Biography films best
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The 28 greatest biopics in cinema history
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12 Years a Slave (2013)
Francois Duhamel - © 2013 - Fox strålkastare Pictures
2013’s “12 Years a Slave” is the kind of film that couldn’t possibly fail. From its outstanding cast (Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Lupita Nyong'o, Sarah Paulson, Paul Dano, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Giamatti, and Brad Pitt) to its director (Steve McQueen) to its screenplay (by John Ridley) to its music (courtesy of Hans Zimmer), “12 Years a Slave” succeeded in every aspect and won three Oscars. Although the film isn't that old, it's based on a memoir of the same name that was written all the way back in 1853 by Solomon Northup.
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A Beautiful Mind (2001)
Universal/Getty Images
Based on the life of Nobel Laureate John Nash and a 1998 book of the same name by Sylvia Nasar, “A Beautiful Mind” explores the battle that was fought within Nash’s own head, which pitted his brilliance aga
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The bio-pic is a genre of extremes. The best ones share a uniquely powerful artistic authority, but merely ordinary ones are truly disheartening. The trouble isn’t only that of inflated prestige; bio-pics are disproportionately prominent during awards season and therefore ballyhooed nearly to oblivion. The form’s peculiar place in the art of movies is inseparable from the reasons for its exceptional prominence in the business. For producers and studios considering which projects to green-light, bio-pics check a lot of boxes. The protagonists are people who audiences are already familiar with and interested in. (J. Robert Oppenheimer may be the exception that proves the rule; he’s less famous than Freddie Mercury, but the atomic bomb is more so.) And the illustrious people who inspire bio-pics offer great showcases for actors. That attracts stars, which in turn attracts audiences. Bio-pics bathe the producers, the studios, and the filmmakers in the reflected renown of their protagoni
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Every Biopic That Won Best Picture at the Oscars, Ranked
Love them or hate them - or take a third option and fall somewhere in between - you can't deny that movies based on real-life people tend to do well come Oscar season. There's something about seeing actors recreating historical events and portraying figures from history that scratches an itch for many, viewers and voters alike. It's common to see actors nominated or winning for accurately portraying a real person on screen, and sometimes the films themselves also win big on Oscar night.
There are 21 Best Picture winners that can be classified as biopics, with the term used fairly loosely here to include any movie where at least the main character was a real person. As such, this disqualifies movies like Ben-Hur and Gladiator, which had fictional main characters but some others based on real-life figures, though films like Shakespeare in Love and Amadeus - which play around with history a decent