I recently was on a biopic or character study concept recently through a few different titles. I had seen Moonage Dreams last month, a music documentary compilations of David Bowie's career, and then last week with Tar, Call Jane, and Till. All of them had strong points, and had me ruminating on different concepts and what actually draws us to wanting to watch any of these styles of films.
Out of what I have watched recently, I can say that I tend to prefer more of the documentaries, and fictionalized character studies, but overall I can say that Till sparked some of my interest well enough that I knew I would need to do some of my own homework to finalize my thoughts and feelings on the matter. To a degree, I'm still trying to formulate thoughts on Till, but can at least touch on it as it relates to the whole.
Biopics have been something that I've been trying to determine how I feel about a lot of them. In recent years, I've been leaning more towards the character study as opposed to a biopic, especially if it's someone that I've learned about someone and seen them in a certain light. As a result, if I'm going to see a biopic, I tend to be a bit more hesitant especially if there is a documentary available. Documentaries and biopics however tend to present the people they are portraying in a certain light. It is important to do research on people in either genre.
Biopics tend to take it one step further, though. Whomever is the director or film crew will usually alter the story some to make the story flow better and fit more cleanly into a story arc.
Moonage dreams was much of the concert and interview footage of David Bowie. While I found it fascinating how his music changed and pushed boundaries over the years, it also lightly touched on the crazed fans, but it did nothing towards commenting on his relationships with people over the years. While it is hard to cram all sorts of subject matter into a one-three hour block window, I have become more vigilant on the questions now as I watch. But at the same time, in the two hours and forty-eight minute run of Moonage Dreams, it was enjoyable to get lost in the music and the craze that was David Bowie, despite not being somebody who grew up in his early years.
Character studies tend to be the happy medium between these two genres, as you get to peek into somebody else's life, but you don't get the confusion or need to do a deeper dive into somebody's life. I have enjoyed these more recently because, as a result, I don't have to do as much homework going into or after the movie. There are less questions individually about the person's life, more just a focus on what could have been pre or post story arc. Tar had an interesting approach to this, but takes it steps further. The ending doesn't stop at a point where the viewer can draw one's own conclusions of where Tar proceeded to go after what was viewed. As a viewer, I wanted to be given some of my own creative process. Then you have a character study film, like Call Jane that takes characters, and creates stories around historical events. Whilst Call Jane focuses on family planning and essentially what could be the start of programs similar to Planned Parenthood, you get to the point of viewing that you start to wonder how historically accurate is what I am watching?
