Composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein (Bradley Cooper, in a performance so expansive and exuberant that it easily upstages that controversial prosthetic nose) was a man of contradictions. And for Cooper, in his second outing as a director (after A Star Is Born), it’s this sense of perpetually warring sides to Bernstein’s psyche that proves to be central in his approach to this biopic. In a step up in terms of ambition and bravura, Cooper directs with a gusto and showmanship to match that of Bernstein at his most fevered and ecstatic. This style of film-making can feel overbearing and ostentatious, and as such it won’t be for everyone, but there is much to admire here – in particular Carey Mulligan’s career-best performance as Bernstein’s wife, the actor Felicia Montealegre – and, of course, the heart-swelling, all-consuming music that sweeps through the drama in waves.
With its nonlinear structure, Maestro feels a little like a scrapbook of life moments – glittering career achievements; crackling explosions of domestic tension – and Cooper keeps up a zesty, kinetic energy throughout. It’s another way in which Bernstein’s restless essence is captured in the storytelling. For the most part, though, the picture is all about the conflicting dualities at the heart of this complicated man, which Cooper smartly reflects in the contrast between black-and-white segments and the rich, saturated colour scenes; in the tight, boxy aspect ratio of the early scenes compared with the wide-open opportunities of later life; and in the framing that places Leonard and Felicia together in the same room but also worlds apart.
