Maestro is a biopic about the famous musician Bernstein. He was the first American-born conductor to earn global recognition, and now his film has won 7 Oscar nominations.
Notably, the complex relationship between music composer legend Leonard (Bradley Cooper) and his actress wife Felicia Montealegre (Carey Mulligan) is the central theme of this American movie. Now the big question is out of 7 Oscar (Academy) Awards nominations, how many is this film going to win on the Oscar night? Well, no guesswork from us, so please wait for it. Meanwhile, read this article of ours and watch this movie.
Spoiler Free Review of the Maestro (2023) Movie
The trailer
The synopsis/summary [Official]
It tells the complex love story of conductor-composer Leonard Bernstein (Bradley Cooper) and actress Felicia Montealegre Cohn Bernstein (Carey Mulligan), a story that spans over 30 years from the time they met in 1946 at a party and continues through two engagements, a 25-year marriage, and three children: Jamie Bernstein, Alexander Bernstein and Nina Bernstein Simmons.
The introduction
This movie traces Leonard Bernstein’s journey, starting from his unexpected debut at Carnegie Hall and continuing through the later stages of his life. Directed by Bradley Cooper, it is a bold and notable film that explores the enduring love and remarkable bond between the renowned cultural figure Leonard Bernstein and Felicia Montealegre Cohn Bernstein. This fascinating film is a heartfelt tribute to both life and art, presenting a deeply moving depiction of family, love and of course music.
The storyline
As we said earlier, it depicts the complex love story of Leonard (Bradley) and Felicia (Carey, we last saw her in the She Said film). Their love story has endured for more than three decades, beginning in 1946 when they first crossed paths at a social gathering. It has since encompassed two proposals, a marriage that lasted a quarter of a century, and the blessing of three children: Jamie Bernstein, Alexander Bernstein, and Nina Bernstein Simmons.
The central theme revolves around Bernstein’s intricate connection with the numerous loves in his life. This encompasses but is not restricted to, his passion for music, his spouse, Felicia Montealegre, and his diverse romantic involvements. So, their love and marriage survived almost all kinds of storms in their relationship. Despite the wayward ways of the Maestro, their love for each other remained rock-solid.
What did we like in this film?
The script of this film explores the relationship between the two headstrong artistic people. But our only complaint is that it focussed less on their professional “artistic” life. For instance his amazing music in Candide and West Side Story. Instead, its tale followed his personal “love” life and informed us about it. To be honest, the reality of his life choices made it a difficult film to watch for us. But that is the way artists live life, perhaps.
The acting of its lead actors – Bradley Cooper and Carey Mulligan is superlative, to say the least. We loved their hair, make-up and the usual transformation in this film about them.
We also liked the cinematography of the film which often changed between black-and-white and colour photography. So, it used these two contrasting colours for good effect.
Bradley Cooper wore different hats
And it is hard to believe that Bradley Cooper did multiple jobs in film, viz., acting, writing, directing, producing, etc. And he did a splendid award-winning job in almost all of them.
The rating
| FM Rating | 3.65/5 |
| FM Short Comments | This American movie is an honest biographical tale about the love life of Leonard and Felicia, the spouses duo. However, the filmmaker focussed more on personal life than the professional impact of their music and art. Both the lead actors, Bradley Cooper and Carey Mulligan, have given top-notch acting performances in their portrayals. They made it a good film. |
The conclusion
The effort and dedication of Bradley Cooper to the art of filmmaking and storytelling are credible. In this journey, his acting is very well matched by that of Carey Mulligan in the film. Go watch this film, for Bradley, Carey and other talented film crew members (details are shared below), who all gave their award-winning efforts in it.
Awards/Nominations won by the Movie
| Awards Names | Names & Categories of the Awards Nominations/Winners |
|---|---|
| Academy Awards, USA 2024 | Carey Mulligan – Nominee Oscar – Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role Bradley Cooper – Nominee Oscar – Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role Best Motion Picture of the Year – Nominee Oscar – Bradley Cooper, Steven Spielberg, Fred Berner, Amy Durning, Kristie Macosko Krieger Matthew Libatique – Best Achievement in Cinematography – Nominee Oscar Bradley Cooper, Josh Singer – Best Original Screenplay – Nominee Oscar Steven Morrow, Richard King, Jason Ruder, Tom Ozanich, Dean A. Zupancic – Best Sound – Nominee Oscar Best Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling – Kazu Hiro, Kay Georgiou, Lori McCoy-Bell – Nominee Oscar |
| BAFTA Awards 2024 | Bradley Cooper – Best Director – Nominee BAFTA Film Award Best Screenplay (Original) – Bradley Cooper & Josh Singer – Nominee BAFTA Film Award Carey Mulligan – Nominee for BAFTA Film Award – Best Leading Actress Bradley Cooper – Nominee for BAFTA Film Award – Best Leading Actor Matthew Libatique – Nominee BAFTA Film Award – Best Cinematography Best make-up and Hair – Nominee BAFTA Film Award – Sian Grigg, Kay Georgiou, Kazu Hiro, Lori McCoy-Bell Best Sound – Nominee BAFTA Film Award – Tom Ozanich, Jason Ruder, Richard King, Steven Morrow, Dean A. Zupancic |
| Golden Globes, USA 2024 | Bradley Cooper – Nominee Golden Globe – Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama Carey Mulligan – Nominee Golden Globe – Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama Best Director, Motion Picture – Bradley Cooper – Nominee Golden Globe Best Motion Picture, Drama – Nominee Golden Globe |
Poster of the Movie
Key Details about the Movie
| Genre | Biography, Drama, History |
| Original language | English (USA) |
| Age-restrictions | U/A 16+ |
| Duration | 2 hours 11 minutes |
| Released | November 20, 2023 (Select Theatre) December 20, 2023 (Streaming) |
| Writer | Bradley Cooper & Josh Singer |
| Director | Bradley Cooper |
| Cinematography | Matthew Libatique |
| Cast | Bradley Cooper (Leonard Bernstein), Carey Mulligan (Felicia Montealegre), Sarah Silverman (Shirley Bernstein), Maya Hawke (Jamie Bernstein), Gideon Glick (Tommy Cathron), Matt Bomer (David Oppenheim), Miriam Shor (Cynthia O’Neal), etc. |
| Network | Netflix |
Spoilers Alert – bonus info. about Leonard & Felicia in their real life
Leonard Bernstein (Bradley Cooper)
The real Leonard Bernstein
American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian.
Leonard possessed not only exceptional musical abilities but also a remarkable talent for languages. He demonstrated fluency in multiple languages, such as English, French, Italian, German, and Hebrew. This linguistic prowess enabled him to establish meaningful connections with musicians and audiences hailing from diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds.
“For Maestro, I figured it was mine to mess up because I had a nuclear weapon and that’s Leonard Bernstein’s music. Just the breadth of it, how diverse it is, and how moving it is.”
Bradley Cooper | Netflix
Felicia Montealegre Cohn Bernstein (Carey Mulligan)
The real Felicia Montealegre Cohn Bernstein
American celebrated artist, actress, and activist.
Despite being aware of Leonard’s sexual orientation, Felicia chose to marry Leonard, knowing about his lifelong attraction to men.
In a letter written shortly after their marriage, which was discovered by their adult children after Leonard’s passing, Felicia openly acknowledged and accepted Bernstein’s homosexuality. She hinted at an agreement they had made, allowing him to live his life freely without feeling guilty or needing to confess.
However, despite this understanding, Bernstein still had to endure years of “conversion therapy,” a discredited notion that claimed psychiatric or medical treatments could change a person’s sexual orientation.
“It was just the most exciting part and felt akin to some of the roles that I’ve been privileged to play on stage, but had not found the equivalent of on-screen so much… It was so rich and there was so much breadth to her character and so much change in her life. I was just amazed that [Bradley] was asking me to do it.”
Carey Mulligan | Netflix
Featured Image & Poster of the Maestro (2023) Film | Pics. Credit: Netflix.