Palisadian Bradley Cooper Stars in Netflix Biopic ‘Maestro,’ Screening at Bay Theater

By LILY TINOCO | Assistant Editor

Palisadian Bradley Cooper directed and starred in Netflix’s “Maestro,” a biopic of American composer Leonard Bernstein, which is now playing at Bay Theater in Palisades Village.

The film, released in theaters November 2023 and on Netflix December 20, 2023, marked Cooper’s second film as a director, following 2018’s “A Star is Born.”

Cooper, who also co-wrote and co-produced “Maestro,” took on the role of celebrated composer and conductor Bernstein, opposite Carey Mulligan as his wife Felicia Montealegre Cohn Bernstein.

“‘Maestro’ is a towering and fearless love story chronicling the lifelong relationship between Leonard Bernstein and Felicia Montealegre Cohn Bernstein,” according to Netflix. “‘Maestro,’ at its core, is an emotionally epic portrayal of family and love.”

Dubbed “a love letter to life and art,” the film doted on the significance of artistic choices—parts of “Maestro” are in black and white. Cooper revealed in interviews the film’s juxtaposition of black-and-white and color photography, and different aspect ratios, was his intention. He cited inspiration from Ernst Lubitsch, Hal Ashby and Sidney Lumet.

“I knew for the first section I wanted to shoot in 35 millimeter, black and white,” Cooper said to Netflix. “Working with the crew, and just communicating how important it was that the cinema of this feel like a memory, an imagination of these time periods, was so much fun.”

Cooper also learned to conduct for the film, training for months to capture Bernstein’s style. Philadelphia Orchestra Music Director and Maestro consultant Yannick Nézet-Séguin explained to Netflix that Bernstein’s style of conducting was incredibly physical, involving his body, shoulders, wrists and knees.

“I can’t take credit at all for Bradley’s performance,” Nézet-Séguin said. “He really got Bernstein. It was insane, every gesture, every facial expression.”

Mulligan took on the role of artist, actress and activist Felicia Montealegre Cohn Bernstein, who married Bernstein and later raised three children with him.

“It was just the most exciting part and felt akin to some of the roles that I’ve been privileged to play on stage, but had not found the equivalent of on screen so much,” Mulligan said to Netflix. “It was so rich, and there was so much breadth to her character and so much change in her life. I was just amazed that [Cooper] was asking me to do it.”

Cooper and Mulligan are joined by actors Maya Hawke, Sarah Silverman, Gideon Glick and Matt Bomer on the silver screen.

With a runtime of two hours and nine minutes and an R rating, “Maestro” is currently streaming on Netflix, with a run of showtimes at the Bay Theater.