Review: 'Maestro' Marvels at a Queer Music Icon with Virtuoso Filmmaking

While I've always liked Bradley Cooper, my estimation of him as an artist has grown. From his excellent and wrenching directorial debut "A Star Is Born" to his emotive and nuanced voice acting as Rocket in "Guardians of the Galaxy," Cooper perpetually shows his artistic range and versatility. A fan of iconic musician, composer, and conductor Leonard Bernstein, Cooper wanted to honor his life and love story.

Bradley Cooper directed, co-wrote with Josh Singer, and stars in "Maestro." The biopic centers on Leonard Bernstein's relationship with his wife, actress Felicia Montelegre Cohn, portrayed by Carey Mulligan. While scenes show him composing, conducting, and teaching, their marriage remains the focus.

Premiering at the 2023 Venice International Film Festival, "Maestro" is ambitious and excellently crafted, a marvel of virtuoso filmmaking filled with unique flourishes that transcends the often-formulaic structure of biopics.

The film contains moments of exquisite brilliance: An astonishing and riveting six-minute scene of Cooper conducting – a skill that took him six years to master – as Bernstein passionately and jubilantly conducting an orchestra in Ely Cathedral; a whimsical dream dance sequence (evocative of the dream ballet in "Singin' in the Rain,") set to Bernstein's score for "On the Town."

Bradley Cooper fully immerses himself in the role, wringing every drop out of his bravura performance. "Lenny" is gregarious, exuberant, and larger than life. He vacillates between jubilance and introspective somberness, a "tortured artist" questioning his purpose.

Carey Mulligan, who's excellently subtle at exuding vulnerability, has the arguably more challenging role, as hers is a less ostentatious role. She spectacularly conveys her character's inner emotions. But Bradley Cooper as actor and director makes sure to depict quieter moments. Their love feels palpable and authentic.

In one noteworthy and heart-wrenching scene, Bernstein talks to his oldest daughter, Jamie (Maya Hawke), regarding rumors she heard about his sexual orientation. He lies to assuage Felicia, who asks him to keep their arrangement – that he has clandestine relationships with men outside of their marriage – secret. Jamie looks and expresses relief, perhaps due to homophobia or perhaps not wanting to believe that her parents' marriage diverges from her notion of them. Cooper brilliantly and deftly conveys his wounds, the inner pain of hiding his queer identity, while maintaining a facade of contentment.

Some have understandably been dismayed due to Bradley Cooper not being Jewish and donning a prosthetic nose. "Maestro" broaches his Jewish identity subtly, as Lenny wears a sweatshirt with Hebrew writing, and overtly in a scene addressing anti-Semitism. A Russian Jewish friend advises him to change his last name in order to more easily achieve acclaim as a musician. Felicia supportively tells him that a shortened last name just wouldn't have the same panache.

Matthew Libathique's stunning, kinetic cinematography (he also shot Cooper's "A Star is Born") features bold, fluid shots that zoom through hallways and over doors, evoking the excitement and grandeur of a moment like Lenny conducting at Carnegie Hall. But the cinematography remains restrained at times in wide shots, such as a long static shot of Felicia leaving an event that conveys her discontent and emotional isolation.

The cinematography also shifts in aspect ratios and from 35mm black-and-white, like a film from the Golden Age of Hollywood, to color. Cooper said in the press notes that it was an intentional reflection of time progressing, but to me it also coincides with Lenny and Felicia's shifting relationship dynamics.

The first time I heard Leonard Bernstein's music was his hypnotic and propulsive score in "West Side Story." The score for "Maestro" fittingly consists of music Bernstein composed and conducted.

While telling their love story, "Maestro" explores Bernstein's queerness and how it impacted his marriage to Felicia. In the film, Felicia tells Lenny's sister, Shirley (Sarah Silverman), that she's perfectly comfortable sacrificing to make Lenny happy, a sacrifice that eventually takes an emotional toll. Felicia believes her husband is gay, later telling Lenny that he needs to be true to himself or "you'll end up an old lonely queen." But in a scene running into his ex (played by out gay actor Matt Bomer), whose character is now (seemingly reluctantly) married to a woman, Lenny gleefully says to their baby, "I slept with both of your parents."

Some people have declared Bernstein as gay, while others have said he was bisexual. While Bernstein didn't explicitly declare his sexual orientation, perhaps preferring to resist labels, "Maestro" captures the nuances of queer identity and sexual fluidity. Seeing queer historic people in film is important for LGBTQ+ representation and queer history, reifying that we've always been here.

While Lenny and Felicia separate for a period of time, they eventually reunite as Felicia falls ill, bringing them closer together. "Maestro" is a moving love story, albeit an unconventional one, of a couple perpetually devoted to each other, supporting and uplifting one another in art and life.

"Maestro" opens in select theaters Wednesday, November 22, 2023 and streams on Netflix Wednesday, December 20, 2023.