SEVENSES: Biopics
SEVENSES
BIOPICS
Welcome to a second edition of Sevenses. To get an idea of what that is, please read the first edition on westerns found here. In short, it is taking a similar group of films and choosing seven that might be distinct from most every other one or the best of a subgenre. It is not a tier list, and thus not a ranked list. A rule I made, I must own the film in a home media format to be considered.
Biopics. It is a genre nearly as old as the film industry itself. If we, as a people, were not intrigued by others' lives, books about famous, and infamous, figures, would not have proven popular, and many of these include photographs. So, it was only fitting that moving pictures would follow suit. They are typically also drama and can literally be about anyone notable in her or his field, including presidents, inventors, musicians, sports figures, and in the vein of art imitating life, actors. A couple of common specifics often encountered in a biographical film are the obstacles the subject struggled through to reach the point we know them and the apex event of her or his life. Before we "embark on anyone's life journey," I would like to name some notable films I have seen but were not considered due to lack of current possession, though they are in my wish list, Ray, Get on Up, Bohemian Rhapsody, Judy, and Elvis (2022). In addition, I would definitely like to rewatch the 1979 film Elvis and the 2005 miniseries of the same name and likely would want to own them, too.
February 3, 1959, will forever be known as "The Day the Music Died" after Don McLean coined the phrase in his 1971 modern opus, "American Pie". Indeed, it was a sad event scarcely an hour into the new day that took the lives of Buddy Holly, pilot Roger Peterson, J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson, and the subject of this film, Ritchie Valens. Additionally tragic, the oldest individual, Richardson, was only 28 years old and the youngest, Valens, was only 17, around 3 months before his 18th birthday. La Bamba follows young Richard Valenzuela from the orange groves of Northern California to Los Angeles to signing with Bob Keane on his Del-Fi Records label and producing Ritchie's records to this final moment and immediate aftermath. The film parallels his recurring nightmares about a plane collision that occurred over Pacoima Junior High School while he was absent with the cause of his untimely passing. But in contrast is Ritchie's nearly instantly successful career with his half-brother, Bob, who is nearly the polar opposite of Ritchie. Admittedly, Morales in the role almost steals the show from Phillips. So, what would a biopic about a musician be without his music? Los Lobos excellently covered six of Valens' classic singles and B-sides all from his first album, and of course including the film's namesake, "La Bamba". With all these elements, Valdez crafts a film that covers the emotional spectrum that Valens and his family actually went through. A new generation of audience can experience both that journey and the timeless artistry of a boy who was clearly bound for even bigger things. Other films considered for a subject who died young were The Buddy Holly Story, whose title figure was 22, 8 Seconds (Lane Frost was 25), and I Saw the Light, about Hank Williams, who sadly passed at 29. To note, The Last Ride has its own Underappreciated.
Based primarily on Linda Lee Cadwell's (his widow) Bruce Lee: The Man Only I Knew, this film follows the eclectic title character, mostly focusing on his life after immigrating to the United States. For basic facts, Dragon relates his meeting and marrying of Linda against the wishes of her mother, establishing a martial arts school despite resistance from his Chinese peers, writing Tao of Jeet Kune Do, the birth of their two children, and of course, the track of his acting career, culminating in his last complete film, Enter the Dragon. An important fact of note is there is no shying away from telling the idea for Kung Fu (1972-1975 TV Series) was stolen from Lee. In my opinion, the life of Lee Jun-Fan (his birth name) in itself is interesting to warrant a film, and Jason Scott Lee (no relation) does a great job in the unenviable task of portraying him. But what really makes the film stand out is how it mixes in some fantasy and mystical elements and presents the fights much like a Bruce Lee film. So, instead of being a pure biopic, it becomes a homage to his excellent body of work, as well. And let's face it, the legend of Bruce is bigger than a by-the-numbers film could possibly have contained. I also considered Braveheart, Amadeus, and Big Eyes as films that include at least a bit of legend and/or visual quirk. It is the legend of William Wallace in the first, Amadeus is based on a play that greatly exaggerates the rivalry between Mozart and Salieri, and there are a few moments of Margaret Keane actually seeing the big eyes from her paintings in strangers she encounters as the film is near its climax in the third.
The "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral" is so called because the "Gunfight in the Vacant Lot Down from the Rear Entrance of the O.K. Corral" does not quite have the same ring. This event, occurring at around 3:00 p.m. on October 26, 1881, is virtually the central point of the Old West era of American history. Tombstone is an account of the events surrounding it and is largely historically accurate according to Allen Barra's 1998 book, Inventing Wyatt Earp: His Life and Many Legends, which compares available resources ranging from public records to residents' diaries. This film's focus is on these moments of the lives of the Earp brothers (all well cast with Russell as Wyatt, Elliott as Virgil and Bill Paxton as Morgan), their wives, John "Doc" Holliday (quite possibly Kilmer's best performance) and other figures. But the most famous Earp is its cental figure. Through dialogue, small bits of his lawman career are revealed, and the audience gets a good feel for who he is both in personality and loyalty to family through his actions, particularly the film's final act that consists primarily of his Vendetta Ride in response to the attempted murder of and debilitating injury to Virgil and the murder of Morgan. An ensemble cast including those mentioned plus Dana Delaney, Powers Boothe, Michael Biehn, and Stephen Lang, among others, solidify a very tightly told intriguing tale. Other films considered for a figure who lived around 100 years ago were Wyatt Earp (covers more detail of his life before Tombstone), Goodbye Christopher Robin (A.A. Milne), and Tolkien.
A quote widely attributed to Plato is, "The measure of a man is what he does with power." Christ Jesus (Yeshua the Messiah) is both God and Man but yet, while fully innocent, chose to lay down His life in the most humiliating and painful way possible, a Roman cross, for the greater good of His people and all people everywhere of all times. The Passion of the Christ is very surgical in its telling of the span of only the final half a day or so of its subject's earthly life, beginning with his prayer in the garden of Gethsemane through His illegal arrest, trial and conviction by the Jewish leadership, his awful scourging by the Romans under the orders of Pilate, and finally his crucifixion unto death when the crowds were not satisfied by that punishment. The film closely follows the four accounts given in the Holy Scriptures, including the oft overlooked detail of a young man running off while He is led to Caiphas (Mark 14:51-52). There are some flashback scenes, as well, small instances to make it more in line with a traditional biographical film. During these and at other points in The Passion, there is some artistic license taken including a tender scene of the boy Jesus falling down as any human as His mother looks on, and another of a lighthearted moment between He and His mother over some carpentry work prior to His ministry beginning. It also has the accuracy of being fully in authentic languages of Aramaic, Hebrew and Latin. More detail is provided in Isaiah 53, a prophetic account about Messiah written around 200 years before the first crucifixion was recorded elsewhere in history, than is contained in the four Gospel accounts. With that in mind, it is questionable about whether the graphic level of bloody violence is necessary or even right. I am not here to comment one way or another, but will certainly say, it does have an impact, it lives up to the film's title and shows Caviezel's commitment to the role. To note and also impactful, one of those instances of dramatic license is that as Jesus dies, a large raindrop falls, at least intended to be representative of a teardrop from God, and what causes the earthquake mentioned in Matthew 27:51. Finally, I would not feel as strong about the film if it did not have that final scene confirming His death is not the end. I could only use one method to effectively list other movies considered, and that is those whose main target audience is followers of Christ. Those are: Soul Surfer, I'm Not Ashamed, The Case for Christ, I Can Only Imagine, and I Still Believe.
Rarely does the subject of a biopic meet the person who will portray her or him. But when Walk the Line was in the early stages of development, Phoenix, not knowing about the film at the time, reportedly got to meet Cash at a dinner. Because of the films' subjects passing prior to production, the family did approve of both Phoenix and Witherspoon as Johnny and June. The film itself centers around Cash's performance at Folsom Prison, released as his landmark 1968 album. Most of it is technically told in flashback, which begins with showing the close relationship between the then 12-year-old J.R. (his actual birthname) and his brother, Jack, who was three years older and in a fatal sawmill accident shortly after, which had severe impression on the boy. It progresses to his time in the U.S. Air Force, stationed in Germany and courting his first wife, Vivian, while writing the first of songs that he would later record professionally, and finally to Memphis, Tennessee, his time at Sun Records, to meeting June to the apex of his career. It shows his strained relationship with his father Ray, struggle with amphetamine addiction and eventual divorce from Vivian. It catches up to the opening scene at Folsom and ends on a happy note with June finally accepting after Johnny had repeatedly proposed and him reconciling with his father. Both Phoenix and Witherspoon put in the work to accurately perform their roles' music and it shows, with the latter winning the Academy Award for Best Actress. It additionally swept its Golden Globe nominations with Picture, Actor and Actress (all in Musical or Comedy). Another item of note is Shooter Jennings portrays his father, Waylon, in a brief scene while excellently covering the elder Jennings' "I'm a Long Way from Home". Other films considered that the subject approved of her or his portrayer, this time by the actual subject, were Coal Miner's Daughter (Loretta Lynn) and October Sky (Homer Hickman).
I am not a sports fan at all. I used to be, but then it was only football. So, how does a film about a baseball player end up here? Because 42 is about so much more than a game or even how well a person can play it. It is about an ugly chapter in our history, one which Major League Baseball merely reflected the society that forged it, and one which is yet sadly still not fully quashed. Honestly, this one is rough enough that I will forgo an overview of the plot but will point out that Boseman and Ford are excellent in their respective roles of Jackie Robinson and Branch Rickey. Also, I understand the importance of authenticity in this case, but I actually feel for Alan Tudyk in portraying Ben Chapman, accurate to his awful epithets. Besides its handling of the material, there is a deeper-rooted reason the film resonates with me. When I was a kid, there were these children's books called ValueTales. They were biographical and the subject was framed so that a certain value (hence the series name) was focal. I did not have them all, and a very small selection at that, maybe three or four. Well, the one that stuck with me all these years the most was the one on Jackie Robinson (the value was courage). We do not share race, and I am not even a person of color at all. But I read that thing over and over. I was in a fairly sheltered environment so my little young brain could not understand how a person could be treated so badly. And that is how I see Robinson; that is how I see Boseman's central approach the role: courage. No other films were considered for a sports figure.
I knew of "Eat It" at its initial release, but I consider that I truly discovered "Weird Al" with his 1988 album Even Worse, and I have been a fan ever since. I could speak on his volume of work, or how, despite being mostly known for his parody abilities, he is an accomplished musician. Or I could talk about how UHF is a criminally underappreciated movie (hmm... future post?) or about how Yankovic is a decent actor (sure, his comedic roles are an obvious extension of the hilarity that is his persona, but his voicework as Dollmaker in the DC Animated Movie Universe film Batman vs. Robin is truly and appropriately sinister). Any of these I believe I could make a good case, but Weird is a master class in parody, a film that his storied career could be said built to it in a way. It skewers biography films by telling completely untrue things about "Weird Al" through isms common to the genre including estrangement from parents, substance abuse, ego that alienates everyone around him, and perhaps the most unsubtle subtlety, the outright fabrication. Radcliffe excels in the title role, but I would be remiss if I did not mention Evan Rachel Wood as Madonna and Rainn Wilson as Dr. Demento. Honestly, I could not in good conscience include Weird if not for the actual facts included in the film, such as that "Weird Al" did begin on the accordion due to a door-to-door salesman, "My Bologna" was recorded in a bathroom and it really was instantly successful, "Another One Rides the Bus" actually features Jon Schwartz drumming on Al's accordion case, Scotti Brothers really was Yankovic's label until 1996, Madonna is in fact partially responsible for "Like a Surgeon" when her saying that title got to his manager through a mutual friend, and finally, the "Yankovic Bump" is a real phenomenon, albeit heavily exaggerated in the film. The only other comedic film considered was Ed Wood, which also contains some reflection of its subject.
Like the previous "SEVENSES", this is likely a living document, though probably not ever to be revised officially, and some of the "runner-up" films were extremely difficult to not give a slot. I had to really consider Tombstone, since it would be on both lists, but it works on both levels very well. With that, signing off in 10, 9, 8, 7...
Next up...Famous Instrumental Themes of John Williams!
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