a Movies about dark visionaries who ran through the 20th century and changed history may be Oscar favorites, but there’s another biopic to consider. This, too, is a biopic of a man whose genius made him one of the great figures of the last century, and whose creativity and musical talent made him one of the greatest. And continues to bring joy to millions of people. He’s also a man who changed the world, but clearly for the better. He’s talking about Leonard Bernstein, of course, and Bradley Cooper’s The Maestro, which looks at the great American conductor and composer through the lens of his marriage to Felicia Montealegre (Carey Mulligan).
Maestro is an extraordinary achievement by any standard. Cooper not only played Bernstein perfectly convincingly over the course of four decades (credited in no small part to Oscar-nominated Kazu Hiro’s extraordinary make-up), but he also co-wrote and directed the film. Served.He studied conducting for six years and learned to play the piano; members of the current London Symphony Orchestra (which recreated the Ely Cathedral scene), who had played with the real Bernstein in the 1980s, did a double-take as Cooper-Bernstein walked on set. His skill with the masters was such that he recognized it. .
Cooper is being ridiculed Although he died in 1990 when Bernstein was 15 years old, he tearfully spoke in an interview about the “missing” Bernstein, who lived with this man for several years and became Bernstein. “His energy somehow gets to me and I feel like I really know him,” Cooper said. Why is he not emotional today when he speaks so completely about the man he lived? The sense of loss he must be feeling right now is obvious.
Still, the film, made with the help and blessing of the Bernstein family’s three children (yes, prosthetic nose included), is no hagiography. The first time you see it, you might be overwhelmed by the exuberance of Bernstein’s talent and his wide-eyed delight in his own brilliance, but look closely. Once again, Bernstein’s struggle to reconcile his inner and outer life is delicately and sensitively portrayed. Love for men, love for wife and family. We also get a glimpse of the ugliness of anti-Semitism and homophobia, the tragedy of Felicia’s early death, and the pain of her life living in the shadow of her husband. she says: “It sucks all the energy out of every room, leaving the rest of us with zero chance to even breathe, let alone live as our authentic selves.”
Mulligan and Cooper, both nominated for Best Actor, excel at portraying the intimacy and love of this heart-to-heart marriage, as well as its complexities and many strains. The rhythm of their rapid-fire conversation is as breathless and hectic as the camera swoops and glides, then moves slowly to enjoy the details, the morning light streaming in through the curtained windows. , it looks like a promising stage for the curtain to rise. , a paper plane flies down the stairs of a grand apartment complex in Central Park, a toy Snoopy is abandoned in the hall, a gigantic Snoopy rides on a Thanksgiving parade float as the Bernstein family’s marriage rips apart. It foretold the unrealistic absurdity of the slow swaying outside the window.
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And music. music. Indeed, one of the best scenes in any film to date is a single six-minute shot of Cooper playing Mahler with Bernstein conducting in Ely Cathedral. In the final movement of the composer’s Second Symphony, “Resurrection,” Bernstein’s face lights up, he becomes the music, and the music becomes him. His own music, which plays throughout the film, is part of the story, illuminating some moments and emphasizing others, but the most tender and painful moments are provided by the film’s soundtrack. clap song.
By the end of the three long hours, I had ingested more than enough Oppenheimer and couldn’t wait to put Barbie back in the box, but I wanted to spend more time with this guy and listen to his music. I left Maestro wanting to hear more. You will be drawn back into his world, which Cooper has painstakingly recreated.
