A very famous man living a double personal life was a compelling story back in the Rock Hudson days and hopefully those days are gone. However, it just doesn't feel like enough of a story line to carry Maestro.
DeLovely, a similar film about Cole Porter was set in an earlier era and I thought it was better.
I’m an oldster and something of a Bernstein stan. I didn’t object to the portrayal of his various flamboyances as much as I missed a sense of his being deeply anchored in his art. There was a passing touch as he sat at the piano finishing his Mass, but where was the man who converted the Lone Ranger” theme song to the William Tell Overture to NOTES, basic building blocks, for all of us little kids on our living room floors? I missed him; we see him anchored in (all the oddities of) his marriage; but they were both so much more and so much less silly than they seem here. So I agree with all three reviewers on this one but especially Peter: the score wins!
I saw the film opening night at the Tahoe Film Festival, and palpably felt the differences of your three opinions in a packed house; men who wanted to leave but couldn’t muster crossing 30 people to get out of their row, women sobbing and angry at Felicia’s decisions and heads rolled back eyes closed absorbing the sound engineering. Their 3 children have stated they never knew the hidden lives of their parents, both the talent, the contributions to society, nor the secrets, only to discover after the Maestro’s passing. I think Cooper directed the film for them, acted the film for film goer’s like us. Mulligan’s performance was my favorite part of the film. Thank you for bringing us your podcasts where all film goers can listen and appreciate your insights
Both Jackie and Spencer were narrowly focused. Both figures were famous for much more than what goes on in those films, and both were successful in my book. I haven't seen Maestro yet but using a famous figure to express an inner truth or get microscopic on something about their character or their situation can be interesting, and not every film centering on a famous person need be an all-encompassing biography to be good. Not saying Maestro therefore is worthy, but not presenting major parts of his life certianly isn't a reason to dismiss it.
As a classical music lover and know enough of Leonard Bernstein's musical accomplishments, I enjoyed how the movie gave a glimpse of the love story between Leonard and Felicia, despite their flaws (his especially). I would not think it was the best movie but I am with Peter all the way on this film.
"If summer doesn't sing in you, then nothing sings in you. And if nothing sings in you, then you can't make music." Alyssa and Sunny are so, so wrong about the movie. It is not about how much Bernstein likes men, it's about his struggle to express his full self. Felicia's story is a reflection of this, too. In the movie, she shrinks to make room for Leonard and his affairs, his personality, and it causes the summer to die in her. They reconcile because only they fully understand one another. It is NOT about how gay he was.
This singularly was one of the most boring, incomprehensible movies I have ever seen. Bradley Cooper spoke with marbles in his mouth and was barely understandable. The character portrayals were flat, unsympathetic and we learned nothing other than they are all unlikeable. I have to admit, after 30 minutes I left and asked for my money back (and I was at home watching on Netflix). What a loss of 30 minutes I’ll never get back.
“Maestro,” a film where Bernstein’s high energy music was the star. Lots of emotion. Just a whisper of the facts. I kept thinking that, if Bernstein had been asked to write his own biopic, this would probably be the kind of thing he would write. I agreed with everything Peter said. This music was just amazing!
After watching with my Gen Z niece, she had no idea what Bernstein achieved in his life, but she tried to find something nice to say about him when the movie ended.
I found it to be a bunch of self-indulgent personal vignettes about his home life with no narrative thread. I agree with Sonny and Alyssa - who cares if you don’t understand his contributions? My niece was surprised after watching when we told her he composed the music for West Side Story! Bradley Cooper has done a great disservice to Bernstein’s legacy. He made him out to be a sexual predator of his students and performers whom he oversaw rather than an accomplished composer who brought classical music to the masses.
This will be a movie that will be seen differently by those like myself who watched Young Peoples Concerts and others. So for us we simply don't have the question about how important Bernstein was. Bernstein lived in media - including TV. So for me and folks my age... we are just too steeped in Bernstein, who was all over from Broadway to TV to hosting black panthers in his home which functioned like a salon. Have not see yet... but my sense of Bernstein is different from that noted here by folks much younger.
This is not a new matter. I gave my son a book about Davy Crockett - a man well known to folks my age. My son read it and he said he could tell that Crockett was a figure known to many but he could tell that Crockett's time had passed. Which it has.
I also saw clips of the movie and since I knew Bernstein well, I was curious how this public figure would be presented (and usually the presentation is not convincing). But here Bernstein is very convincing.
Sonny may recall that I made, finally, almost the exact same point after objecting to his panning of the movie in his written review of it. My daughter is a film maker & a novelist who nonetheless can't connect to references I make that are part of my & my generation's experience. So, the question may really be what responsibility does one artist who creates a piece about another artist have to educate/enlighten his audience about his subject's reason to be looked at in ways other than their notoriety and/or importance to their medium. The fact that Sonny, who is looked to for his opinions about film, is, at his own admission, ignorant of how & why Bernstein was such an artistic force but Alyssa is not, is clearly a problem, as Nicole reinforces in her mention of her niece's similar ignorance, but it should not, imho, be something that was Cooper's responsibilty...it's a good film...not a masterpiece or career defining work, possibly, but not the failure that S & A insist it is.
A very famous man living a double personal life was a compelling story back in the Rock Hudson days and hopefully those days are gone. However, it just doesn't feel like enough of a story line to carry Maestro.
DeLovely, a similar film about Cole Porter was set in an earlier era and I thought it was better.
I’m an oldster and something of a Bernstein stan. I didn’t object to the portrayal of his various flamboyances as much as I missed a sense of his being deeply anchored in his art. There was a passing touch as he sat at the piano finishing his Mass, but where was the man who converted the Lone Ranger” theme song to the William Tell Overture to NOTES, basic building blocks, for all of us little kids on our living room floors? I missed him; we see him anchored in (all the oddities of) his marriage; but they were both so much more and so much less silly than they seem here. So I agree with all three reviewers on this one but especially Peter: the score wins!
I saw the film opening night at the Tahoe Film Festival, and palpably felt the differences of your three opinions in a packed house; men who wanted to leave but couldn’t muster crossing 30 people to get out of their row, women sobbing and angry at Felicia’s decisions and heads rolled back eyes closed absorbing the sound engineering. Their 3 children have stated they never knew the hidden lives of their parents, both the talent, the contributions to society, nor the secrets, only to discover after the Maestro’s passing. I think Cooper directed the film for them, acted the film for film goer’s like us. Mulligan’s performance was my favorite part of the film. Thank you for bringing us your podcasts where all film goers can listen and appreciate your insights
Happy hols
Random note - the Lee Server biography of Robert Mitchum is superb, one of the better books I have read on Hollywood history.
Both Jackie and Spencer were narrowly focused. Both figures were famous for much more than what goes on in those films, and both were successful in my book. I haven't seen Maestro yet but using a famous figure to express an inner truth or get microscopic on something about their character or their situation can be interesting, and not every film centering on a famous person need be an all-encompassing biography to be good. Not saying Maestro therefore is worthy, but not presenting major parts of his life certianly isn't a reason to dismiss it.
As a classical music lover and know enough of Leonard Bernstein's musical accomplishments, I enjoyed how the movie gave a glimpse of the love story between Leonard and Felicia, despite their flaws (his especially). I would not think it was the best movie but I am with Peter all the way on this film.
"If summer doesn't sing in you, then nothing sings in you. And if nothing sings in you, then you can't make music." Alyssa and Sunny are so, so wrong about the movie. It is not about how much Bernstein likes men, it's about his struggle to express his full self. Felicia's story is a reflection of this, too. In the movie, she shrinks to make room for Leonard and his affairs, his personality, and it causes the summer to die in her. They reconcile because only they fully understand one another. It is NOT about how gay he was.
The whole thing is a metaphor for artistic and self expression! My god!
This singularly was one of the most boring, incomprehensible movies I have ever seen. Bradley Cooper spoke with marbles in his mouth and was barely understandable. The character portrayals were flat, unsympathetic and we learned nothing other than they are all unlikeable. I have to admit, after 30 minutes I left and asked for my money back (and I was at home watching on Netflix). What a loss of 30 minutes I’ll never get back.
“Maestro,” a film where Bernstein’s high energy music was the star. Lots of emotion. Just a whisper of the facts. I kept thinking that, if Bernstein had been asked to write his own biopic, this would probably be the kind of thing he would write. I agreed with everything Peter said. This music was just amazing!
After watching with my Gen Z niece, she had no idea what Bernstein achieved in his life, but she tried to find something nice to say about him when the movie ended.
I found it to be a bunch of self-indulgent personal vignettes about his home life with no narrative thread. I agree with Sonny and Alyssa - who cares if you don’t understand his contributions? My niece was surprised after watching when we told her he composed the music for West Side Story! Bradley Cooper has done a great disservice to Bernstein’s legacy. He made him out to be a sexual predator of his students and performers whom he oversaw rather than an accomplished composer who brought classical music to the masses.
I cannot take this seriously if you cannot pronounce his name correctly. Come on
This will be a movie that will be seen differently by those like myself who watched Young Peoples Concerts and others. So for us we simply don't have the question about how important Bernstein was. Bernstein lived in media - including TV. So for me and folks my age... we are just too steeped in Bernstein, who was all over from Broadway to TV to hosting black panthers in his home which functioned like a salon. Have not see yet... but my sense of Bernstein is different from that noted here by folks much younger.
This is not a new matter. I gave my son a book about Davy Crockett - a man well known to folks my age. My son read it and he said he could tell that Crockett was a figure known to many but he could tell that Crockett's time had passed. Which it has.
I also saw clips of the movie and since I knew Bernstein well, I was curious how this public figure would be presented (and usually the presentation is not convincing). But here Bernstein is very convincing.
Sonny may recall that I made, finally, almost the exact same point after objecting to his panning of the movie in his written review of it. My daughter is a film maker & a novelist who nonetheless can't connect to references I make that are part of my & my generation's experience. So, the question may really be what responsibility does one artist who creates a piece about another artist have to educate/enlighten his audience about his subject's reason to be looked at in ways other than their notoriety and/or importance to their medium. The fact that Sonny, who is looked to for his opinions about film, is, at his own admission, ignorant of how & why Bernstein was such an artistic force but Alyssa is not, is clearly a problem, as Nicole reinforces in her mention of her niece's similar ignorance, but it should not, imho, be something that was Cooper's responsibilty...it's a good film...not a masterpiece or career defining work, possibly, but not the failure that S & A insist it is.
This is not a me too problem. He physically assaulted her, that is violence