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  • 2017
  • FilmRise
  • 1 h 32 m
  • 2017
  • FilmRise
  • 1 h 32 m

Summary On a snowy night in February 1972, the 33 year old jazz trumpet star Lee Morgan was shot dead by his common-law wife, Helen, during a gig at a club in New York City. The murder sent shockwaves through the jazz community, and the memory of the event still haunts the people who knew the Morgans. Helen served time for the crime and, followi...

Directed By: Kasper Collin

Written By: Jesper Osmund, Kasper Collin

  • 2017
  • FilmRise
  • 1 h 32 m
  • 2017
  • FilmRise
  • 1 h 32 m
I Called Him Morgan
Metascore Universal acclaim Based on 20 Critic Reviews
90
User Score Generally favorable Based on 19 User Ratings
6.6
My Score
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Where to Watch

Summary On a snowy night in February 1972, the 33 year old jazz trumpet star Lee Morgan was shot dead by his common-law wife, Helen, during a gig at a club in New York City. The murder sent shockwaves through the jazz community, and the memory of the event still haunts the people who knew the Morgans. Helen served time for the crime and, followi...

Directed By: Kasper Collin

Written By: Jesper Osmund, Kasper Collin

Where to Watch

Top Cast

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Critic Reviews

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Metascore
Universal acclaim Based on 20 Critic Reviews
90
100% Positive
20 Reviews
0% Mixed
0 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews

Critic Reviews

 View All
Metascore
Universal acclaim Based on 20 Critic Reviews
90
100% Positive
20 Reviews
0% Mixed
0 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews
100
Apr 27, 2017
Ultimately, Collin’s film is one of forgiveness. That’s not the usual way great tragedies end.
FULL REVIEW
100
Mar 21, 2017
The backbone of Collin’s film is the sole audio interview with Helen Morgan, made in 1996, shortly before her death. The story that she tells combines with the story that Collin builds around it to provide a revelatory and moving portrait of a great musician.
By Richard Brody FULL REVIEW

User Reviews

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User Score
Generally favorable Based on 19 User Ratings
6.6
74% Positive
14 Ratings
11% Mixed
2 Ratings
16% Negative
3 Ratings

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews

User Reviews

 View All
User Score
Generally favorable Based on 19 User Ratings
6.6
74% Positive
14 Ratings
11% Mixed
2 Ratings
16% Negative
3 Ratings

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews
8
Richard552
Aug 10, 2022
Well executed, interesting and immersive. $1 to buy a Netflix account, Google search: vtvshare
Report
7
JGuevara
Mar 1, 2020
Well executed, interesting and immersive. Almost made me feel like I was there.
Report
100
Sep 16, 2016
It’s fitting that Kasper Collin’s excellent documentary I Called Him Morgan, a sleek, sorrowful elegy for the prodigiously gifted, tragically slain bop trumpeter Lee Morgan, is as much a visual and textural triumph as it is a gripping feat of reportage.
By Guy Lodge FULL REVIEW
90
Sep 16, 2016
Collin attempts to do more than recount facts; if he can’t always wholly capture the figures at the film’s centre, he can convey a sense of the time and place that Lee and Helen inhabited.
By Sarah Ward FULL REVIEW
80
Mar 23, 2017
This is not a lurid true-crime tale of jealousy and drug addiction, but a delicate human drama about love, ambition and the glories of music.
By A.O. Scott FULL REVIEW
75
Mar 24, 2017
I Called Him Morgan evokes times and places, and the sorrows and joys of the jazz life in those times and places, with real integrity.
By Glenn Kenny FULL REVIEW
63
Mar 30, 2017
The documentary I Called Him Morgan, which charts his brief life and career, offers classic tunes and a vivid history of the New York jazz scene, while never quite managing to sell the drama inherent to its tale.
By Pat Padua FULL REVIEW
See All 20 Critic Reviews
7
iCronic
Aug 12, 2017
Your typical netflix documentary about a Jazz musician, just very solid and well made yet nothing i will remember
Report
4
victoriousness
Sep 10, 2018
[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]
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See All 4 User Reviews

Details

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Production Company Kasper Collin Produktion, Sveriges Television (SVT), Film i Väst, Sphinx Productions, Passion Pictures
Release Date Mar 24, 2017
Duration 1 h 32 m
Genres
Website https://www.facebook.com/icalledhimmorgan/
View All Details

Awards

Philadelphia Film Festival
• 1 Win & 2 Nominations
Stockholm Film Festival
• 1 Nomination
Guild of Music Supervisors Awards
• 1 Nomination

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