Discuss: Who's In Need of a Biopic?
Big screen biopics will always be a Hollywood staple. They're a tricky genre to master, as they can end up mawkish Oscar bait, whitewashed fluff, fictional and fun, or grueling epics that leave no stone unturned. But at their best, they can entertain and educate without dangerous inaccuracies -- and anything that gets people digging into history or literature is fine by me.
I don't know what the committee process is for picking who gets a biopic and when, but it seems like there's a lot of individuals who are long overdue for the cinematic treatment. So, inspired by the news that Steve McQueen and Ernest Hemingway are getting theirs, I thought I'd pose the question to our readers.
I'll kick off the discussion with a few picks of my own. My controversial one would be Lev Trotsky, who was a college obsession of mine partly due to the above photo. He wasn't the most pleasant of people, but his life reads like a thriller. Escapes from Siberia, an early life spent in revolutions and on the run, the major role he played in 1917, and his gruesome assassination would make a pretty amazing movie.
The feminist in me would love to see Mary Wollstonecraft get her due. Not only should young women be reminded that she existed, but isn't she just the kind of strong and complex woman sorely lacking in a He's Just Not That Into You world? It's worth making just for the cinematography of her Scandinavian adventures.
Literary biopics often end up the fluffiest. My first pick would be Robert Graves, but it's a dangerous one -- I could see someone adapting his life into a lot of heaving sex and WWI trench scenes. Perhaps J.R.R. Tolkien and the Inklings would be safer?
Share yours in the comments -- or we can at least trade the titles of really good biographies!
I don't know what the committee process is for picking who gets a biopic and when, but it seems like there's a lot of individuals who are long overdue for the cinematic treatment. So, inspired by the news that Steve McQueen and Ernest Hemingway are getting theirs, I thought I'd pose the question to our readers.
I'll kick off the discussion with a few picks of my own. My controversial one would be Lev Trotsky, who was a college obsession of mine partly due to the above photo. He wasn't the most pleasant of people, but his life reads like a thriller. Escapes from Siberia, an early life spent in revolutions and on the run, the major role he played in 1917, and his gruesome assassination would make a pretty amazing movie.
The feminist in me would love to see Mary Wollstonecraft get her due. Not only should young women be reminded that she existed, but isn't she just the kind of strong and complex woman sorely lacking in a He's Just Not That Into You world? It's worth making just for the cinematography of her Scandinavian adventures.
Literary biopics often end up the fluffiest. My first pick would be Robert Graves, but it's a dangerous one -- I could see someone adapting his life into a lot of heaving sex and WWI trench scenes. Perhaps J.R.R. Tolkien and the Inklings would be safer?
Share yours in the comments -- or we can at least trade the titles of really good biographies!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
2-04-2009 @ 2:26PM
Alex said...
Leni Riefenstahl. Hitler's film maker. Of course an incredibly controversial woman, and I'm sure this project would be incredibly controversial for anyone involved.
Reply
2-04-2009 @ 2:35PM
NP said...
Emma Goldman
Reply
2-04-2009 @ 2:43PM
Pat Campbell said...
Chris Farley.
He had such an interesting life...
I'm working on my own script based on the the Biography The Chris Farley Show.
Go read it, it's really interesting
Reply
2-04-2009 @ 3:13PM
MCW said...
Thought about reading it when it came out, but realized that I didn't need to inflict depression upon myself. I'd rather just relive his comedy through his movies.
Nothing against your idea though... I think that would definitely work as a biopic.
2-04-2009 @ 2:50PM
Brian said...
Vincent van Gogh
Reply
2-04-2009 @ 3:16PM
MCW said...
Barack Obama is pretty obvious for this one. People act so ridiculous with the memorabilia/books/stickers for a guy they barely even know, so it'd be obvious to cash in right now and make a movie about him. Not that I'm saying he's "In need of one", but movie studios are "In need of money", so I'm sure someone is working on this.
Reply
2-04-2009 @ 3:29PM
kevin said...
Obama
Steve McQueen
Zach De La Rocha (Rage Against the Machine)
That kid who led the student rebellion movement in the 60's.
Wes Borland
Reply
2-04-2009 @ 3:53PM
Sara said...
It is interesting you suggest a Mary Wollstonecraft biopic. Personally, I've been wanting her famous sci-fi/horror writer daughter Mary Shelley's biopic to be done like a darker, gothic version of Finding Neverland(her mother's death at childbirth and her own children dying put her into depression and into writing Frankenstein). That wasn't the only interesting part of her life, if you read her Wiki page, you will see how dramatic and exciting her life was. She had to elope with her radical poet of a lover, she married him to help gain custody of his children after his wife's tragic suicide, she helped her two female friends to impersonate as a straight couple, she contracted small-pox when visiting them in France and lost her beauty, her husband died at sea at a young age, she was rumored to have a lesbian affair after that and she was blackmailed in her later years, with the blackmailer being foiled in a very thrilling way. Some of those events could be separated and expanded into different movies of their own.
Reply
2-04-2009 @ 3:59PM
andy H said...
Why on earth has no one made a movie about James Brown. Seriously...dude was one of the most influential musicians EVER and had one of the most amazing lives. And the one sheet for it would be awesome if it was his mug shot. this interview alone would be worth a movie.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tfNhL_R_rI
Reply
2-04-2009 @ 3:57PM
Kurt said...
Alvin York, or maybe John Brown
Reply
2-04-2009 @ 4:13PM
DialDforDan said...
Tesla. Not only did he have an amazing impact on society, his life was borderline unbelievable. Between death ray designs and vicious rivalries with contemporaries there's no shortage of materials. And enough books have been written about him to find some good material.
Or you can take it the other direction and go 'young Tesla' a la Mel Brooks.
Reply
2-04-2009 @ 4:29PM
Eric said...
John O'Neill.
He was an FBI agent who worked with the Joint Terrorism Task Force in NYC following the WTC bombing in '93 and was an integral part in capturing the mastermind behind it. He later became chief of counterterrorism for the FBI. In 1998, he turned his focus on Osama Bin Laden and was constantly fighting with bureaucrats over American security. He was the chief investigator of the bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen. He eventually quit in frustration to take over as head of security at the World Trade Center. His first day on the job was September 10, 2001. He died the next day. There's a movie there. I know it.
Reply
2-04-2009 @ 4:40PM
Mike said...
I'd like to see a River Phoenix biopic, but I'm such a fan it would have to be almost perfect in order for it to not be a letdown. The biggest problem would be, as it is with most biopics, casting someone who could carry the role. If the actor doesn't work, you end up with a movie of the week.
But he did lead such an interesting life, full of enough conflict and lessons to comprise a feature film. Even if it could be done right, the family is so private I doubt they'd ever agree to the project in the first place.
Reply
2-04-2009 @ 5:17PM
TrueTruthiness said...
Freddie Mercury. His vocals changed the music landscape, and there hasn't be so powerful a voice since.
Reply
2-05-2009 @ 7:08AM
Costas said...
I would love to see the following biopics being made:
Freddie Mercury- Probably played by Johnny Depp or Sacha Baron Cohen
Jimi Hendrix- Probably played by Andre Benjamin, Will Smith, Jamie Foxx, or Mos Def.
Janis Joplin- Probably played by Lili Taylor, Joss Stone.
2-05-2009 @ 2:11PM
Clark Parker said...
I'd kill to see a Freddy Mercury Biopic.
And I'd suggest Nelson Carbonell to play him, while I'm at it.
2-07-2009 @ 6:20PM
TrueTruthiness said...
I love the fact that I suggested Freddie and now they're running a pic of him on the main page. Great to see the reader influence. ^.^
2-09-2009 @ 4:55PM
Drewtheg said...
I think i remember hearing a while back that Sacha Baron Cohen was going to playing Freddie Mercury
2-04-2009 @ 7:11PM
dlh said...
JK Rowling.... I kid, I kid, but you know someone somewhere is pitching it. My real choice would be Elia Kazan. Probably tough to do, as he still opens a whole lot of old wounds in Hollywood, but it could be fascinating.
Reply
2-04-2009 @ 8:28PM
Max Hill said...
Dionysus
Mark Gonzalez
Clutchy Hopkins (whoever he may be)
Reply