Maestro

Maestro is a 2023 American biographical drama film that centers on the relationship between American composer Leonard Bernstein and his wife Felicia Montealegre. It was directed by Bradley Cooper, from a screenplay he wrote with Josh Singer, and produced by Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, and Cooper, among others. The film stars Cooper as Bernstein alongside Carey Mulligan as Montealegre; Matt Bomer, Maya Hawke and Sarah Silverman appear in supporting roles.
Maestro premiered at the 80th Venice International Film Festival on September 2, 2023, where it was nominated for the Golden Lion but lost to Poor Things. The film had limited theatrical release on November 22, 2023, before streaming on Netflix a month later, on December 20. It received positive reviews from critics.
== Synopsis ==
The film tells the complex love story of Leonard and Felicia, a story that spans over 30 years - from the time they met in 1946 at a party and continuing through two engagements, a 25 year marriage, and three children: Jamie Bernstein, Alexander Bernstein and Nina Bernstein Simmons.
== Cast ==
* Carey Mulligan as Felicia Montealegre
* Bradley Cooper as Leonard Bernstein
* Matt Bomer as David Oppenheim
* Maya Hawke as Jamie Bernstein
* Sarah Silverman as Shirley Bernstein
* Michael Urie as Jerome Robbins
* Brian Klugman as Aaron Copland
* Gideon Glick as Tommy Cothran
* Sam Nivola as Alexander Bernstein
* Miriam Shor as Cynthia O'Neal
* Alexa Swinton as Nina Bernstein
* Josh Hamilton as John Gruen
* June Gable as Old Lady
== Production ==
=== Development ===
The project had been in development at Paramount Pictures, with Martin Scorsese initially planning to direct the film. He stepped down as director to work on The Irishman (2019), allowing Bradley Cooper to join the film in May 2018 as director and to star as Bernstein. Scorsese continued as producer alongside Steven Spielberg. Spielberg was also initially considering directing the film and had approached Cooper to star, but offered the director position to Cooper after a screening of A Star Is Born (2018). In January 2020, the project was moved to Netflix, with filming expected to begin in 2021.
=== Casting ===
In September 2020, the project was given the title Maestro, with Carey Mulligan joining the cast. It was also announced that filming would begin in the spring of 2021. In October, Jeremy Strong joined the cast as John Gruen, but later dropped out due to scheduling conflicts; he was later replaced by Josh Hamilton. In March 2022, Matt Bomer joined the cast. Bomer would be confirmed in April, with Maya Hawke also announced as being cast. In June, Sarah Silverman was announced as playing Bernstein's sister Shirley. In February 2023, Michael Urie was announced to be appearing in the film as Jerome Robbins. In April 2023, it was reported that Miriam Shor was a part of the cast.
=== Filming ===
Filming was expected to begin on April 5, 2021 in Los Angeles; however, it instead began in May 2022. Production occurred at Tanglewood between May 21 and 26, and in New York City. Filming also took place at Ely Cathedral in England between October 20 and 22.
== Release ==
Maestro premiered at the 80th Venice International Film Festival on September 2, 2023, where it was nominated for the Golden Lion. It received a gala screening as part of the New York Film Festival's spotlight program on October 2, 2023, making it the first film to hold a premiere at the new David Geffen Hall. Cooper attended the event but did not participate in the post-film Q&A due to restrictions imposed during the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. Additionally, Maestro screened at the BFI London Film Festival and closed the AFI Fest. The film was for limited theatrical release in the United States on November 22, 2023, before streaming on Netflix on December 20, 2023.
== Critical reception ==
Maestro garnered very positive reception from critics. On review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes, 81% of 96 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.6/10. The website's consensus reads: "Led by a pair of powerful performances, Maestro serves as a stirring overview of a tremendous talent's life and legacy." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 77 out of 100, based on 30 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.
BBC Culture's Nicholas Barber wrote, "Maestro confirms what was suggested by Cooper's directorial debut, A Star Is Born. He has sky-high ambitions, and he has the technical virtuosity and big-hearted sincerity to fulfil those ambitions with flair." David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter termed it a "layered examination" of a complex marriage, and particularly lauded Mulligan's "heartbreaking" performance.
=== Criticism and defense of prosthetic ===
Cooper's use of a large prosthetic nose to portray Bernstein, who was Jewish, was criticized by some as an example of "Jewface", following the release of photographs from the set of the film in May 2023 and the subsequent release of the trailer in August.
The chief television critic of The Hollywood Reporter, Daniel Fienberg, criticized in a Twitter post the casting of Cooper, along with the British gentile Mulligan as a Costa Rican-Chilean converted Jew, as "a LOT of ethnic cosplay for one movie". English Jewish actress Tracy-Ann Obermanwrote that if Cooper "can't [play the role] through the power of acting alone then don't cast him – get a Jewish actor". She felt that as Cooper had portrayed Joseph Merrick, a 19th-century British man who had severe facial deformities, without prosthetics – which would have required Cooper to spend much of each day in makeup to apply, then remove, for each night's 100-minute stage performance – "then he should be able to manage to play a Jewish man without one".
Conversely, Bernstein's children defended Cooper's use of prosthetic makeup to portray him, stating that they worked with Cooper throughout the filmmaking process and that their "dad would have been fine with it." The Anti-Defamation League noted historical media portrayal of Jews as "evil caricatures with large, hooked noses" but said that "this film, which is a biopic, ... is not that".
In September 2023, Kazu Hiro, who designed the prosthetic, said that he was surprised by the criticism but was "sorry if [he] hurt some people's feelings". He added that "our only intention" was to portray Bernstein "as authentically as possible".
== Videos ==
Maestro - Official Teaser - Netflix
Maestro - Official Trailer - Netflix
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