Maestro
Originally published on social media on December 30th, 2023
Like Leonard Bernstein himself, this film has its incredibly strengths and weaknesses.
This film really is a work of art. Leonard Bernstein’s music was out of this world, and hearing his compositions throughout the film really added a sense of magic. The cinematography belongs in a museum where it could be admired for it’s artistic genius. The overall golden and retro tones of the colored scenes made you feel as if you were traveling through time. The black and white scenes allowed the audience to focus on the emotions so genuinely expressed by the actors. Carey Mulligan and Bradley Cooper both deserve Oscars this upcoming season as it is rare to see two people completely transform into their characters. Side note: I really love the fact that all the film advertisements list Carey before Bradley. Not only is it a brilliant feminist notion, but Carey earned it and deserves it.
It is rare to find a biopic that is not depressing, and I think that is good to some degree because it means that the storyteller did not fabricate the hard parts of their characters real lives. Yet, I have seen biopics be both honest and inspirational, and they accomplished with fairly simple measures. If I had complete control over this film, this is what I would change:
Leonard Bernstein was so many things, all of which revolves around music. There were some scenes of him conducting or playing piano, but I would have loved to see a further exploration of his music making process. There was a little bit of context to his “On the Town” compositions, but I was really surprised and honestly bummed to see nothing about “West Side Story”. There were some dramatic scenes that droned on that I think could have been sliced in order to make room for this.
Here is another thing: when you google Leonard Bernstein, he is a described as a humanitarian. I encourage you all to read more about his humanitarian efforts and his political advocacy because it makes you like him EVEN MORE. I think the inclusion of his political values would have added the spirit this film needed.
Overall, this film does deserve an Oscar, but it is still a one-time see.