Let’s Get Lost

Let’s Get Lost, Bruce Weber, 1988, 2 hrs.

As Weber’s first images of Let’s Get Lost came up on the screen, I knew I was in for a spiritual experience. It was pure poetry, a love letter to a beautiful, tragic figure whose face, voice and sound from his trumpet expressed the hard living and complex life he had led. Let’s Get Lost was less a typical biography than a film odyssey that took us from the beaches of Santa Monica to the South of France, then to the dark clubs and recording studios of Los Angeles. Sam Pollard for IDA, International Documentary Association, August 30, 2016

Let’s Get Lost is a black-and-white documentary of the life and career of jazz trumpeter Chet Baker, written and directed by Bruce Weber. This film follows Baker’s turbulent life across the globe as fans, ex-associates, ex-wives, and children talk about the man and the musician. Let’s Get Lost traces Baker’s career from the 1950s, playing with greats like Charlie Parker, to the 1980s, when his heroin addiction and domestic indifference kept him in Europe.

The film begins near the end of Baker’s life. It then looks back to historic footage only to finish in the present moment of the film’s making, with Chet Baker looking back at Weber’s depiction of his own story and emotionally stating, “It was a dream.”

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Tuesday Evenings at the Modern: Films is a summer extension of the lecture series. This film-based weekly program runs through the summer months and strives to continue the consideration of ideas and issues pertaining to the art and architecture of the Modern, as well as to contemporary art in general.  

The screenings this summer focus on the genre of road films, as recommended by the artist Doug Aitken. Each selection addresses notions of the nomadic, time and space through movement, the horizon line, and/or the landscape and culture of the West in conjunction with the Modern’s summer exhibition Doug Aitken: Electric Earth. Visit www.themodern.org/films for more information.

To create a full experience, these presentations include a brief introduction and opportunity for discussion following the films. Seating is available in the Modern's auditorium at 6:30 pm, and the program begins at 7 pm. The museum's galleries are open until 7 pm on Tuesdays during Tuesday Evenings at the Modern: Films. This program is free and open to the public. Up to two free tickets can be obtained at the information desk beginning at 5 pm the day of the screening.