Count Basie Live at the Hollywood Palladium on AllMovie

The first segment of this routine drama by Russian director Tatyana Lukashevich chronicles the early life of a blind musician and child prodigy named Peter (Sergi Shestopalov as the young Peter). After Peter grows up, his behavior seems to regress. He abandons potential studies at the famous Kiev Conservatory in order to wander rather aimlessly around the USSR, taking up with a few blind beggars in the process. While on these travels, he performs like an itinerant troubadour of old and supposedly picks up more understanding of the ways of the world. Viewers may still find it difficult to believe that these meanderings are his preparation for his own concert.