2022 saw the release of several films of this kind, including the critically acclaimed Elvis or Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans, while on the opposite spectrum sits Netflix’s polarizing Blonde which, despite its criticisms, still featured a stellar Ana de Armas fully embracing her role. While many filmmakers and cinephiles decry the industry increasingly leaning to superheroes and franchise movies, Hollywood is also packed with biopics, but what is it about this genre that often makes it so perfect to depict artistry and for actors to showcase their craft?
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Examining The Biopic Recipe
Arguably, Elvis is this year’s best biopic, and while in it Baz Luhrmann found a home for his filmmaking style and love for musicality in movies, it still uses the typical structure and incurs in the expected tropes one associates with the genre. In it, audiences are treated to the life-changing moment in Elvis’ childhood that inspired him to pick up music; his first big break when he’s discovered by Colonel Tom Parker; his rise and fall, only to rise again; the relationships with the people he loved; and finally, the King’s undoing that leads to his untimely death.
Regardless of this predictable story arc, Elvis is incredibly entertaining thanks to Luhrmann’s camera work, an above-average script compared to run-of-the-mill biopics, stellar sound editing that can absorb the viewer, and of course, Austin Butler’s performance. In order to become Elvis, Butler went to great lengths, such as barely having any contact with his family for 3 years or practically doing away with all non-Elvis things, or even adopting the character’s voice as his own — surely, his commitment paid off.
However, the nature of these performances can sometimes even rescue subpar movies, which tends to be quite common in the musician biopic, as seen in 2018’s Bohemian Rhapsody. While it’s imaginable Elvis could subsist on its own merits as a movie without Butler, Freddy Mercury’s film is largely carried by Rami Malek, thanks to a somewhat rushed plot as well as lacking the surreal element the Colonel adds to Elvis as its villain, or Luhrmann’s vision to frame the story as one very big show.
Surely, Bohemian Rhapsody is still good, but falling further down the rockstar biopic tier list one could take Jimi: All is by My Side, starring Andre 3000 as the great Jimi Hendrix. Back in 2013, the film was panned by the very people depicted in it, including Hendrix’s former girlfriend Kathy Etchingham, as well as for not using the musician’s famous song repertoire, and yet, fans of Jimi’s chops could still find enjoyment in the actor playing their guitar hero.
No matter how cookie cutter they can be, biopics are always a homage to some type of greatness, and as long as viewers are fascinated -or interested- by the protagonist, their faults are easy to overlook in exchange for a great performance and taste of what made character tick.
Breaking The Mold
Although event biopics like Moneyball or The Big Short are different in the sense that they don’t revolve around a single figure, a more creative way unleash the true potential of biopics is toying with loose historical fiction. Perhaps there’s no greater recent example of this than Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, whose standout quality is having an actor that looks nothing like the icon it’s “based on,” making for a biopic like no other.
Historical fiction, a genre mastered by Quentin Tarantino, is great because it can be used to mock the very tropes that often render biographical movies so repetitive. The Al Yankovic Story uses the same “revelation, discovery, rise and fall” structure every other film of this kind does, only it takes time to poke fun at that precise lack of innovation every chance it gets.
Blonde attempts to pull off the drama version of that, only that it fails precisely because it doesn’t inform viewers that this in fact is not meant to a real account of Marylin Monroe’s life, it takes itself seriously. Conversely, something like TÁR proves that in order to pull off a biopic one doesn’t even need to tackle real people, let alone indulge in the stereotypical timeline. TÁR’s most engaging quality is all that it doesn’t share with the audience, albeit still making for an excellent showcase of Cate Blanchett’s talent.
2021 had King Richard and Tick, Tick… Boom! putting Will Smith and Andrew Garfield to their best use, and even if the former’s Oscar win was overshadowed by controversy, the achievement shouldn’t come as a surprise for a man whose past attempts at Oscar glory came in Ali and The Pursuit of Happyness, two biopics. These films are a celebration of individual greatness or despair, possibly some of the most relatable topics ever, regardless of environment, as anyone , for example, can become fascinated by Howard Hughes eccentricities after watching The Aviator due to the humanity Leonardo DiCaprio adds to this reclusive billionaire.
Biopics won’t ever go away because as they’re an excellent vehicle to channel human emotions, which is arguably one filmmakers’ hardest jobs, and because they call for an actor to perform at their best. Some of the best films ever like Raging Bull and Lawrence of Arabia are biopics, and that’s just further proof the genre is more than a testing ground for actors, it can do the same for directors.
Had Chadwick Boseman not transformed into Jackie Robinson and James Brown, he might have never become Black Panther, and that should validate the idea that biopics can change the course of an actor’s career. At the end of the day, no matter the overall quality of the film, biopics are true test for actor’s range, one that can change their lives; on the other hand, for the public, they allow us to get immersed in real life stories from a personal level and to feel closer to moments taht would otherwise be beyond reach.
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