"Maestro" left me totally cold. I never believed anything I saw onscreen. I never cared about any of the characters. YES you see FILMMAKING so obvious all the FILMMAKING pokes you in the eye. Bradley Cooper impersonates Leonard Bernstein and *works so hard.*
Carey Mulligan also works really hard at impersonating a mid century American actress.
There's black and white cinematography. There's color film. Cooper conducts an orchestra and appears to be sweating a bucket.
There are accents and costumes and lavish sets and IMPORTANT issues you could write a high school essay about.
Cooper as Bernstein kisses a man at a party and Mulligan as his wife walks in on the intimate scene.
A leading character even dies on camera.
I just didn't care.
It's a mystery. Some really tacky, silly movies can move an audience. And big budget spectaculars can also move an audience.
What is it that crosses the boundary between a performance and something that worms its way into your soul and makes you cry?
Darned if I know. I remember crying my eyes out when Alan Arkin, as Singer ... at the end of "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter." I just cried and cried. I felt as if I had lost my best friend. And it was just a movie I watched on a tiny black and white TV!
And then there are films like "Maestro" where it is super obvious that everyone is struggling strenuously to create ART in all caps and you just wish the thing would end already.
A very cold viewing experience.
Carey Mulligan also works really hard at impersonating a mid century American actress.
There's black and white cinematography. There's color film. Cooper conducts an orchestra and appears to be sweating a bucket.
There are accents and costumes and lavish sets and IMPORTANT issues you could write a high school essay about.
Cooper as Bernstein kisses a man at a party and Mulligan as his wife walks in on the intimate scene.
A leading character even dies on camera.
I just didn't care.
It's a mystery. Some really tacky, silly movies can move an audience. And big budget spectaculars can also move an audience.
What is it that crosses the boundary between a performance and something that worms its way into your soul and makes you cry?
Darned if I know. I remember crying my eyes out when Alan Arkin, as Singer ... at the end of "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter." I just cried and cried. I felt as if I had lost my best friend. And it was just a movie I watched on a tiny black and white TV!
And then there are films like "Maestro" where it is super obvious that everyone is struggling strenuously to create ART in all caps and you just wish the thing would end already.
A very cold viewing experience.