A biographical film, or biopic, is a film that dramatizes the life of an actual person or people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character’s real name is used.They differ from films "based on a true story" or “historical films” in that they attempt to comprehensively tell a person’s life story or at least the most historically important years of their lives. With that being said I'm going to bring you my top 10 favorite biopics of all-time. So without further ado...
10. The Passion of Joan of Arc
This movie is very emotional and very powerful as well. The film recreates the trial and execution of St. Joan with near-documentary authenticity, as if one were present at the actual 15th century event and both defendant and accusers were the genuine article. The Passion of Joan of Arc has a rating of 97% on rottentomatoes.com.
9. Lenny
This film is really powerful and it has a lot of great moments. Lenny (played by Dustin Hoffman) in his prime and the burned-out, strung-out performer who, in the twilight of his life, used his nightclub act to pour out his personal frustrations at great, boring length. Lenny courts his "Shiksa goddess," a stripper named Honey (played by Valerie Perrine). With family responsibilities, Lenny is encouraged to do a "safe," conformist act, but he can't do it. Constantly in trouble for flouting obscenity laws, Lenny develops a near-messianic complex, which fuels both his comedy genius and his talent for self-destruction. Worn out by a lifetime of tilting at Establishment windmills. Lenny was nominated for 6 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Cinematography and it has a rating of 100% on rottentomatoes.com.
8. Braveheart-
I bet none of you saw this film appearing on this list, it is considered a War Film. The film tells the story of William Wallace (played by Mel Gibson), a 13th Century Scottish warrior who led the Scots into the First War of Scottish Independence against King Edward I of England while also telling the story of Robert the Bruce's struggle to unify his nation against its English oppressors. This film is absolutely amazing and eventhough it has a running time of 3 hours its still fun to sit through and watch. Braveheart was nominated for 10 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Director, Cinematography, Make-Up, Sound Editing, Original Screenplay, Original Dramatic Score, Sound Mixing, Film Editing and Costume Design while winning 5 (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Make-Up and Best Sound Editing) and it has a rating of 81% on rottentomatoes.com.
7. Amadeus
While the film is long and sometimes boring it also very interesting and very entetaining. From the vantage point of an insane asylum, aging royal composer Salieri (played by F. Murray Abraham) recalls the events of three decades earlier, when the young Mozart (played by Tom Hulce) first gained favor in the court of Austrian emperor Joseph II (played by Jeffrey Jones). Salieri was incensed that God would bless so vulgar and obnoxious a young snipe as Mozart with divine genius. Why was Salieri -- so disciplined, so devoted to his art, and so willing to toady to his superiors -- not touched by God? Unable to match Mozart's talent, Salieri uses his influence in court to sabotage the young upstart's career. Disguising himself as a mysterious benefactor, Salieri commissions the backbreaking Requiem, which eventually costs Mozart his health, wealth, and life. Amadeus was nominated for 11 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, 2 nominations for Best Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, Best Makeup and Best Sound Mixing while winning 8 (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, Best Makeup and Best Sound Mixing) and it has a rating of 95% on rottentomatoes.com.
6. Good Night, and Good Luck
I really enjoyed this film and I also loved George Clooney's directing (possibly the best he has ever done). The film details the conflict between newscaster Edward R. Murrow (played by David Strathairn) and Sen. Joseph McCarthy during the 1950's, one that had Murrow defying corporate sponsorship as he and his news team reported on the tactics of McCarthy's Un-American Activities Committee. McCarthy accused Murrow of being a communist and a huge public feud erupted. The McCarthy/Murrow feud is considered a huge leap forward for objective journalism. Good Night, and Good Luck was nominated for 6 Academy Awards including Best Director, Picture, Actor, Art Direction, Cinematography and Original Screenplay has a rating of 93% on rottentomatoes.com.
5. Capote
This film is very interesting and very suspenseful. In 1959, Truman Capote (played by Philip Seymour Hoffman) was a critically acclaimed novelist who had earned a small degree of celebrity for his work when he read a short newspaper item about a multiple murder in a small Kansas town. For some reason, the story fascinated Capote, and he asked William Shawn (played by Bob Balaban), his editor at The New Yorker, to let him write a piece about the case. Capote had long believed that in the right hands, a true story could be molded into a tale as compelling as any fiction, and he believed this event, in which the brutal and unimaginable was visited upon a community where it was least expected, could be just the right material. Capote traveled to Kansas with his close friend Harper Lee (played by Catherine Keener), herself becoming a major literary figure with the success of To Kill a Mockingbird, and while Capote's effete and mannered personal style stuck out like a sore thumb in Kansas, in time he gained the trust of Alvin Dewey (played by Chris Cooper), the Kansas Bureau of Investigation agent investigating the murder of the Clutter family, and with his help Capote's magazine piece grew into a full-length book. Capote also became familiar with the petty criminals who killed the Clutter family, Dick Hickock (played by Mark Pellegrino) and Perry Smith (played by Clifton Collins Jr.), and in Smith he found a troubling kindred spirit more like himself than he wanted to admit. After attaining a sort of friendship with Smith under the assumption that the man would be executed before the book was ever published, Capote finds himself forced to directly confront the moral implications of his actions with regards to both his role in the man's death, and the way that he would be remembered. Capote was nominated for 5 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Adapted screenplay and Best Supporting Actress while only winning 1 (Best Actor) and it has a rating of 90% on rottentomatoes.com.
4. Goodfellas
This is one of the greatest films of all-time and it has some of the greatest performances of all-time. A young man named Henry Hill (grows up in the mob and works very hard to advance himself through the ranks. He enjoys his life of money and luxury, but is oblivious to the horror that he causes. A drug addiction and a few mistakes ultimately unravel his climb to the top. Goodfellas was nominated for 6 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Director, Film Editing Adapted Screenplay, Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress, while winning 1 (Best Supporting Actor) and it has a rating of 97% on rottentomatoes.com.
3. The Passion of the Christ
While this is my favorite Easter themed film, it is also on a very short list of movies that I've cried while watching them. The film is very powerful and Mel Gibson does an unbelievable job. In the Garden of Gethsemane near the Mount of Olives, Jesus (played by James Caviezel) is betrayed by Judas Iscariot (played by Luca Lionello). Jesus is condemned to death for blasphemy and brought before Pontius Pilate (played by Hristo Naumov Shopov), the Roman governor of Judea, for sentencing. The roaring crowd demand his death, so Pilate orders his crucifixion. Jesus is severely beaten and made to carry his cross up to Golgotha, the hill outside Jerusalem, where he is nailed to the cross. The Passion of the Christ was nominated for 3 Academy Awards including Best Makeup, Best Cinematography and Best Original Score and it has a rating of 49% on rottentomatoes.com.
2. Schindler's List
I can contest that this is one of only a handful of films that left me in tears at the end of the movie. Businessman Oskar Schindler (played by Liam Neeson) arrives in Krakow in 1939, ready to make his fortune from World War II, which has just started. After joining the Nazi party primarily for political expediency, he staffs his factory with Jewish workers for similarly pragmatic reasons. When the SS begins exterminating Jews in the Krakow ghetto, Schindler arranges to have his workers protected to keep his factory in operation, but soon realizes that in so doing, he is also saving innocent lives. Schindler's List was nominated for 12 Academy Awards including Best Costume Design, Art Direction, Makeup and Hairstyling, Cinematography, Sound, Film Editing, Supporting Actor, Original Score, Adapted Screenplay, Actor, Director, Picture, while winning 7 (Best Art Direction, Cinematography, Director, Picture, Film Editing, Adapted Screenplay and Original Score) and it has a rating of 97% on rottentomatoes.com.
1.Raging Bull
I really love the film and it is just absolutely marvelous. Considered one of the greatest movies of all-time, Raging Bull tells the real life story of former professional boxer and Middleweight Champion Jake LaMotta (played by Robert DeNiro) and his struggles with rage, sexual jealousy, and an animalistic appetite which ruin his relationships with his wife and family. Raging Bull was nominated for 8 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Director, Actor, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress, Sound, Cinematography, and Editing, while wining two (Best Actor and Film Editing) and it has a rating of 98% on rottentomatoes.com.
10. The Passion of Joan of Arc
This movie is very emotional and very powerful as well. The film recreates the trial and execution of St. Joan with near-documentary authenticity, as if one were present at the actual 15th century event and both defendant and accusers were the genuine article. The Passion of Joan of Arc has a rating of 97% on rottentomatoes.com.
9. Lenny
This film is really powerful and it has a lot of great moments. Lenny (played by Dustin Hoffman) in his prime and the burned-out, strung-out performer who, in the twilight of his life, used his nightclub act to pour out his personal frustrations at great, boring length. Lenny courts his "Shiksa goddess," a stripper named Honey (played by Valerie Perrine). With family responsibilities, Lenny is encouraged to do a "safe," conformist act, but he can't do it. Constantly in trouble for flouting obscenity laws, Lenny develops a near-messianic complex, which fuels both his comedy genius and his talent for self-destruction. Worn out by a lifetime of tilting at Establishment windmills. Lenny was nominated for 6 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Cinematography and it has a rating of 100% on rottentomatoes.com.
8. Braveheart-
I bet none of you saw this film appearing on this list, it is considered a War Film. The film tells the story of William Wallace (played by Mel Gibson), a 13th Century Scottish warrior who led the Scots into the First War of Scottish Independence against King Edward I of England while also telling the story of Robert the Bruce's struggle to unify his nation against its English oppressors. This film is absolutely amazing and eventhough it has a running time of 3 hours its still fun to sit through and watch. Braveheart was nominated for 10 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Director, Cinematography, Make-Up, Sound Editing, Original Screenplay, Original Dramatic Score, Sound Mixing, Film Editing and Costume Design while winning 5 (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Make-Up and Best Sound Editing) and it has a rating of 81% on rottentomatoes.com.
7. Amadeus
While the film is long and sometimes boring it also very interesting and very entetaining. From the vantage point of an insane asylum, aging royal composer Salieri (played by F. Murray Abraham) recalls the events of three decades earlier, when the young Mozart (played by Tom Hulce) first gained favor in the court of Austrian emperor Joseph II (played by Jeffrey Jones). Salieri was incensed that God would bless so vulgar and obnoxious a young snipe as Mozart with divine genius. Why was Salieri -- so disciplined, so devoted to his art, and so willing to toady to his superiors -- not touched by God? Unable to match Mozart's talent, Salieri uses his influence in court to sabotage the young upstart's career. Disguising himself as a mysterious benefactor, Salieri commissions the backbreaking Requiem, which eventually costs Mozart his health, wealth, and life. Amadeus was nominated for 11 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, 2 nominations for Best Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, Best Makeup and Best Sound Mixing while winning 8 (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, Best Makeup and Best Sound Mixing) and it has a rating of 95% on rottentomatoes.com.
6. Good Night, and Good Luck
I really enjoyed this film and I also loved George Clooney's directing (possibly the best he has ever done). The film details the conflict between newscaster Edward R. Murrow (played by David Strathairn) and Sen. Joseph McCarthy during the 1950's, one that had Murrow defying corporate sponsorship as he and his news team reported on the tactics of McCarthy's Un-American Activities Committee. McCarthy accused Murrow of being a communist and a huge public feud erupted. The McCarthy/Murrow feud is considered a huge leap forward for objective journalism. Good Night, and Good Luck was nominated for 6 Academy Awards including Best Director, Picture, Actor, Art Direction, Cinematography and Original Screenplay has a rating of 93% on rottentomatoes.com.
5. Capote
This film is very interesting and very suspenseful. In 1959, Truman Capote (played by Philip Seymour Hoffman) was a critically acclaimed novelist who had earned a small degree of celebrity for his work when he read a short newspaper item about a multiple murder in a small Kansas town. For some reason, the story fascinated Capote, and he asked William Shawn (played by Bob Balaban), his editor at The New Yorker, to let him write a piece about the case. Capote had long believed that in the right hands, a true story could be molded into a tale as compelling as any fiction, and he believed this event, in which the brutal and unimaginable was visited upon a community where it was least expected, could be just the right material. Capote traveled to Kansas with his close friend Harper Lee (played by Catherine Keener), herself becoming a major literary figure with the success of To Kill a Mockingbird, and while Capote's effete and mannered personal style stuck out like a sore thumb in Kansas, in time he gained the trust of Alvin Dewey (played by Chris Cooper), the Kansas Bureau of Investigation agent investigating the murder of the Clutter family, and with his help Capote's magazine piece grew into a full-length book. Capote also became familiar with the petty criminals who killed the Clutter family, Dick Hickock (played by Mark Pellegrino) and Perry Smith (played by Clifton Collins Jr.), and in Smith he found a troubling kindred spirit more like himself than he wanted to admit. After attaining a sort of friendship with Smith under the assumption that the man would be executed before the book was ever published, Capote finds himself forced to directly confront the moral implications of his actions with regards to both his role in the man's death, and the way that he would be remembered. Capote was nominated for 5 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Adapted screenplay and Best Supporting Actress while only winning 1 (Best Actor) and it has a rating of 90% on rottentomatoes.com.
4. Goodfellas
This is one of the greatest films of all-time and it has some of the greatest performances of all-time. A young man named Henry Hill (grows up in the mob and works very hard to advance himself through the ranks. He enjoys his life of money and luxury, but is oblivious to the horror that he causes. A drug addiction and a few mistakes ultimately unravel his climb to the top. Goodfellas was nominated for 6 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Director, Film Editing Adapted Screenplay, Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress, while winning 1 (Best Supporting Actor) and it has a rating of 97% on rottentomatoes.com.
3. The Passion of the Christ
While this is my favorite Easter themed film, it is also on a very short list of movies that I've cried while watching them. The film is very powerful and Mel Gibson does an unbelievable job. In the Garden of Gethsemane near the Mount of Olives, Jesus (played by James Caviezel) is betrayed by Judas Iscariot (played by Luca Lionello). Jesus is condemned to death for blasphemy and brought before Pontius Pilate (played by Hristo Naumov Shopov), the Roman governor of Judea, for sentencing. The roaring crowd demand his death, so Pilate orders his crucifixion. Jesus is severely beaten and made to carry his cross up to Golgotha, the hill outside Jerusalem, where he is nailed to the cross. The Passion of the Christ was nominated for 3 Academy Awards including Best Makeup, Best Cinematography and Best Original Score and it has a rating of 49% on rottentomatoes.com.
2. Schindler's List
I can contest that this is one of only a handful of films that left me in tears at the end of the movie. Businessman Oskar Schindler (played by Liam Neeson) arrives in Krakow in 1939, ready to make his fortune from World War II, which has just started. After joining the Nazi party primarily for political expediency, he staffs his factory with Jewish workers for similarly pragmatic reasons. When the SS begins exterminating Jews in the Krakow ghetto, Schindler arranges to have his workers protected to keep his factory in operation, but soon realizes that in so doing, he is also saving innocent lives. Schindler's List was nominated for 12 Academy Awards including Best Costume Design, Art Direction, Makeup and Hairstyling, Cinematography, Sound, Film Editing, Supporting Actor, Original Score, Adapted Screenplay, Actor, Director, Picture, while winning 7 (Best Art Direction, Cinematography, Director, Picture, Film Editing, Adapted Screenplay and Original Score) and it has a rating of 97% on rottentomatoes.com.
1.Raging Bull
I really love the film and it is just absolutely marvelous. Considered one of the greatest movies of all-time, Raging Bull tells the real life story of former professional boxer and Middleweight Champion Jake LaMotta (played by Robert DeNiro) and his struggles with rage, sexual jealousy, and an animalistic appetite which ruin his relationships with his wife and family. Raging Bull was nominated for 8 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Director, Actor, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress, Sound, Cinematography, and Editing, while wining two (Best Actor and Film Editing) and it has a rating of 98% on rottentomatoes.com.
So ladies and gentlemen what are some of your favorite biopics and what do you think of my list? Let me know in the comments section below and let your voice be heard.
Jonah Sparks
No comments:
Post a Comment