Maestro
Dustin Chase
Bradley Cooper is again all hands on deck for his sophomore feature film. Cooper said “A Star is Born” was about Lady Gaga’s voice, and “Maestro” was about Leonard Bernstein’s music. Cooper’s vision, six years in the making, takes the audience far away from the stereotypical biopic. The first act is an ode to classic Hollywood cinema, with smooth-as-silk black-and-white cinematography that eventually finds a color pallet in the second act. This movie isn’t just Leonard’s story but Felicia Montealegre’s, an accomplished artisan in her own right. Carey Mulligan again gives one of her best performances, and for all the facial prosthetics and multiple hats Cooper wears in front of and behind the screen, she is the movie’s heartbeat.
“You don’t even know how much you need me, do you,” Felicia (Mulligan) says as she and Leonard (Cooper) court each other. More than once, she acknowledges to others that she knows exactly who and what he is, hinting at his bisexuality. Leonard rises quickly in the world of conducting, instructing, and musical creation. The intensity around him draws everyone in, especially the young men eager to learn. Their lives bloom without arguments, children grow, and both find equal success. It’s middle age where Felicia embraces maturity and respectability, while Leonard still behaves like an adolescent. “Fix your hair; you’re getting sloppy,” she scolds. Their marriage begins to fall apart, and with it, the meaning of life as they know it.
Cooper’s direction for the First Act artistically symbolizes how intoxicated Leonard and Felicia are with each other.
Cooper’s direction for the First Act artistically symbolizes how intoxicated Leonard and Felicia are with each other. The audience, too, gets swept up in this whirlwind romance, demonstrated with elaborate dream sequences, dance numbers, and intimate moments where the two characters sit very still and talk. Mulligan’s portrayal is Katherine Hepburn-like, in her controlled smile, serious eyes, and posture. Felicia is never portrayed as the girlfriend, wife, or supporter but as his equal. Purposefully, the couple never argued or fought until we got to the third act. Their argument is the film’s centerpiece, carefully staged as the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade calmly rolls by outside the window. The story’s climax is a visceral piece of conducting that feels like an action sequence. It’s “the scene” everyone will be talking about.
Cooper certainly gives his all on screen; while the makeup is distracting in earlier moments, it eventually settles, and the Cooper we know disappears. His mannerisms and speech display dedication and lots of research. Cooper’s passion for Bernstein certainly comes across, yet the film is much stronger as a love story than a musical biopic. You don’t have to know or have heard Bernstein to receive what Cooper offers here. Cinematically more artistic and creative than his directorial effort on “A Star is Born,” there is still something missing from “Maestro.” Perhaps it’s in Act Two where the romance, history, and breezing through the timeline occur. While smoking was both a pastime and cigarettes an accessory of the era, it became a noticeable distraction in every scene. Cooper and screenwriters avoid sentimentality, yet it’s the film’s emotional moments where everything functions at its strongest. Both Cooper and Mulligan will be challenging to beat in the actor and actress races to the Oscars.
Final Thought
Cooper’s growth as a filmmaker is overshadowed by his and Mulligan’s performance, which stands among the best of the year.