Best Biographical Movies - Part 10
Posted on 1 Sep 00:00
This tenth article of this series discusses seven more of the best biographical movies.
Plot: The film depicts the group of the legendary Irish rock band,U2, and consists of Bono, Adam Clayton, The Edge, and Larry Mullen Jr. The movie follows them as they begin the North American leg of their concert tour to boost their acclaimed album.‘The Joshua Tree.’ During their concert tour, U2 takes time to visit and spend time at monumental sites with musical importance, including Sun Studio in Memphis, Tenn, and Elvis Presley's Graceland. The band also decides to spend time in the recording studio where they work producing covers for classic rock records and new songs. Their tour involves working with guests, including blues guitarist B.B. King and Harlem's New Voices of Freedom gospel choir.
Director: Phil Jounou.
Main Cast: The Edge, Larry Mullen, B.B. King, Bob Dylan, U2, and Harlem's New Voices of Freedom gospel choir.
Commercial Performance: Unknown.
Awards and Nominations: This movie won one award and one nomination. During the MTV Video Music Awards (VMA) held in 1989, the movie won the VMA Award for Best Video from a Film (by U2 and B.B. King for When Love Comes to Town).
2. An Inconvenient Truth (2006)
Plot: This movie features Al Gore, the former vice president of the United States of America, as he enlightens his audience about an environmental menace called global warming. It consists mainly of a slide presentation that Al Gore estimates to have shown in presentations about 1,000 times to audiences worldwide. Gore uses few photo aids as a support to his presentation as he tells his audiences about global warming. His presentation features what man has done and how it has affected the planet. He finishes by sounding a warning to the population, stating that if man does not take action fast, the effects will be far worse than they already are.
Director: Davis Guggenheim.
Main Cast: Al Gore and Davis Guggenheim are the film’s primary cast.
Commercial Performance: 'An Inconvenient Truth' is one of the most successful and highest-grossing documentary every produced. While creating the movie, the production team spent $1.5 million. After premiering, the movie grossed $49.8 million.
Awards and Nominations: 'An Inconvenient Truth' was a success. Besides the large market gross, the film also accrued numerous awards and nominations. The Academy Awards nominated the movie for and awarded it two Academy Awards for Best Documentary Feature and Best Original Song. Gore won an Oscar for Great Works and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize together with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. In 2007, Gore was awarded the Prince of Asturias Prize that honored the internal corporation and efforts he had made. The film has also won other Best Documentary Feature awards from various organizations.
3. 49 Up (2005)
Plot: This film features director, Michael Apted, as he interviews a group of 14 British-born children who have now grown into adults (interviews are performed every 7 years). In the interview, the adults express their heartfelt feelings and relate what has happened over the seven years when Apted has not been in the picture. The adults are okay talking about different topics like family, money, and poverty.
Director: Michael Apted.
Main Cast: Bruce Balden, Symon Basterfield, and Jacqueline Bassett as themselves.
Commercial Performance: Unknown.
Awards and Nominations: This film received a total of six nominations and no awards since release. The BAFTA TV Awards nominated the film for two roles, Best Factual Series and Best Editing Factual. Chlotrudis Awards also nominated the film for Best Documentary. The movie was also nominated for Best Non-Fiction NYFCC Award during the New York Film Critics Circle Awards held in 2006.
Plot: This film is about an alleged killing in one of New York's towns called Munnsvile in the 1990s (the eldest of a family of four brothers, William Ward, was found dead in his home, and his brother Delbert was accused of suffocating him). Directors, Sinofsky and Berlinger, employ the same style as they did while working for the Maysles brothers (Documentary Production Company headed by legendary filmmaker Albert Maysles), a style widely known as Direct Cinema. The two directors concentrate on two types of people, the poor from the rural areas and the rich from the urban centers. Also chronicled in the film is the media’s flocking of Munnsvile to cover the story.
Director: Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky.
Main Cast: tDelbert Ward, Lyman Ward, Roscoe Ward, and Bill Ward, all as themselves.
Commercial Performance: This film is a successful documentary. It grossed $1,305,915, the budget is unknown.
Awards and Nominations: This film won a total of five awards. These include Directors Guild of America, USA: DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary/Actuality, the National Board of Review, USA: NBR Award for Best Documentary, the Sundance Film Festival: Audience Award for Documentary, the Kansas City Film Critics Circle Awards: KCFCC Award for Best Documentary, and the New York Film Critics Circle Awards: NYFCC Award for Best Documentary.
5. Buena Vista Social Club (1999)
Plot: This film portrays the music of Cuba, in the form of the ban 'Buena Vista Social Club'. In this movie, the viewer sees one of director's, Wim Wonder, old friends, Ry, a slide guitarist, as he reunites the ensemble band. This facilitates the making of a new album called the 'Buena Vista Social Club'. Cuba and America are proximally close, however, political tensions cause movement between the two countries to be restricted. The band eventually does get to travel to the U.S. to play for an audience.
Director: Wim Wonders.
Main Cast: Francisco Repilado, Eliades Ochoa (vocals and guitar), Ry Cooder (slide guitar), and Joachim Cooder, the son of Ry (percussion).
Commercial Performance: This film grossed $23 million.
Awards and Nominations: 'Buena Vista Social Club' was critically acclaimed. In the year 2020, the US Library of Congress chose the film to be preserved in the National Film Registry. During the European Film Awards, the movie was awarded the Best Documentary Film Award.
Plot: This films focuses on the a New England chorus of senior citizens called Young@Heart. They perform a mix of modern pop and classic rock songs. The choir is directed by Bob Climan and features people of eighty years and above. For two months, the band spends time learning new material, this responsibility is taxing for them and Climan. At one point, members go to the prison to entertain inmates who embrace their performance.
Director: Stephen Walker.
Main Cast: Joe Benoit, Louise Canady, Helen Boston, and Jean Florio.
Commercial Performance: Unknown.
Awards and Nominations: This film won two awards. During the Atlanta Film Festival and the Warsaw International Film Festival, it was awarded the Rose d'Or for Best Art Documentary and the Audience Awards.
7. In the Shadow of the Moon (2007)
Plot: This movie tells the stories of the crew members of NASA's Apollo missions.
Director: David Sington and Christopher Riley.
Main Cast: There are many participants in the film, including Pete Conrad, Neil Armstrong, James Irwin, and Alan Shepard. Using the public media and footage, the film showcases the mission to the moon conducted by the Americans between 1960s and 1970s. The movie also uses video and audio interviews featuring Apollo-era astronauts to create the film.
Commercial Performance: This film grossed $2.1 m, a huge sum for a documentary. The budget is unknown.
Awards and Nominations: This film was critically acclaimed worldwide. Many critics reviewed it with positive responses. Rotten Tomatoes awarded the film a 95% approval rating based on 113 reviews, Metacritic gave the movie an average rating of 84 out of 100. The film received the Independent Investigations Group (IIG) Award for promoting scientific skepticism in media.
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