Maestro is a film focused on the life, loves and career of Leonard Bernstein in the 40s and 50s but isn’t a full-fledge biopic as many of the scenes were reinvented. Yet there is no denying that Maestro is a good movie with Bradley Cooper as the star while also the fim director.
Reviews are mostly positive with Carry Mulligan getting her fair share of praises for an acting job well done in her role as Mr. Bernstein’s wife, Felicia Montealegre. Also notable as factors that made the actors look like the real-life characters they played, are the costume and makeup. The CGI teams also did a great job of transporting viewers to the time and places in New York, where Mr. Bernstein became a celebrated conductor and composer.
Actually, Maestro is a contender for several of the 2024 Oscar Awards, having received the following nominations:
- Best Picture – Bradley Cooper, Steven Spielberg and Amy Durning
- Best Original Screenplay – Josh Singer and Bradley Cooper
- Best Actor – Bradley Cooper
- Best Actress – Carrey Mulligan
- Best Makeup and Hairstylist – Kazuhiro Tauji, Kay Giorgiou and Lori McCoy Bell
Key Takeaways the 2023 Maestro Movie
The movie is based on the story of award-winning American conductor and composer of hit Broadway shows West Side Story, On the Town and On the Waterfront,, which is just to mention a few. and more.
While only a few of the scenes and dialogues were based on biographies written about Bernstein, screenwriter Josh Singer said he also used as reference the 2018 memoir “Famous Father Girl” authored by Bernstein’s daughter, Jamie Bernstein. In the memoir, Jamie narrated important events in her life while growing up a Berstein. The memoir made mention of an event in which she confronted her father about the rumors of him being a gay man.
Singer also made use of some of the information he obtained from the Library of Congress. The institution recently unsealed a treasure trove of love messages written by Bernstein. The letters apparapparently revealed Mr. Bernstein’s true sexuality as many of them were between him and his gay lovers.
Apparently, Felicia knew of Mr. Bernstein’s secret life as a “closet queen” based on the letters she wrote to her husband during their marriage. In 1951 in one of her letters, Felicia wrote:
”I know that you are a homosexual and that you may never change. Even so I accept you as you are without sacrifing myself and without claims of being a martyr.”