Samuel Johnson had warned that a biographer may be tempted to invent or conceal (facts)
Difference between biopics and other Hollywood genres?
The prototypical Holly movie fades out once the wedding goal is achieved.
Whereas, many biopics take place withing a marriage context, which is often portrayed as a few years if bliss, then interrupted by outside forces.
Biopics: Actors vs. Stars
The star departed from his/her persona, when the actor/subject combination was compatible, physically and temperamentally
Kirk Douglas as Van Gough in Lust for Life.
Biopics: Oscars
When movies and life come together, the marriage if often troubled.
The 5 magical words: based on a true story, is supposed to confer something special upon any movie that invokes then
Over 18 films, based on a true story, won Best Pictre
As if inspirational stories are more inspiring if they are true
Feel-good movies feel better if we know the events they depict have really happened.
Historical Biopics:
The whole point of historical dramas is to make history spring to life by showing us the emotions and motives of the people who determined those events.
Ben-Hur:
Hollywood’s first intimate epic spectacle
Only 45 minutes of the 212 running time are special effects
Comare to Lawrence of Arabia and Lord of the Rings
Showbiz Biopics:
Lady Sings the Blues, 1972
Buddy Holly Story, The, 1978
Coal Miner’s Daughter, 1980
Sid and Nancy, 1986
La Bamba, 1987
The Doors, 1991
What’s Love Got to Do With It? 1993
Selena, 1997
Ray, 2004
Walk the Line, 2005
Biopics: Noble
How Green Was My Valley: soft, middle-class, middlebrow
Darryl Zanuck dropped some characters, he eliminated the most controversial elements in the book–the labor-capital strife around the strike.
Movie Genres: Biopics–Theory, Definition, Approach
Research in progress, Sep 17, 2022
Samuel Johnson had warned that a biographer may be tempted to invent or conceal (facts)
Difference between biopics and other Hollywood genres?
The prototypical Holly movie fades out once the wedding goal is achieved.
Whereas, many biopics take place withing a marriage context, which is often portrayed as a few years if bliss, then interrupted by outside forces.
Biopics: Actors vs. Stars
The star departed from his/her persona, when the actor/subject combination was compatible, physically and temperamentally
Kirk Douglas as Van Gough in Lust for Life.
Biopics: Oscars
When movies and life come together, the marriage if often troubled.
The 5 magical words: based on a true story, is supposed to confer something special upon any movie that invokes then
Over 18 films, based on a true story, won Best Pictre
As if inspirational stories are more inspiring if they are true
Feel-good movies feel better if we know the events they depict have really happened.
Historical Biopics:
The whole point of historical dramas is to make history spring to life by showing us the emotions and motives of the people who determined those events.
Ben-Hur:
Hollywood’s first intimate epic spectacle
Only 45 minutes of the 212 running time are special effects
Comare to Lawrence of Arabia and Lord of the Rings
Showbiz Biopics:
Lady Sings the Blues, 1972
Buddy Holly Story, The, 1978
Coal Miner’s Daughter, 1980
Sid and Nancy, 1986
La Bamba, 1987
The Doors, 1991
What’s Love Got to Do With It? 1993
Selena, 1997
Ray, 2004
Walk the Line, 2005
Biopics: Noble
How Green Was My Valley: soft, middle-class, middlebrow
Darryl Zanuck dropped some characters, he eliminated the most controversial elements in the book–the labor-capital strife around the strike.