In-Class Practice 2

    Biopics have always been a way for audiences to see into the personal lives of history’s most influential and notable people. From musicians, politicians, movie stars, athletes and normal people thrust into the spotlight, it can show what makes them who they are. 

    With this year’s Oscar nominations, biopics once again claimed many nominations. Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer securing 13, Bradley Cooper’s Maestro taking seven, Ridley Scott’s Napoleon with two and Todd Haynes’ May December with only one.

    All of these were lauded by critics upon release, but one of them did not resonate well with audiences. Maestro, about the composer Leonard Bernstein, had significant involvement from Bernstein’s three sons, and was panned by audiences.

    This continues a trend where involvement from the subject or their families dilutes the story and character of the biopic. It allows them to control how the public remembers who they are and what they've done,

    And that family input comes through as Maestro is more of a romantic love story that puts less of an emphasis on Bernstien’s life and career and more on his relationship with his wife. Cooper does immerse himself in the role of the legendary composer, in voice, looks and movements. In its promotional tour, Cooper, the director and lead actor, consistently highlights a six-minute scene of Cooper reenacting one of Bernstein’s conducting performances in Ely Cathedral. Spending six years to master every movement and facial expression, Cooper shot the scene in a singular take. 

    But that amount of preparation doesn’t always work in his favor. As Kyle Smith writes in The Wall Street Journal, “If an actor is working so hard that all the audience can focus on is the work, rather than the character, it’s self-defeating.”

    Cooper focuses so much on creating this image of Bernstien that people can recognize rather than giving us a true characterization of a musical innovator with a controversial personal life.

    May December on the other hand, a film based on the controversial relationship of Mary Kay Letourneau and Vili Fualaau, did not have creative input from Fualaau, as Letourneau died in 2019. The film has been publicly slammed by Fualaau, calling it “a rip-off of my original story.” On the other hand, the film has a 90% rating by critics on Rotten Tomatoes.

    But this detachment from the subject allows Haynes to give his characters a complete range of emotions, doubts, and troubles. Charles Melton, who plays the stand-in for Fualaau, has seen universal acclaim for his performance of a 36 year-old man who was groomed from the age of 12. If Fualaau was included in the making of this movie that performance could have been reduced in an attempt to make himself be seen more favorably for marrying Letournau. 

    The exclusion of creative control from the subject on their own biopic can lead to films like May December that present notable people as fully realized characters with flaws and not a way to solidify a legacy. 

    However, having input from the subject or their family can be beneficial for the film. It gives immediate credibility for events that happened behind closed doors. But that is where input should end. Once a subject tries to change or exclude events from their lives because it can harm their public image, it ceases to be a biopic and becomes a historical fiction.