Jugo plays this girl who is basically a 1930s version of a disaster human. She has no talent, yet somehow, she is the main event. It is a bit like watching a car crash in slow motion, but everyone is wearing fancy hats and playing trumpets.
The movie feels like it was written on a napkin during a lunch break. That is not necessarily a bad thing, but you can tell the writers were just trying to get to the next musical number as fast as possible.
The music is actually pretty catchy, even if the 'jazz' feels a bit more like a marching band that had too much coffee. There is a scene where they are all performing and you can tell the actors are barely keeping up with the playback.
One of the band members has this frozen smile that stays on his face for like three minutes straight. It started to get a bit creepy after a while. I kept waiting for him to blink, but he never did.
It reminded me a bit of the energy in Die Regimentstochter, but with more saxophones and fewer soldiers. Both movies just want you to have a good time and not think too hard about the budget.
Speaking of budgets, some of the sets look like they were made of cardboard. There is a moment where a door shuts and the whole wall wobbles for a second. I love stuff like that; it makes the movie feel more alive than the polished CGI stuff we get now.
Okay, so Peter Lorre is in this, but do not get too excited. He is not doing the creepy, bug-eyed thing he does in his more famous roles. He is just... there. It is like seeing a superstar working a shift at a grocery store before they got famous.
He has this one reaction shot where he looks genuinely confused by what Jenny Jugo is doing. I think that might have been his actual reaction and not acting. Honestly, I felt the same way.
If you want to see a movie from this era that feels a bit more grounded, you might prefer something like Common Clay. But if you want to see a girl accidentally become a star, stick with the jazzband.
The pacing is a bit of a nightmare. It starts off at 100 miles per hour and then just stops dead for a long conversation about nothing in the middle. I checked my phone twice during that part.
But then the music starts again and it picks back up. It is not a masterpiece, but it has this weird, shaky charm that you just don't find anymore. It feels like a movie made by people who were just happy that cameras could finally record sound.
I noticed a small continuity error where a glass of water disappears between shots. It is right there on the table, then poof, gone. Then it's back again. Nobody cared back then, and honestly, it makes me smile more than it should.
If you are looking for a deep dive into the human condition, go find Nature and Poet. This movie is just about a girl, a band, and a lot of noise.
It is fine. It is just fine. And sometimes that is exactly what you need.
IMDb 6.7
1928
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