Must See Film: 'Maestro' by Bradley Cooper

Magnificent praise of the music and the passion which animated the musician Leonard Berstein.

Let's admit: we didn't expect it, not having been totally seduced by his previous production, a remake of the Hollywood classic, A Star is Born. By tackling, like a mountain, the life of Leonard Berstein, composer (mainly known for his scores accompanying One Day in New York , co-directed by Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly in 1949, and of course West Side Story, signed by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins in 1961), as well as a substantial work for orchestra, chamber music and choir and for piano, conductor, at the head of the most renowned ensembles in the world (Philharmonic of New York, Israel Symphony Orchestra, Vienna, etc.), Bradley Cooper did not lack ambition. Also a great teacher, Berstein was keen to pass on his knowledge and his love of music, presenting on television from 1958 to 1972 a program welcoming young musicians - and even, in a moment of absolute dubbing, for the documentary Inside Pop: The Rock Revolution (1966) the disturbed and wonderful composer-singer of the Beach Boys, Brian Wilson, or through teaching. Capturing his rise, his complete dedication to his art, without sinking into emphasis, or illustrative hagiography, was already no small thing. Bradley Cooper magnificently films the flame of creative passion, with a palpable, sensitive love - while playing himself, in a stunning interpretation of his character. His staging seems in perfect harmony with the essence of the work of a conductor: mastery of nuances, tempi, withdrawals and flights, making emotions blow in volutes or gusts. As if that were not enough, Leonard Bernstein's private life also offered delicate material to manipulate: seductive, bisexual (at a time when it is an understatement to say that living openly one's sexual identity was not obvious) , father of three children, born from his marriage to Felicia (Carey Mulligan, perfect), whom he accompanied until his death. This too, Cooper films with tact - without false modesty either, staging as naturally as possible his exuberant gluttony for life - sensual, artistic. Plastically splendid, especially in its second act, with astonishing chromatic richness, with a musical sense of scenography, vibrant, almost animal, tinged with a romantic and dramatic almost operatic patina. From a film about passion, Cooper has made a moving work, whose sincere love for music proves magnificently contagious.