The director Bradley Cooper called the “best auteur” of the 1970s
After collaborating with the likes of Paul Thomas Anderson and Guillermo del Toro, Bradley Cooper is back at the top of the industry with Maestro. A self-directed project that looked like it was destined for Oscar glory ever since it was first announced, Cooper has perfectly capitalised on the biopic wave that always receives a warm welcome at the Academy Awards.
Picking up nominations in major categories like ‘Best Picture’ and ‘Best Actor’, the movie revolves around the life of the renowned composer Leonard Bernstein (played by Cooper himself) and the bond that he shared with his wife Felicia Montealegre (Carey Mulligan). Although many have already described it as the perfect Oscar bait selection in the running this year, Maestro has continued to garner attention from fans and critics.
Cooper previously found success as a director with A Star Is Born, but Maestro offers further insight into the actor’s approach to filmmaking. During a conversation with Rotten Tomatoes, Cooper revealed the directors who had shaped his ideas about the cinematic medium. The first name on his list was one of the pioneers of the New Hollywood movement during the 1970s, Martin Scorsese and Life Lessons, his contribution to New York Stories.
The actor said: “He’s on top of his game stylistically, Scorsese, melding heavy style with story without it ever feeling like you’re just watching a director, you know, show off. I never felt that. I’d be curious to see what he thinks of that movie or how much time he spent doing it, but to me, it just felt like kind of an effortless exercise in his talent.”
While Scorsese is among his favourites, one of his contemporaries remains at the forefront of Cooper’s mind whenever he’s working on a project, especially as a director. That artist is none other than the great Francis Ford Coppola.
Cooper explained: “The Conversation is just, I think, a movie made by one of the best auteur directors of the ’70s and ’80s. To me, I think the reason that I would choose that one is sound editing. Even though Hackman does play a sound guy, the sound of the movie is really innovative. You have conversations that are happening in the foreground that you can barely hear, and yet that’s the main conversation, so they play around a lot with where they put the microphone. It’s really awesome.”
The Conversation is undoubtedly one of Coppola’s finest achievements, constructing an atmosphere of paranoia and anxiety that is mesmerisingly palpable. Watch the trailer below.
