biopics – ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

WEEK IN WOMEN: Sofia Coppola’s PRISCILA is NYFF Centerpiece – Brandy McDonnell reports

September 21, 2023September 24, 2023 Brandy McDonnell biopics, Cailee Spaeny, Elvis and Me, Jacob Elordi, New York Film Festival, NYFF 2023, Priscilla Presley, sofia coppola, the week in women, twiw

Writer-director Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla will screen as the Centerpiece selection for the 61st New York Film Festival, making its North American premiere Oct. 6 at Alice Tully Hall at the Lincoln Center. Adapted from Priscilla Presley’s best-selling 1985 memoir Elvis and Me, the biopic stars Cailee Spaeny as Priscilla and Jacob Elordi as Elvis. Priscilla is a culminating triumph for Sofia Coppola, a filmmaker with a singular gift for illuminating the interior lives of her characters,” said Dennis Lim, artistic director of the New York Film Festival.

Movie of the Week

MOVIE OF THE WEEK April 14, 2023: HILMA

April 9, 2023April 13, 2023 Jennifer Merin betsy bozdech, biopics, Cate Marquis, hilma, hilma af klint, jennifer merin, Juno Films, Lasse Hallström, lena olin, leslie combemale, liz whittemore, loren king, motw, Movie of the Week, nell minow, nikki fowler, Pam Grady, sherin nicole, swedish films, tora hallstrom, truth-based

One of modern art’s most significant — and simultaneously least well-known — figures gets her moment in the spotlight in Lasse Hallström’s lovingly filmed biopic Hilma. The film tells the story of Hilma af Klint, a Swedish painter whose affinity for mysticism and the spiritual world led her to create large-scale abstract art that you’d swear was influenced by Kandinsky … if you didn’t know with certainty that af Klint’s work predated his.

Reviews

HILMA – Review by Jennifer Merin

April 3, 2023April 9, 2023 Jennifer Merin biopics, hilma, hilma af klint, Juno Films, lena olin, motw, Movie of the Week, swedish films, tora hallstrom, truth-based

Hilma is a sumptuous truth-based period drama that chronicles the life and work of Swedish artist Hilma aft Klint (1862 – 1944). Hilma was a brilliant and innovative artist whose abstract paintings preceded those of the better-known Russian painter Wassily Kandinsky (1866 – 1944), who has, until recently, been credited by art historians with the invention of abstract art.

Reviews

HILMA – Review by Nikki Fowler

April 3, 2023April 9, 2023 Nikki Fowler biopics, hilma, hilma af klint, lena olin, motw, Movie of the Week, swedish films, tora hallstrom, truth-based

Swedish writer and director Lasse Hallström’s new truth–based period drama, Hilma, shares a vibrant and mystical take on the extraordinary and secluded artist Hilma af Klint, exploring her dedication to spiritualism and painting. Hilma was a radical painter in early 1900s Sweden, making her the first abstract painter in Western art history. Hilma was ahead of her time as her paintings predate the likes of artists such as Kandinsky, Mondrian, and Malevich; however, as a woman, she was denied the same recognition, only to have her work finally unboxed in 1967. Kandinsky was, until recently, acknowledged as the inventor of abstract art. Hilma is a captivating must-watch.

News

WEEK IN WOMEN: Sofia Coppola Takes on Priscilla Presley’s ELVIS AND ME – Brandy McDonnell reports

October 13, 2022October 16, 2022 Brandy McDonnell biopics, Cailee Spaeny, Elvis and Me, Jacob Elordi, Priscilla Presley, sofia coppola, the week in women, twiw

Oscar-winning writer-director Sofia Coppola is adapting Priscilla Presley’s best-selling 1985 memoir Elvis and Me into a feature film titled =Priscilla. The biopic will star Cailee Spaeny as Priscilla and Jacob Elordi as Elvis. In the 1980s, Presley’s book quickly became an international sensation as a chronicle of her passionate marriage to The King. She was just 14 years old when she caught the eye of Elvis, who was 24 at the time, during his military service in Germany. They married in 1967, and welcomed a daughter, Lisa Marie, before splitting up in 1972.

Reviews

THE ELECTRICAL LIFE OF LOUIS WAIN – Review by Susan Granger

February 1, 2022February 3, 2022 Susan Granger Benedict Cumberbatch, biopics, claire foy, Louis Wain, Olivia Colman, Suzie Davies, The Electrical Life of Louis Wain, Will Sharpe

While Academy voters are weighing Oscar votes for his performance in The Power of the Dog, Benedict Cumberbatch made another 2021 film that somehow slid under the radar. Narrated by Olivia Colman, this story revolves around British artist Louis Wain (1860-1939) who became famous for his brightly colored drawings of anthropomorphized cats. He was also an eccentric who believed electricity could transform everyday life.

Reviews

SPENCER – Review by Diane Carson

October 25, 2021November 11, 2021 Diane Carson biopics, Claire Mathon, Diana Spencer, Kristen Stewart, pablo larrain, Princess of Wales., sally hawkins, Timothy Spall

As Princess Diana, Kristen Stewart gives a magnetic performance. Most impressive was her ability to capture Diana’s nonverbal subtleties and her verbal rhythms, to communicate her entrapment and then the release of dancing spontaneously, exuberantly. Stewart was asked to dance at the conclusion of many production days, and the editing together of this extemporaneous, free expression conveys what Diana has been suppressing.

Reviews

TOVE – Review by Martha K Baker

June 3, 2021June 3, 2021 Martha K. Baker Alma Pöysti, biopics, finnish films, Joanna Haartti, Krista Kosonen, moomins, motw, Movie of the Week, Tove, Tove Jansson, Zaida Bergroth

If you were a big fan of the Moomins but had no idea who created them, Tove will fill in all the blanks. Tove Jansson was an artist and a writer in her public life but also in her private adult life, she started with a man, then with a woman, so the feature film is perfect for Pride month.

Movie of the Week Reviews

MOVIE OF THE WEEK June 4, 2021: TOVE

May 30, 2021June 3, 2021 Jennifer Merin Alma Pöysti, biopics, finnish films, Joanna Haartti, Krista Kosonen, moomins, motw, Movie of the Week, Tove, Tove Jansson, Zaida Bergroth

It’s no surprise by now to discover that the private lives of the authors and artists behind some of the world’s most beloved children’s books were anything but calm (or G-rated). But it’s always fascinating to get a glimpse into the events, people, and places that shaped them and led to their iconic creations, and Zaida Bergroth’s Tove — which stars the excellent Alma Pöysti as Finnish Moomin mastermind Tove Jansson — is no exception.

Reviews

TOVE – Review by Susan Wloszczyna

May 25, 2021May 30, 2021 Susan Wloszczyna Alma Pöysti, biopics, finnish films, Joanna Haartti, Krista Kosonen, moomins, motw, Movie of the Week, Tove, Tove Jansson, Zaida Bergroth

Biopics are a dime a dozen these days with many often featuring the usual cliched rise- and-fall scenario. But with Tove, director Zaida Bergoth is lucky enough to focus on a uniquely alluring Finnish sketcher, painter and author best known for her Moomins, hippo-like creatures with puffy snouts that were featured in comic-strips and books. From the start, she was able to pick herself up and dust herself whenever the chips were down. That includes the opening scenes as she and her family head back to a rubble-filled Helsinki at the end of World War II.

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