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Frank Film Club with Maisie Williams

Maestro: getting onscreen ageing so wrong and so right

Season 5, Ep. 16

This week we watch Maestro, a film where Bradley Cooper convincingly ages before your eyes across four decades. We address his biographical film about American conductor Leonard Bernstein. In this episode, we learn a lot about Cooper’s career and directing techniques. We finally learn what a conductor actually does. We discuss whether the apparent 6 years of prep goes unnoticed as far as the performances are concerned. And we recoil in horror at Carey Mulligans lack of ageing.


Maestro (2023) follows Leonard Bernstein as he begins a tumultuous relationship with actress Felicia Montealegre, upturning both of their lives. It stars Bradley Cooper, Carey Mulligan, Maya Hawke, Sarah Silverman. It is available to stream on Netflix.


A full transcript of this episode can be found here.


Keep up to date with us on Instagram, TikTok, Letterboxd and YouTube: @frankfilmclub

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