The Power of the Biopic

20 January 2009

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If the Academy like anything on the run up to award season is the biopic picture, a film genre that seems to have dominated cinema screens of late.

And this week that trend continues as the release of the Gus Van Sant's Milk starring Oscar winner Sean Penn. Penn takes on the role of American politician Harvey Milk, a gay rights activist and the first openly gay man to be elected to public in California.

His victory was not just a victory for gay rights; he forged coalitions across the political spectrum. From senior citizens to union workers, Harvey Milk changed the very nature of what it means to be a fighter for human rights and became, before his untimely death in 1978, a hero for all Americans.

For his performance Penn has won a string of best actor gongs during the awards season including at the New York Critics Awards, Boston Film Critics Awards and the Los Angeles Film Critics Awards.

He was also nominated at the Golden Globes losing out to Mickey Rourke's performance in The Wrestler, it looks like a two horse race between the two actors at the Oscars.

But Milk isn't the only biopic picture that has found some success in recent months as Steven Soderbergh's two film epic based on Che Guevara won over the critics on the festival circuit last year. And although it was expected that Benicio Del Toro could be recognised with an Oscar nod for his performance that now looks unlikely.

But it's political bionics that have been popular on the run up to this year's awards season with the likes of W, Oliver Stone's look at George W Bush, and Frost/Nixon by Ron Howard.

Frost/Nixon is the electrifying battle between Richard Nixon, the disgraced president with a legacy to save, and David Frost, a jet-setting television personality with a name to make, in the untold story of the historic encounter that changed both.

Despite positive reviews it has been criticised for a string of historical inaccuracies but has featured heavily in award nominations, it was however left empty handed at last week's Golden Globes.

But in recent years the biopic picture has enjoyed major success at the box office as well as with the Academy some the most popular include Ray, Walk the Line and The Pursuit of Happiness.

There were Best Actor gongs for Jamie Foxx and Philip Seymour Hoffman for their roles as Ray Charles and Truman Capote as well as nominations for Joaquin Phoenix and Will Smith for their portrayals of Johnny Cash and Chris Gardener.

The same can also be said for the women as in the last eight Oscar ceremonies six Best Actress Oscars have been won by actresses portraying real women.

Last year Marion Cotillard won her Oscar for her role as Edith Piaf in La Vie En Rose and Helen Mirren won for The Queen the year before and in 2005 it was Reese Witherspoon's performance as June Carter that won over Academy voters.

While Kate Winslet famously sad in an episode of Extras to win an Oscar appear in a Holocaust movie in reality if you want an Oscar star in a biopic picture.

Milk and Frost/Nixon are released 23rd January

FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw

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