Review: Maestro

Image courtesy of Netflix.

Bradley Cooper's second foray into directing - following 2018's "A Star is Born" update - at first feels like a standard biopic in its stylish portrayal of the life of legendary conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein (also played by Cooper in makeup that at times makes him semi-unrecognizable). Its early scenes briefly depict Bernstein's rise after he is called upon to lead the New York Philharmonic orchestra when its conductor takes ill. 

However, once Bernstein - who has affairs with men and doesn't try too hard to hide this from anyone - meets Felicia Montealegre (Carey Mulligan), the story becomes more interested in their relationship and transitions, to an extent, into an examination of how much a person will tolerate to continue to be married to a great artist (in this sense, it's similar to Paul Thomas Anderson's "Phantom Thread") and how two people live their lives - sometimes uncomfortably - in the spotlight.

The film opens with an older Bernstein at a piano being recorded by a film crew. He makes a reference to his wife and how often he thinks of her. Despite his affairs with men and his occasionally flaunting them in plain sight of her, it's obvious that Bernstein loves Felicia, who is in many ways the guiding light for his life and career.

The film's early black and white scenes are so convincing that one might believe they are watching a film from the 1940s if they didn't know better. The later scenes set in the 1950s and 1960s have a glorious Technicolor vibe to them, and nearly each frame of the film is gorgeous. 

As a director, Cooper has a great eye for visuals that stick around long after they have faded from the screen. One that has remained in my mind is the floating by of a massive balloon in the Macy's Day Parade that passes by Bernstein's window as he stands alone following a fight with his wife. It gave me the impression of a character who can be lonely even while being surrounded by people who fight for his attention.

Although the film is not meant to be an all-encompassing biopic and its focus is on Felicia and Leonard's marriage and her discomfort with his not-so-well-hidden affairs, we don't learn a lot about Bernstein otherwise. We hear snippets of "On the Town" and "West Side Story," and there's a particularly well-shot scene in which he conducts the London Symphony Orchestra's performance of Mahler's "Resurrection Symphony No. 2" at the Ely Cathedral in the early 1970s; however, Bernstein as a character is often kept at a distance.

Despite this slightly underdeveloped sense of his character - Mulligan's Felicia feels much more developed and her performance, most notably a monologue at a restaurant while dining with a friend, is stellar - "Maestro" is still an often exquisitely shot and engaging film about a legendary figure. 

It's obvious that a lot of care and effort - Cooper apparently spent years learning how to conduct to prepare for the film - went into it, and it's further proof of Cooper's abilities not only in front of the camera, but also in the director's seat.