COOPER MAY DIRECT, BUT MULLIGAN CONDUCTS THE SHOW
▶ Biopic about star composer hits the right note thanks to its leading actress, writes Gregory Wakeman
Maestro
Director: Bradley Cooper Stars: Bradley Cooper, Carey Mulligan, Maya Hawke
MThere’s plenty to admire, but the film never quite manages to dig deep enough into their lives to feel complete
uch like Leonardo DiCaprio before him, plenty is made of the fact that Bradley Cooper is yet to win an Academy Award despite picking up nine nominations, including four as an actor.
Cooper’s last nod for acting was for A Star is Born, a film that also established him as one of America’s most exciting filmmakers as he co-wrote, produced and directed it, too.
Maestro is Cooper’s follow-up to A Star is Born, and the biopic of legendary composer Leonard Bernstein has all the hallmarks of an awards season contender.
Rather than being purely about Bernstein, Maestro revolves around his complicated marriage to actress Felicia Montealegre (Carey Mulligan), whom he first met in 1946 and later married.
Throughout their marriage, which ended in 1978, Bernstein had numerous affairs. While Montealegre insists that she can handle these dalliances, they ultimately start to take an emotional and mental toll on her, as well as on their three children.
All the while, Montealegre continues to play an integral role in Bernstein’s flourishing career, as he goes on to become one of the most important conductors of his time. There are inspired moments dotted throughout. Cooper once again proves that he is a supremely gifted director with an innate understanding of where to place the camera and when to move it.
He knows how to create striking images that encapsulate the drama, as well as how to use seemingly mundane everyday items to heighten it, too.
There’s a flair and ambition to Maestro’s sequences that suggest there’s plenty more for him to showcase in what will hopefully be a long and fruitful directorial career.
Cinematographer Matthew Libatique also deserves huge credit for the style and beauty that’s apparent all the way through Maestro.
While you’re always aware of just how gorgeous the film’s visuals are, what’s more important is that they help to pull you deeper into the story.
Unsurprisingly, Cooper gives himself and his fellow actors plenty of room to showcase their talents.
But while he is impressive as the deeply flawed yet undeniably gifted and inspiring Bernstein, it’s Mulligan who really shines. Thanks to her vulnerable yet tough portrayal, Montealegre becomes the beating heart of Maestro.
The longer it goes on, you can’t help but feel sorry for her and also be impressed by her sacrifices. More impressive than that, even though Cooper’s Bernstein is the more flamboyant character, Maestro only really comes to life when she is on screen.
But while there’s plenty to admire about the film, it never quite manages to dig deep enough into their lives to feel complete. The film repeatedly raises various themes and quandaries to explore.
These include the battle between luck and destiny; religious and gender dynamics; Bernstein’s struggles with substance abuse and infidelity; the nature of inspiration; and what friends and family sacrifice by being in the orbit of a genius.
But it only flirts with them, it doesn’t reveal anything exceptionally thought-provoking or profound to consider, which was seemingly Cooper and his co-writer Josh Singer’s intention. Maestro opens with a quote from Bernstein that reads: “A work of art does not answer questions, it provokes them; and its essential meaning is in the tension between the contradictory answers.”
But that doesn’t stop the feeling that Maestro never quite reaches its potential. There is plenty to admire though, and Mulligan is undoubtedly now a front-runner in the Best Actress category.
While it’s unlikely that Maestro will end Cooper’s Oscar drought, if he does win, it’ll be for his work behind the camera, rather than in front of it.
Maestro is now available to watch on Netflix