BY MICHAEL YOUNG
Maestro
2023
Drama • R • 2h 9m
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“Maestro” is, at one level, a story of Leonard Bernstein (Bradley Cooper) and his loving relationship with his wife, Felicia (Carey Mulligan). Whether it’s totally true or not is irrelevant – it is a terrific and powerful story of how a relationship evolves in the shadow of fame and in the face of opposing interests.
The movie enjoyed some controversy because of the prosthetic nose Kazo Hiro designed for Bradley Cooper. Though possessing a substantial appendage himself, Cooper thought it needed some additional shaping to complete his astonishing transition to match Bernstein’s appearance.
It is always difficult to talk about Sound nominations because you only tend to notice the sound element when it isn’t working right. Otherwise, you happily pay attention to the visuals and the emotional elements of the storytelling. In addition to resolving normal dialog issues, the sound team also had to artistically integrate a soundtrack of Bernstein’s music, as well as a few other very different composers and songwriters, and create the necessary new sounds which always need to be added back into the final product.
The cinematographic challenges in “Maestro” are trying to accurately convey the emotional tension in conducting a living instrument of, possibly, hundreds of human musicians responding to their leading maestro, as well as conveying the transitions occurring over four decades. Cinematographer Mathew Libatique shows mastery over the historical period transition by changing from black and white to color, changing the aspect ratio to match the film style of the period, and employing filters to recreate how movies looked at each time. It is fun, and emotionally reinforcing to watch time elapse over the forty or fifty years of the film.
“Maestro” focuses on the relationship between Leonard Bernstein and his wife of almost three decades, Felicia Montealegre Cohn. It isn’t really a full biopic on Bernstein and what you might think of as a standard musician story with a mighty rise and a tragic fall. Instead, it extracts a smaller story exploring just these two people and their impact on each other – which was huge. This precise focus places a substantial set of responsibilities on the two actors portraying those people – and they solidly deliver! The nominations for the two of them are entirely appropriate.
Bradley Cooper – even without the prosthetic nose – has an uncanny resemblance to Leonard Bernstein. And Cooper must have recognized that resemblance in deciding to play the role himself and to direct and co-write the script. I’m guessing that he also has some fascination and familiarity with classical music, and Bernstein’s in particular, so this is probably a labor of love.
Carey Mulligan is one of my favorite actresses. Her performance is so compelling in her sophisticated understanding of her husband and the pain that he causes her that we can’t believe she’s acting. Her dimpled smile belies a deep and hurting soul. This is a terrific performance and is worth seeing the movie just for her.
This is only Cooper’s second attempt at writing a feature film and this time he partnered with Josh Singer who previously won an Original Screenplay Oscar for “Spotlight”.
Their script wisely adopts the notion that, in a two-hour movie, they would not be able to explore all the possible dimensions of a musical talent like Bernstein. Instead, they focus specifically on Leonard’s relationship with his wife, selectively using his life events to suggest how their interaction might have worked in private. As a biopic and not a documentary, I found the dialog between the two to be the most compelling part of the movie – you will too!
We don’t know for sure how Felicia felt about Lenny’s gay liaisons. But she is quoted as saying that she knew about them before she married him and accepted it. She said, “It’s my own arrogance to think I could survive on what he could give.”
But when she needed it most, he was there for her and I think that’s an important part of the film’s message.
“Maestro” is the least liked film among the viewing public, ranking it at the very bottom of this year’s list of Oscar-nominated movies!
The critics are more receptive. Manohla Dhargis (New York Times) called it “a fast-paced chronicle of towering highs, crushing lows and artistic milestones most delivered in a personal key.” She further finds “Cooper explores the definition – and brutal toll – of success with deep sympathy, lushly beautiful wall-to-wall music and great narrative velocity.” Some critics didn’t quite see “Maestro” that way, perhaps missing the focus of the movie. Glenn Kenny (RogerEbert) wrote “Cooper does his level best, God knows, but never inhabits the role. It plays as a tribute, which it arguably is, but it needed to be more.”
The title card at the beginning of the movie is a quote from Leonard Bernstein: “A work of art does not answer questions, it provokes them, and its essential meaning is the tension between the contradictory answers.”
So rather than fret and moan about whether the film is portraying truth – which it doesn’t have to; or that it fails to show how Leonard became so interested in music or why he loved it so much – which it never intended to; instead look at the questions it provokes and the thoughts and feelings it takes to answer them.
In one scene Felicia is barely seen in the gap between two curtains looking admiringly at Leonard conducting a concert. As the camera pulls back, we see that she is, quite literally, receding into his shadow as he waves his arms up and down. They loved each other immensely, at least for a time, but like a lot of love stories, it was nearly impossible to live with it. Somehow life has a way of getting in the way of properly expressed feelings.
Whether or not you like classical music – or the elites who create and perform it – that isn’t what “Maestro” is trying to question. Instead, look at the dynamics of two people caught in a very loving relationship made all the more difficult by success and personal foibles. Look at the contradictions and judge “Maestro” as a work of art! (4.5*)
