When the first poster and teaser for Maestro were released, I couldn’t help but note that Carey Mulligan was given top billing, even before Bradley Cooper who plays the titular role. It’s not a marketing gimmick or a vanity credit, the promise of that top billing pays out in spades with Mulligan giving the performance of a lifetime as Felicia Montealegre, actress and wife of Leonard Bernstein.
First things first, let’s address the storm in a teacup controversy. As Matt Damon’s Linus insisted in Ocean’s Thirteen, the nose plays. Kazu Hiro, the two-time Academy Award winner for Best Makeup and Hairstyling, does a great job with the prosthetic nose and the aging of Bernstein across the decades. You forget about the prosthetics quickly as Cooper’s performance flirts the line between imitating Bernstein’s mannerisms and becoming the man himself, with all his flawed contradictions.
Cooper is back in the director’s chair after his debut, A Star is Born, which was also set in the world of music and musicians, albeit fictional. This time he goes bigger, setting his sights on the legendary conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein, going from the '40s to the '80s. But Cooper and his co-writer Josh Singer (Academy Award winner for Spotlight) don’t follow the beats of a standard biopic. The screenplay elides time gracefully, skipping over specifics and details, instead focusing on the impact and cost of Bernstein’s genius on himself and everyone around him.
The story itself is a bait-and-switch, pretending to be a biopic while creating a stunning and searing portrait of a marriage in all its complexity. Sparks fly from the moment Felicia and Leonard meet, and Cooper directs their scenes to evoke the screwball comedy style. But we’ve already seen that Bernstein is gay in his introductory scene. The relationship is built on a foundation of truth, as Felicia understands what she is getting into. She is an equal partner in the marriage of two people, but she lives in the shadow of his performer persona. Early on in the movie, she is warned by Bernstein’s sister, played by Sarah Silverman, “There’s a price to pay for being in my brother’s orbit”. When the couple finally separate, she chides herself in a heartbreaking moment of self reflection, “It was my arrogance to think I could survive on what he could give me.”
There’s never any doubt that there is a deep and abiding love between the two. When Bernstein conducts Mahler at Ely Cathedral (a stunningly shot and beautifully choreographed performance), he rushes to kiss a proud Felicia who is waiting in the wings. When Felicia receives a cancer diagnosis, Bernstein instantly drops everything to be by her side. But Bernstein can’t help himself, letting his impulses and his artistic ego drive a wedge in this central relationship, and deeply hurting Felicia with his actions. The movie is careful not to let Bernstein off the hook either as a tortured artist, or as a closeted gay man. The movie sympathizes with Leonard, but is critical of him at the same time. It’s a high-wire act of direction and acting by Cooper.
Carey Mulligan is stunning as Felicia, with immaculate period styling and a flawless accent. The camera serves her well, giving her the time and space to slowly reveal who Felicia is and how she feels. When we are with her, the musical aspect of the movie feels irrelevant; this is what we’re here to see. It’s her Felicia that takes us from black-and-white to vivid colour in a stunning match cut. It’s an award-worthy performance, and she will surely be one of the many Oscar nominations for Maestro.
The production design and costumes are sumptuous, and Cooper reteams with cinematographer Matthew Libatique to capture the giddiness and excitement of music made visual with swooping oners. Libatique frames the '40s and '50s in black-and-white with a boxed 1.37 Academy aspect ratio, opening up to colour and a wider 1.85 ratio as the story moves into modern times. Just like the screenplay plays the time, the camera plays with locations, match cutting constantly from the insides of homes to symphony halls. Libatique uses textbook light and shadow techniques to illuminate what Mulligan and Cooper are feeling. But he knows when to slow down. In the biggest moment of the movie, a Thanksgiving showdown between Felicia and Leonard, the camera literally stops, letting the blocking and the performances take the spotlight.
Maestro makes its intentions clear with its final shot, an impressionistic black and white frame of its main character smiling beatifically at the audience and then turning away. The title may refer to Bernstein, but the movie chooses to end on Mulligan’s Felicia Montealegre.
Discover the latest Business News, Sensex, and Nifty updates. Obtain Personal Finance insights, tax queries, and expert opinions on Moneycontrol or download the Moneycontrol App to stay updated!
