December 19, 2023
FILM: MAESTRO
DIRECTED BY: BRADLEY COOPER
STARRING: BRADLEY COOPER, CAREY MULLIGAN, MATT BOMER
RATING: 3 ½ out of 4 stars
By Dan Pal
Maestro is one of the most anticipated films of the year…well, at least for Oscar aficionados who are wondering if this is the project which will finally earn Bradley Cooper the coveted award after nine previous failed attempts. That isn’t to say that this is nothing more than an Oscar bait film because I think Cooper really wanted to tell the story of famed conductor Leonard Bernstein. He reportedly spent years learning how to conduct like the maestro. So, this is definitely a major accomplishment for him.
Some of the initial problems I had with the film come in the form of the script which Cooper co-wrote with Josh Singer. The first half of the film flies through time and space quite briskly. This is great for momentum and narrative development but it’s filled with too many glossed over details. The film opens with Bernstein being interviewed near the end of his life. It then flashes back to when he first receives a call to fill-in for a conductor at Carnegie Hall. He jumps for joy and pats the rear end of the man he had sleeping with and runs down the hall full of exuberance. Soon after, he meets Felicia Montealegre, played by Carey Mulligan. Within a few scenes he has become a major force in his profession and she has become his wife. All of these early scenes are highly stimulating and each could have been stretched out into their own movies. As such, I found it hard to find a way into the story of Bernstein as there is so much to absorb. Cooper’s primary interest though seemed to be the conductor’s relationship with Felicia. We get very little detail about his affairs with other men.
Eventually, while Bernstein continues in his upward spiral, Felicia transitions from a giddy, sophisticated actress into frustrated wife. She becomes more and more aware of her husband’s relationships with other men and appears increasingly annoyed and angry. Later, sadly, it is an illness that brings them closer together again.
Whatever misgivings I may have had with this traditional bio-pic narrative trajectory were more than made up for by some of Cooper’s directorial and acting choices. First off, he is becoming more comfortable with experimenting with fixed frames and editing. Cooper uses a lot of long takes, often from a wide perspective, to capture key dialogue scenes. Some are incredibly fierce and lengthy. Given this approach to shooting it almost appears that Cooper wanted us feel like we are watching a performance from a distance. Many of these scenes could play out on stage similarly blocked. Kudos to the actors for maintaining the energy throughout each. There are other moments when the action in one scene is edited with a quick transition into another room and suddenly days, months, or years have gone by. This does effect that narrative coherence I mentioned earlier but you have to give credit to Cooper for daring to play with time through movement and cutting.
Regarding the performances, Cooper deserves the Oscar for Best Actor this year. He has completely transformed himself for this part – and I’m not just talking about his much-discussed prosthetic nose. It isn’t nearly as distracting as we’ve been lead to believe (it’s not as obviously fake as Nicole Kidman’s nose in her Oscar-winning performance in The Hours.) Cooper uses his voice and body in ways we’ve not experienced before. Vocally his delivery is mannered and slightly mumbled with a cigarette either in his hand or mouth in nearly every scene. He’s also incredibly animated whether conducting or not and he is in constantly in motion. This is a man that rarely sits quietly.
Carey Mulligan has to show quite a bit of range throughout the film as Felicia. There are moments of intense joy, anger, and sadness that she handles like the expert actor that she is. Both she and Cooper also have to age (the make-up is definitely also Oscar-worthy) which creates its own physical challenges for both, but especially for Mulligan.
The music in the film is credited to Leonard Bernstein himself. We hear pieces of many of his great works, including his memorable score from the original West Side Story. I thought the big scene in which we watch Cooper as Bernstein conduct an entire piece was a bit indulgent for the actor/director and it did stop the narrative for a bit dead in its tracks. However, Cooper did spend many years developing his technique to appear to conduct like Bernstein so I have to praise it for what it is.
Maestro isn’t the best film of the year or most creatively satisfying. Cooper is working to a degree within the confines of Netflix, his co-producer Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg, and the mass audience need for a good love story. Still, the film doesn’t shy away from Bernstein’s sexual fluidity and that is commendable. Perhaps somewhere down the road someone will explore that side of Bernstein to a greater degree than what the very ambitious Cooper did here.
Maestro begins streaming on Netflix tomorrow.
FILM: MAESTRO
DIRECTED BY: BRADLEY COOPER
STARRING: BRADLEY COOPER, CAREY MULLIGAN, MATT BOMER
RATING: 3 ½ out of 4 stars
By Dan Pal
Maestro is one of the most anticipated films of the year…well, at least for Oscar aficionados who are wondering if this is the project which will finally earn Bradley Cooper the coveted award after nine previous failed attempts. That isn’t to say that this is nothing more than an Oscar bait film because I think Cooper really wanted to tell the story of famed conductor Leonard Bernstein. He reportedly spent years learning how to conduct like the maestro. So, this is definitely a major accomplishment for him.
Some of the initial problems I had with the film come in the form of the script which Cooper co-wrote with Josh Singer. The first half of the film flies through time and space quite briskly. This is great for momentum and narrative development but it’s filled with too many glossed over details. The film opens with Bernstein being interviewed near the end of his life. It then flashes back to when he first receives a call to fill-in for a conductor at Carnegie Hall. He jumps for joy and pats the rear end of the man he had sleeping with and runs down the hall full of exuberance. Soon after, he meets Felicia Montealegre, played by Carey Mulligan. Within a few scenes he has become a major force in his profession and she has become his wife. All of these early scenes are highly stimulating and each could have been stretched out into their own movies. As such, I found it hard to find a way into the story of Bernstein as there is so much to absorb. Cooper’s primary interest though seemed to be the conductor’s relationship with Felicia. We get very little detail about his affairs with other men.
Eventually, while Bernstein continues in his upward spiral, Felicia transitions from a giddy, sophisticated actress into frustrated wife. She becomes more and more aware of her husband’s relationships with other men and appears increasingly annoyed and angry. Later, sadly, it is an illness that brings them closer together again.
Whatever misgivings I may have had with this traditional bio-pic narrative trajectory were more than made up for by some of Cooper’s directorial and acting choices. First off, he is becoming more comfortable with experimenting with fixed frames and editing. Cooper uses a lot of long takes, often from a wide perspective, to capture key dialogue scenes. Some are incredibly fierce and lengthy. Given this approach to shooting it almost appears that Cooper wanted us feel like we are watching a performance from a distance. Many of these scenes could play out on stage similarly blocked. Kudos to the actors for maintaining the energy throughout each. There are other moments when the action in one scene is edited with a quick transition into another room and suddenly days, months, or years have gone by. This does effect that narrative coherence I mentioned earlier but you have to give credit to Cooper for daring to play with time through movement and cutting.
Regarding the performances, Cooper deserves the Oscar for Best Actor this year. He has completely transformed himself for this part – and I’m not just talking about his much-discussed prosthetic nose. It isn’t nearly as distracting as we’ve been lead to believe (it’s not as obviously fake as Nicole Kidman’s nose in her Oscar-winning performance in The Hours.) Cooper uses his voice and body in ways we’ve not experienced before. Vocally his delivery is mannered and slightly mumbled with a cigarette either in his hand or mouth in nearly every scene. He’s also incredibly animated whether conducting or not and he is in constantly in motion. This is a man that rarely sits quietly.
Carey Mulligan has to show quite a bit of range throughout the film as Felicia. There are moments of intense joy, anger, and sadness that she handles like the expert actor that she is. Both she and Cooper also have to age (the make-up is definitely also Oscar-worthy) which creates its own physical challenges for both, but especially for Mulligan.
The music in the film is credited to Leonard Bernstein himself. We hear pieces of many of his great works, including his memorable score from the original West Side Story. I thought the big scene in which we watch Cooper as Bernstein conduct an entire piece was a bit indulgent for the actor/director and it did stop the narrative for a bit dead in its tracks. However, Cooper did spend many years developing his technique to appear to conduct like Bernstein so I have to praise it for what it is.
Maestro isn’t the best film of the year or most creatively satisfying. Cooper is working to a degree within the confines of Netflix, his co-producer Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg, and the mass audience need for a good love story. Still, the film doesn’t shy away from Bernstein’s sexual fluidity and that is commendable. Perhaps somewhere down the road someone will explore that side of Bernstein to a greater degree than what the very ambitious Cooper did here.
Maestro begins streaming on Netflix tomorrow.