After leaving audiences in awe with his directorial debut, A Star is Born, Bradley Cooper is back behind (and in front of) the camera with Maestro. The Netflix film is a ballad to the life and loves of legendary composer Leonard Bernstein.
The project is composed of an all-star cast, which includes Cooper as Bernstein, Carey Mulligan as Felicia Cohn Montealegre, Matt Bomer as David Oppenheim, Maya Hawke as Jamie Bernstein, and Sarah Silverman as Shirley Bernstein.
Joining Cooper on this composition are producers Martin Scorcese and Steven Spielberg, who recently reimagined Bernstein’s West Side Story.
From the opening scene, the visuals are thoughtful, cinematic, and artistic.
Cooper artfully uses color to indicate the passing of time. When the film opens in the eighties, everything is in full vibrant color, but as Bernstein recollects his debut at the New York Philharmonic, the visuals jump to a high contrast black and white.
Cooper’s attention to the visuals is all over the film. At the beginning of Maestro, Bernstein wakes up in a loft apartment above Carnegie Hall. As the light peaks through drawn curtains, it creates the illusion of a theatrical show curtain before Bernstein rips them open in elation.
Another stunning transition shows Mulligan passing from an empty playhouse stage to a filled Broadway theater. The cut happens right as she passes Cooper, who stands in the foreground. The clean transition shows a progression of time and career as Felicia finds success in becoming an actress.
Special mention should also be given to Kazu Hiro’s visual contributions to the film. As the Prosthetics Makeup designer, he transformed Cooper and guided the viewer through each era of Bernstein’s storied life. Graying hair, creasing skin, and drooping neck muscles illustrate his life’s progression. Hiro’s design focuses on the smallest yet vital details, like yellowing teeth from a lifetime of smoking.
From Cooper’s depiction, Bernstein had great love for everyone around him, including his wife Felicia who passed before him due to metastasized breast cancer. However, the composer seemed to relish living as a tortured artist who never had enough in his life or career. The film beautifully illustrates this as Bernstein’s shadow dances over Felicia, who stands side-stage during a performance.
Despite their love and support for each other, Bernstein’s extramarital affairs with the men in his circle were ultimately the demise of their marriage. In a conversation with Shirley at the Park Plaza, Felicia shares “I’ve always known who he is…It’s my own arrogance to think I could survive on what he could give.”
It is clear throughout the film that Cooper has taken much care in telling the story of Bernstein. However, the film could have used some editing. Clocking in just over two hours, the film drags on at a slow tempo that contrasts the quick dialogues. Scenes that feel like they should have been crescendos feel like ordinary moments.
Maestro is a visual work of art, but as a whole, it didn’t hit all the right notes.