Biography Movies

Biography movies or biographical films are films that are the dramatised version of a real person’s life, or a representative of their life, which often capture either a historical moment in time or perhaps document their entire life. Biography movies were once reserved for historical figures that performed renowned historical acts such as religious figures or political names such as Henry VIII or Queen Elizabeth.

However, the face of biography movies has expanded greatly over the decades to cover people from all different places in society from entertainers (Shine, Amadeus, Mao’s Last Dancer) to academics (A Beautiful Mind, The Story of Louis Pasteur) to artists (Frida, Pollack) to criminals (Monster, Blow, Chopper).

Generally speaking, biography movies are used to both reflect the extraordinary events in an individual’s life but also the world that surrounds them. Usually a very character driven film structure, biography movies traditionally follow a “character overcoming the odds” style of plotline, although this in not the trend for some of the later biography movies that have emerged, particularly those regarding an individual with a criminal history.

Sometimes referred to as “biopics”, these films are meant to be a representation of the central character’s life, and not necessarily a historical account. Controversy surrounds a number of these films when it comes to the historical accuracy, but usual it comes down to the movie trying to represent an event from the point of view of the character, not the event as it was.

Currently the historical figure with the most biography movies made about them is French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte with other such figures as Jesus Christ, Queen Victoria, Henry VIII, Queen Elizabeth I, Adolf Hitler, Cleopatra, US President Abraham Lincoln, and Vladymir Ilich Lenin.

An example of a Biography Movie, Mao's Last Dancer and Amadeus:

History

Since the 1980s, biographical pictures have become increasingly popular as advancement in film technology and increases in film budgeting have allowed directors to more fully recreate historic periods. In the early 2000s, there was a flood of biographical pictures after Man on the Moon, Ali, Frida and others became widely acclaimed and awarded.

Controversies over veracity

A certain amount of veracity is expected of biopics, often to reduce the risk of libel, but the films often alter events to suit the storyline. Events are sometimes portrayed more dramatically than they actually occurred, time is "condensed" to fit all important events into the film or several people are blended into a composite.

Although many viewers and critics forgive such fabrications for entertainment value, some biopics have come under criticism for allegations of deception. Historians noted the wayward chronology of Michael Collins, a team of Greek lawyers threatened to sue the makers of Alexander for implying that Alexander the Great was bisexual and many boxing fans resented the villainous portrayal of Max Baer in Cinderella Man. But a more controversial biopic in terms of accuracy is 1999's The Hurricane, about boxer Rubin Carter and his hotly-disputed triple murder conviction. Several details were altered to enhance the image of Carter and details about the police procedures that lead to the conviction conflicted with court records. Also, former middle weight champion Joey Giardello, who won a title bout against Carter, sued the film's producers for suggesting he won due to a racist "fix". The case was settled out of court.

Roger Ebert defended the The Hurricane and distortions in biographical films in general, stating "those who seek the truth about a man from the film of his life might as well seek it from his loving grandmother. ... The Hurricane is not a documentary but a parable."

Some biopics purposely stretch the truth. Confessions of a Dangerous Mind was based on game show host Chuck Barris' widely debunked, yet still popular, memoir of the same name, in which he claimed to be a CIA agent, and Kafka incorporated both the life of author Franz Kafka and the surreal aspects of his fiction.

The Errol Flynn film They Died With Their Boots On tells the story of Custer but is highly romanticised.

Casting can be controversial for biographical films. Some felt that Anthony Hopkins should not have played Richard Nixon in Nixon because of a lack of resemblance between the two. Also, some Selena fans objected to the casting of Jennifer Lopez in a biopic about her because Lopez is Puerto Rican and Selena was Mexican-American.

Copyright: This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Biographical film".