Bradley Cooper excels in the lead role in this lavish, brilliantly realised biopic of Leonard Bernstein, one of the towering figures of 20th century American culture. Cooper also co-writes and takes the reins as director – his second outing behind the camera following the phenomenally successful A Star is Born in 2018. Beginning in a vividly recreated post-war New York, where Bernstein began his stratospheric rise to international fame as both a conductor and composer, Maestro is a portrait of the artist viewed through the lens of his unorthodox, thirty-year marriage to Chilean-American actress, Felicia Montealegre (Carey Mulligan). Made with the cooperation of the couple’s three children, Maestro, which shifts from monochrome to exuberant colour as Cooper shuffles the timelines, is a breathtaking symphony of art, life, and love.

Notes by David O’Mahony