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Post by spiderwort on Oct 5, 2019 17:11:06 GMT
They've been a staple of the industry/art since the beginning. Some are good, some are bad, but it doesn't always matter. Sometimes they stray from the truth, sometimes they stick too close to it. But they are an interesting genre that almost always captures the audience's attention. I tend to prefer those that might bend the truth a bit in order to really tell it.
Anyway, a few out of many that were particularly memorable for me (with the exception of one all classics):
La Passion de Jeanne D'Arc (1928) - Carl Theodor Dreyer
Silkwood (1983) - Mike Nichols
Bonnie and Clyde (1967) - Arthur Penn
Isadora (1968) - Karel Reisz
Lust for Life (1956) - Vincent Minnelli
The Miracle Worker (1962) - Arthur Penn
Napoleon (1927) - Abel Gance
My Left Foot (1989) - Jim Sheridan
I Want to Live! (1958) - Robert Wise
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Post by pacinoyes on Oct 5, 2019 17:21:50 GMT
I have always thought Lenny (1974) was the very best Dustin Hoffman performance and the way the biopic is done has a heartbreaking arc - he is both recognizable and yet not from the person we first encounter. It has an ominous sense of foreboding in some of the comic routines that come later in the film.  |
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cherry68
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Man is unhappy because he doesn't know he's happy. It's only that.
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Post by cherry68 on Oct 5, 2019 19:23:35 GMT
Sid and Nancy
Prick Up your ears
Immortal beloved
Amadeus
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Post by TerryMontana on Oct 5, 2019 19:26:35 GMT
La Vie en Rose
Ray
Walk the Line
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cherry68
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Man is unhappy because he doesn't know he's happy. It's only that.
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Post by cherry68 on Oct 5, 2019 19:59:43 GMT
Lawrence of Arabia.
Gandhi.
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cherry68
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Post by cherry68 on Oct 5, 2019 21:06:15 GMT
Sid and Nancy Prick Up your ears Immortal beloved Amadeus I haven't seen PRICK UP YOUR EARS (my loss, I know), but I love your other choices. All have wonderful performances and two have fantastic production values to boot - to say nothing of great music. My favorite, with out question is AMADEUS. A Milos Forman masterwork. 😁 Oldman 😍 |
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cherry68
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Man is unhappy because he doesn't know he's happy. It's only that.
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Post by cherry68 on Oct 5, 2019 21:13:05 GMT
Yes, for sure, in IMMORTABL BELOVED (fantastic) and, I would assume PRICK UP YOUR EARS, too. He's a wonderful actor. And Sid and Nancy 😁 |
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Post by Martin Stett on Oct 5, 2019 21:30:45 GMT
I've never liked the genre. I watched I'm Not There recently and really dug that. Such a VERY original take on the biopic, never seen anything like it. It was so EXCITING just to be there experiencing it.
I'm not sure it counts, but The Wind Rises is based VERY LOOSELY on the life of Jiro Horikoshi and it is probably my favorite "movie based on a real person's life." Mind you, the real Horikoshi never even married (I believe so, anyway), and his wife is a big part of the movie, so I think it just takes the idea of his life instead of following any actual events.
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cherry68
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Man is unhappy because he doesn't know he's happy. It's only that.
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Post by cherry68 on Oct 5, 2019 21:46:16 GMT
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Post by therealcomicman117 on Oct 5, 2019 23:11:03 GMT
Some of my favorites.
Yankee Doodle Dandy
What's Love Got To Do With It
Malcolm X
Bound For Glory
American Splendor
The Glenn Miller Story
I'll Cry Tomorrow
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Post by Martin Stett on Oct 5, 2019 23:37:08 GMT
I've never liked the genre. I watched I'm Not There recently and really dug that. Such a VERY original take on the biopic, never seen anything like it. It was so EXCITING just to be there experiencing it. I'm not sure it counts, but The Wind Rises is based VERY LOOSELY on the life of Jiro Horikoshi and it is probably my favorite "movie based on a real person's life." Mind you, the real Horikoshi never even married (I believe so, anyway), and his wife is a big part of the movie, so I think it just takes the idea of his life instead of following any actual events. Haven't seen I'm Not There, but it sounds quite intriguing, and I am very curious to get your thoughts on Cate Blanchett's performance.
And I looked at the trailer for The Wind Rises and loved it! It seems very special. Was completely unfamiliar with it, so thanks so much for the introduction.
Blanchett is probably the star of the cast (her or Franklin). Every one of the Dylans is pretty great. Blanchett basically does the Dont Look Now era Bob and comes the closest to imitation that anyone does, but it never feels like it is just soulless imitation. She feels like a real person. The Wind Rises may very well be Miyazaki's masterpiece. It feels like his most personal, heartfelt work. It is the story of a good man who (like most of us) turns his eyes from the evils he is a part of and seeks to find as much happiness as he can in his work and his love. But always there is a shadow of what his machines are capable of and what they will be used for that lingers over the film, and it is a magnificent balancing act between Jiro the good man and Jiro the inventor of beautiful dreams machines of death. |
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Post by therealcomicman117 on Oct 6, 2019 0:14:18 GMT
Some of my favorites. Yankee Doodle Dandy What's Love Got To Do With It Malcolm X Bound For Glory American Splendor The Glenn Miller Story I'll Cry Tomorrow I haven't seen American Splendor, but I love the others. What's Love Got to Do With? it has two superb performances, Malcolm X has another; Bound for Glory has the great Woody Guthrie music and the first use of the steadicam (will explain that later if you want); Susan Hayward's great in I'll Cry Tomorrow (one of her four best actress Oscar nominations before she finally won for I Want to Live!, which I posted in my OP); and The Glenn Miller story has wonderful music and is, I think, sincerely entertaining, notwithstanding its sad ending. Thanks for the nice selection.
Oh, I forgot Yankee Doodle Dandy! Love that one. It always makes me happy and Cagney is great - as is all the cast, especially Walter Huston. What a hoofer Cagney was! He had so much talent, it's hard not to love him.
Thanks. American Splendor is a fantastic look at Harvey Pekar and the underground comic scene. Honestly I think that's the movie Paul Giamatti should have gotten his lone Oscar nom from, that or Sideways, because he's fantastic in both. The rest of the films are mostly there because I find them so engaging. Yankee Doodle Dandy is the rare films that makes me feel patriotic, Malcolm X is the best example of how to do a 3h+ biopic and keep it engaging, I'll Cry Tomorrow is classic melodrama at its best and so on. I'm sure that's the case with everyone's favorite biopic, though. There's something there that they find engaging. Also, I'm actually familiar with the Steadicam shot in Bound For Glory, but if you want to explain it further you can. |
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