Vanessa
Fuzz-lovers!
When we ask you about your favourite Biopic, you might come up with the most recent, most popular ones.
For example Rocketman, or Bohemian Rhapsody.
However, there might be one or two biopics you don’t really think about, or you didn’t even knew they actually exist!
No worries, that’s exactly what we are here for!
The three named biopics below shine a light on the lives off the spotlight for these two icons.
James Dean and John Lennon.
They most likely couldn’t be any more different form one another, while they still share one significant fact: They became legends – said icons – way too early.
James Dean (2001)
The 2001 DVD release James Dean follows James Dean’s life story.
We see him working on set of Rebel Without A Cause and Giants, while we experience his upbringing in flashbacks.
We follow him from the age of 9, the darkest time of his life, as he lost his mother to cancer.
The time he faced countless auditions for plays in theatre, until he made it to score his first ever play on Broadway and the moment, which changed everything: Elia Kazan (Enrico Colantoni) cast him as the main character of his movie East Of Eden.
Throughout the movie, we get to see some more important people in James’ career and private life. Such as Julie Harris (Wendy Benson) and Pier Angeli (Valentina Cervi).
The key focus all the way through the movie is his very difficult relationship with his father, which comes to a close shortly before James dies in the car crash on the 30th of September 1955.
Since we speak about the timeline of the 30’s to the 1950’s there is hardly any proof that everything in this biopic is to 100 % fact.
This is what has been pointed out in the credits of the film: „Most of this film was based on fact… some was an educated guess.“
Personally: I think, once you start getting into the topic ‘James Dean’ you won’t be able to stop and dig deeper for more and more information. It might be hard to judge what’s true and what were said educated guesses, but you immediately feel a connection to him and you feel a certain level of understanding about his reactions and action in various situations.
A bonus to it is: There are moments you forget that it is actually James Franco on screen and not Jimmy himself.
Nowhere Boy (2009)
Nowhere Boy is a must-watch for all the Beatles fans.
We follow teenage- John Lennon trying to navigate through life.
Growing up with his auntie Mimi and getting back in touch with his mum immediately creates tensions in this sort of family – triangle John’s upbringing and behavior is the main concern.
The whole situation does not get any better after John (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) falls head over heels in love with music, not just listening to it, but also playing it himself.
We experience him starting his first band, meeting these two teenage boys named George Harrison (Sam Bell) and Paul McCartney (Thomas Brodie-Sangster) and, how John has to face the loss of not only his uncle, Mimi’s husband, but also his mother.
The name of the band ‘The Beatles’ wasn’t mentioned in the movie once, but we know it ends before John and his band made their way to Hamburg. And since we all know the Beatles’ career was kicked-off there, we know what happened next.
The credits let us know how it continued and what a strong bond John and his auntie Mimi shared throughout the years.
While not every detail might be correct, with Yoko Ono’s support, the movie has been shot at some original locations in Liverpool, but also in Blackpool and London.
Add to that: Aaron’s accent is SO spot on, you will think, you just listen to John having a chat.
Life (2015)
The movie Life brings us back to James Dean.
But the take on it this time, happens from the point of view of the photographer, whom we own most of the pictures of James Dean, Dennis Stock.
Portrayed by Robert Pattinson, Life shows us bits and pieces of James’ (Dane DeHaan) life, we miss in James Dean with James Franco as the main character.
While the biopic from 2001 focuses the most on James’ issues with his father and the lack of love he most likely craved for all his life, Life shows the other side.
Life shows that there was love in his life.
It shows how much his aunt and uncle and his little cousin Marcus cared about Jimmy and did whatever they could to make him feel like the part of their family that he was.
Having the chance to see James’ life from the point of you of Dennis Stock, made it somewhat more relatable.
We not only see how these two men make it to work together, we see them become friends.
We also experience moments from Dennis’ life and his own struggles, while he still is just as determined as he always was to show the world that James Dean is a star and deserves all the attention and front covers possible.
Talking about my own personal thoughts about this biopic: Watch Life and check on James Dean back from 2001. As much as Jimmy might forever be a mystery to all of us, we might get the best sense of how his life looked like in these two independent takes to show how he grew up and became the legend we all know.
Have you seen one or maybe all of these biopics?
Which one is your ‘not so well-known’ biopic you would immediately suggest?
Let us know and share it @Fuzzable.
