Adesegun Ade-Martins
Recently, I ran into a theatre director and key cultural organiser in Abuja, Nigeria. This being our first interaction, he started to share his frustration with the auteur theory.
He quipped briefly about how it takes away from other key cast members and crew’s contribution to the body of work in question.
Similarly, we film critics tend to favour auteur theory in our thinking, and in the case of Maestro, it’s hard to know where Bradley Cooper ends and where the cast and crew begins.
Actor-directors are a different breed of directors. It’s hard enough being behind the camera and directing the action, let alone preparing for the lead character that carries the film as well.
Maestro was written by Bradley Cooper and Josh Singer. The cinematography was done by Matthew Libatique, and it was edited by Michelle Tesoro.
There are 13 producers credited, but the standout names are Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, and, of course, Bradley Cooper.
Maestro is an artistic biopic of Leonard Bernstein, an American conductor and composer whose rise to prominence from the 1940s with active years until the 1980s had a huge impact on American music culture till today.
He was also a music educator and the composer for West Side Story (the American Romeo and Juliet). Bradley Cooper stars as Leonard Bernstein and Carey Mulligan as his endearing wife, Felicia Montelegre.
What didn’t work
Getting into the film from the beginning can be a bit difficult, starting with the opening shot. However, as it wears on and the inciting incident happens, the story jumps to life.
I find that the movie follows some stylistic conventions that Woody Allen movies follow. This is an overlapping dialogue. This is not a film crime, and it’s not that I didn’t enjoy it.
However, it has the ability to lose short attention span audience types (I’m just looking out for them). I would say those are the key letdowns in the movie.
What worked
As a piece of storytelling, Maestro is truly a masterstroke of filmmaking. All the departments are beautifully orchestrated in harmony to fuse makeup, production design, dance (briefly), sound, lighting, editing, and most especially acting.
Bradley Cooper and Cillian Murphy both deserve the big prize for their roles. They really lead and carry the weight of their respective movies triumphantly.
Cooper is a force in this movie, portraying the quiet and personal anguish that ripples all the way through.
You feel the inner life that Bernstein may have lived. That is the tragedy of being queer and a public figure at the time he lived.
You see his joys of being a father and a husband to Felicia Montelegre. You also see his pain of having a longing that the world didn’t accept.
In turn, you see Felicia’s role in Bernstein’s life as his wife. Delicately played by Carey Mulligan. Their chemistry as they fall in love, disagree, and argue is palpable.
Other pivotal roles with short (ish) screen time include Matt Bomer as David Oppenheim.
Sarah Silverman plays Shirley Bernstein, Maya Hawke plays Jamie Bernstein, and Gideon Glick plays Tommy Cothran. There are either one or two key scenes between these characters and Bernstein.
The decision to shoot some sequences in black and white may be equated to the other great biopic of 2023 by casual observers, but there’s a great nuance in how they are executed in the films.
Maestro has one of the best match cuts I’ve seen in a while when a point of no return occurs about a third of the way. A black-and-white shot is cut directly to a colour shot, which is exquisite. A big thumbs up to editor Michelle Tesoro.
You would imagine that having two award-winning directors, Scorsese and Spielberg, produce the film would influence the director to shoot on analogue film rather than the cost-effective digital.
I support a choice like this, especially when you get Matthew Libatique to shoot it. His credits for shot-on-analogue films include Requiem for Dream, The Fountain, and Black Swan, which are critically acclaimed films.
He has blockbusters shot on film and digital with a variety of camera gear in his resume. Clearly, he’s a versatile and capable technical artist.
The mastery of his work shows on Maestro, where there is deliberate restraint with the camera work. Most shots are static, with a few that have slight push-ins, particularly in a pivotal conducting scene.
Recommendation
This film gets a solid 8.9 out of 10 from me, and I highly recommend you watch it. Although I might find it a bit difficult to watch again, mainly because of the anguish the film bears,.
I would have liked more melodic and harmonic music education in the film. Although we did get some education in conducting, I guess I should be satisfied with that.
Awards have to be rained on the makeup department too, as Cooper’s appearance helps him disappear into Bernstein’s character as he ages through the film.
Summary
With incredible acting, makeup, photography, editing, writing, and directing, it’s safe to say that auteur theory doesn’t mask the brilliant work that went on in the other departments.
However, with the modern process of filmmaking, it’s hard to know where Bradley Cooper’s brilliance begins and ends with this wonderful movie. Does it matter?
Cooper may get the most critical press because he directs as well as stars as the subject of the biopic, but the other contributors’ work is there to support the vision of the director. Then, if you know how to look, you can see the brilliance in their contributions.
I look forward to seeing Bradley Cooper, Carey Mulligan, Josh Singer, Matt Bomer, Sarah Silverman, Matthew Libatique, and Michelle Tesoro’s next projects. I love films and all aspects of filmmaking.
• Ade-Martins writes from Abuja
