Maestro

What a film. After a year of bad films directed by actors (cough cough Chris Pine) i’m so thankful Bradley Cooper stepped the fuck up. This films directorial vision is spectacular. The black and white segment is flawless and the costuming is wonderful. Some of the imagery is a tad on the nose e.g. Felicia literally being in Bernstein’s shadow - BUT Bradley Cooper does an incredible job here however, his co-star outshines him in my opinion.  Carey Mulligan’s performance is so visceral and real. She brings so much to this movie and the way Felicia is portrayed is in such a respectful and empathetic way it’s astounding.  The choice to linger on certain shots and some of the sudden jump cuts are phenomenal. Truly breathtaking. I’m a huge fan of how this film is edited and the almost uncomfortably long takes are beautiful. I know that this film received some criticism for casting a non-Jewish actor as Bernstein but it is honestly spellbinding how similar Bradley Cooper and young Leonard Bernstein look even without the prosthetic nose.  This movie has also been called ‘Oscar Bait’ and well yes, duh. That doesn’t make this a bad film because it’s so much more than that but i will concede it is absolutely oscar bait. The scene in which Felicia and Bernstein lie in bed together just talking was my favourite. I could analyse the shit out of that scene for 45 pages and still have more to say. Also also i love the way that the dialogue overlaps and how people talk over each other stunning direction Bradley, bravo. It didn’t evoke an emotional gut reaction but I had a fun time nonetheless with this movie, largely in part to the best direction i’ve seen in a long fucking time.