Film Files
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| Top Ten Biopics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Home Film Files |
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| 10. The Passion of Joan of Arc- In an unprecedented attempt to bring to life the flaws of mankind, director Carl Theodore Dreyer’s unwavering and graphic depiction of Joan of Arc’s last days alive. This includes the case the Catholic Church brought against her in calling her a heretic. All of this, and the film was made in 1928. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 9. Citizen Kane-The life and times of the film’s Charles Foster Kane more than resembles the exploits of William Randolph Hearst. Orson Welles’ portrayal of Hearst is so searing that Hearst himself nearly sank the film before it could reach theatres. Thank God it finally did. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 8. Gandhi- Sir Ben Kingsly is anything but kingly by the third hour of “Gandhi.” His performance called for him to lose weight, and he answered that call to the extreme. “Gandhi” also holds the record for the most extras ever used in a movie. Something like 300,000. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 7. Bonnie and Clyde- Arthur Penn’s groundbreaking film about the famous outlaws opened up an ongoing dialog about the nature of violence in the movies. Without “Bonnie and Clyde,” which was very nearly censored into remission, we would not have “The French Connection,” “The Godfather,” and a handful of other masterpieces. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 6. Amadeus- “I am a vulgar man, but I assure you, my music is not.” So says Tom Hulce in the lead as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, an irreverent and unorthodox performance that paints the renowned composer as gratuitous and childish...and brilliant. See the film not only for the performances, but also for Milos Forman’s striking style, and for the music. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 5. Raging Bull- Martin Scorsese’s hardcore direction mixed with Robert DeNiro’s layered, complex performance makes for one of the best and most important cinematic works of the 1980s. DeNiro trained to get into the shape of his real-life counterpart, boxer Jake LaMotta, and then shut down the film to gain sixty pounds to play LaMotta later in his life. That earned him an Oscar. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 4. The Passion of the Christ- Mel Gibson’s underappreciated – but not under-seen – epic chronicling the last twelve hours of Christ’s life before and during the crucifixion is not only spot on, it’s also some of the most beautiful filmmaking of this decade. Don’t believe anyone who says it’s the bloodiest movie ever made. “Dawn of the Dead” is bloodier, for instance. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3. Lawrence of Arabia- I think David Lean is the only director who could’ve possibly made a film so vast and yet also so personal, especially in 1962. The film follows T.E. Lawrence during his days in Arabia in World War I. Peter O’Toole’s passionate performance – his first on screen – put him on the fast track into movie stardom. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2. The Aviator- Martin Scorsese’s obsession with 1920s culture and filmmaking made its way to the screen in this biopic about Howard Hughes, the legendary industrialist, filmmaker, lady’s man, and aviator. Leonardo DiCaprio redeems himself for a career full of films like “The Beach” in this one brilliant performance. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 1. Patton- Speaking of brilliant performances, you may not find a better example of an actor absorbing a character than in “Patton.” George C. Scott’s accurately conceived idea of the man behind the film is complex not because Patton was such an icon, but because he was so flawed, so larger-than-life, so brilliantly strategic. No one else could’ve played this part. Not now, not forty years ago. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||