Bold Bernstein drama proves Bradley's a real virtuoso: BRIAN VINER reviews ... trends now
Can a nose on a face, however large, ever deserve the metaphor 'the elephant in the room'?
That was a nagging question at the Venice Film Festival on Saturday night, at the world premiere of Maestro – the biopic of mighty conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein, co-written, directed by and starring Bradley Cooper.
There has been so much fuss about the prosthetics used by (the non-Jewish) Cooper to replicate the Bernstein proboscis that even those in the audience determined to judge this Netflix film on its merits could hardly have been unaware of the brouhaha, and must have swiftly reached their own conclusion.
Mine, for what it's worth (and with a Jewish heritage of my own), is that the enhanced schnozzle is entirely inoffensive. In some shots it helps make Cooper look startlingly like Bernstein, which is never a bad thing in a biopic.
Moreover, the great man's own children have declared themselves happy with Cooper's transformation.
That was a nagging question at the Venice Film Festival on Saturday night, at the world premiere of Maestro – the biopic of mighty conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein , co-written, directed by and starring Bradley Cooper. Cooper is pictured in the film
There has been so much fuss about the prosthetics used by (the non-Jewish) Cooper to replicate the Bernstein proboscis that even those in the audience determined to judge this Netflix film on its merits could hardly have been unaware of the brouhaha, and must have swiftly reached their own conclusion. Pictured: Leonard Bernstein
Cooper's virtuoso achievement in this film, only the second he has directed after 2018's excellent A Star Is Born, is to convey the thunderous charisma that seemed to make everyone in Bernstein's orbit dance to his tune. Bradley Cooper is pictured in April this year
That should be good enough for all of us, although the debate is certain to be re-ignited later this year when we see yet more prosthetic work in another biographical film, Golda, making (the non-Jewish) Helen Mirren look like the 1970s Israeli prime minister Golda Meir.
Noses aside, Maestro is a highly intelligent, tremendously engaging drama focusing on the complex relationship
