History and Conventions of a Biographical Genre

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History and Conventions of a Biographical Genre Angharad Wilkins

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Transcript of History and Conventions of a Biographical Genre

Page 1: History and Conventions of a Biographical Genre

History and Conventions of a Biographical Genre

Angharad Wilkins

Page 2: History and Conventions of a Biographical Genre

Introduction

Biographical began as a popular film genre after 1980. It is also referred to as a “biopic”. The genre is slightly different to a “true story” movie or “historical” film as it strives to effectively tell the story of someone’s life.

Page 3: History and Conventions of a Biographical Genre

When did it appear as a ‘Film’ Genre?

Beginning in 1980, biographical films became ever more popular due largely to better film technology, allowing for improved re-creation of different time periods. The genre’s popularity was also boosted by the critical success of films such as Frida (2002), Ali (2001) and Man on the Moon (1999).

Page 4: History and Conventions of a Biographical Genre

Controversy…

One of the huge and ongoing issues with biographical films is the overall honesty and accuracy displayed on screen. Despite high audience expectations of truth and accuracy this has not always been the case. Liberties have certainly been taken over the years by altering events to make them more dramatic, or to make them better fit the overall story. In some cases, time itself has been compressed to keep a story’s timeline more exciting.

Page 5: History and Conventions of a Biographical Genre

Controversy continued…

Many of these theatrical "stretching's" of biographical truth have resulted in lawsuits against film biographers. For example, a team of Greek Lawyers threatened to sue the producers of Alexander (2004) for implying that Alexander the Great was in fact bisexual. Boxing fans were enraged when Max Baer was portrayed as a villain in Cinderella Man (2005).

Page 6: History and Conventions of a Biographical Genre

The Highest Rated Biographical Films to Date

According to IMDB:

1) Schindler’s List (1993)2) Goodfellas (1990)3) Untouchable (2011)4) The Pianist (2002)5) Lawrence of Arabia (1962)6) Braveheart (1995)7) Amadeus (1984)8) Raging Bull (1980)9) Downfall (2004)10) The Elephant Man (1980)

Page 7: History and Conventions of a Biographical Genre

Biopic – Music

1978-PresentExcluding documentaries

Courtesy of http://www.boxofficemojo.com/genres/chart/?id=musicbio.htm

Page 8: History and Conventions of a Biographical Genre

Rank Title (click to view)

Studio Lifetime Gross /Theaters Opening / Theaters Date

1

Walk the Line(Johnny Cash & June Carter)

Fox$119,519,40

23,160 $22,347,341 2,961 11/18/05

2

Ray(Ray Charles)

Uni. $75,331,600 2,474 $20,039,730 2,006 10/29/04

3

Coal Miner's Daughter

(Loretta Lynn)

Uni. $67,182,787 - $3,366,443 437 3/7/80

4La Bamba

(Ritchie Valens)

Col. $54,215,416 1,251 $5,651,990 1,251 7/24/87

5Amadeus

(Mozart)

Orion $51,973,029 802 $505,276 25 9/21/84

6

What's Love Got to Do with It

(Tina Turner)

BV $39,100,956 1,100 $1,222,718 58 6/11/93

7 Notorious (2009)

FoxS $36,843,682 1,641 $20,497,596 1,638 1/16/09

8

Shine(David Helfgott)

FL $35,892,330 1,050 $162,179 7 11/22/96

9Selena

(Selena)

WB $35,281,794 1,873 $11,615,722 1,850 3/21/97

10

The Doors(Jim Morrison)

TriS $34,416,893 1,236 $9,151,800 840 3/1/91

Page 9: History and Conventions of a Biographical Genre

11 The Soloist P/DW$31,720,15

82,090 $9,716,458 2,024 4/24/09

12

The Buddy Holly Story

(Buddy Holly)

Col.$14,363,40

0- n/a - 5/19/78

13

Great Balls of Fire!

(Jerry Lee Lewis)

Orion$13,741,06

01,417 $3,807,986 1,417 6/30/89

14De-Lovely(Cole Porter)

UA$13,456,63

3410 $292,963 16 7/2/04

15

Why Do Fools Fall in Love?

(Frankie Lymon)

WB$12,461,77

31,377 $3,946,382 1,369 8/28/98

16La Vie en Rose

(Edith Piaf)

PicH$10,301,70

6178 $179,848 8 6/8/07

17

Immortal Beloved

(Beethoven)

Sony $9,914,409 463 $120,108 4 12/16/94

18

Sweet Dreams

(Patsy Cline)

TriS $9,085,049 778 $2,161,284 778 10/4/85

19

Cadillac Records

(Chess Records artists)

Sony $8,195,551 701 $3,445,559 687 12/5/08

20

American Hot Wax

(Alan Freed)

Par. $7,932,571 - n/a - 3/17/78

Page 10: History and Conventions of a Biographical Genre

11 The Soloist P/DW$31,720,15

82,090 $9,716,458 2,024 4/24/09

12

The Buddy Holly Story

(Buddy Holly)

Col.$14,363,40

0- n/a - 5/19/78

13

Great Balls of Fire!

(Jerry Lee Lewis)

Orion$13,741,06

01,417 $3,807,986 1,417 6/30/89

14

De-Lovely(Cole Porter)

UA$13,456,63

3410 $292,963 16 7/2/04

15

Why Do Fools Fall in Love?

(Frankie Lymon)

WB$12,461,77

31,377 $3,946,382 1,369 8/28/98

16

La Vie en Rose

(Edith Piaf)

PicH$10,301,70

6178 $179,848 8 6/8/07

17

Immortal Beloved

(Beethoven)

Sony $9,914,409 463 $120,108 4 12/16/94

18

Sweet Dreams

(Patsy Cline)

TriS $9,085,049 778 $2,161,284 778 10/4/85

Page 11: History and Conventions of a Biographical Genre

19

Cadillac Records

(Chess Records artists)

Sony $8,195,551 701 $3,445,559 687 12/5/08

20American Hot Wax

(Alan Freed)

Par. $7,932,571 - n/a - 3/17/78

21El Cantante(Hector Lavoe)

PicH $7,556,712 542 $3,202,035 542 8/3/07

22

Beyond the Sea

(Bobby Darin)

Lions $6,318,709 383 $45,264 6 12/17/04

23Topsy-Turvy(Gilbert & Sullivan)

USA $6,208,548 224 $31,387 2 12/15/99

24

Hilary and Jackie

(Jacqueline du Pre)

Oct. $4,912,892 300 $92,956 6 12/30/98

25I'm Not There(Bob Dylan)

Wein. $4,017,609 149 $730,819 130 11/21/07

26

The Runaways

(The Runaways)

App. $3,573,673 244 $805,115 244 3/19/10

27Sid and Nancy

(Sid Vicious)

Gold. $2,826,523 43 $50,829 2 10/17/86

28Backbeat(The Beatles)

Gram. $2,392,589 211 $126,740 10 4/15/94

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29 Bird(Charlie Parker) WB $2,181,286 93 $27,116 1 9/30/88

30

Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould(Glenn Gould)

Gold. $1,319,521 - n/a - 11/26/93

31

24 Hour Party People(Tony Wilson)

MGM $1,184,096 37 $34,940 2 8/9/02

32

Ma vie en cinemascope All. $1,163,648 - n/a - 12/17/04

33

Control(Ian Curtis)

Wein. $872,252 29 $27,674 1 10/10/07

34

Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life MBox $233,007 19 $25,189 3 8/31/11

35

What We Do Is Secret(The Germs)

PArch $58,776 7 $5,888 1 8/8/08

36

Stoned(Brian Jones)

Scre. $38,922 6 $15,409 6 3/24/06

TOTAL (All Movies):$725,788,96

2- - - -

AVERAGE (All Movies): $20,160,805 675 $3,429,243 573 -

TOTAL(Wide Releases Only):

$557,778,693

- - - -

AVERAGE(Wide Releases Only):

$39,841,3351,49

6$10,216,53

21,52

9-

Page 13: History and Conventions of a Biographical Genre

References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_biographical_films

http://www.fun-film-talk.com/biography-genre.htm

http://www.imdb.com/list/-d9_cd38q_Q/

http://www.imdb.com/search/title?genres=biography&title_type=feature&num_votes=1000,&sort=user_rating,desc