The Power of the Biopic

10 months ago 20th Jan 14:18

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.