Gem/åben hele nummeret som PDF - 16:9

Fig. 4: Scottish historian Thomas Carlyle
(1795-1881.
Fig. 5.
Fig. 5-7: The political biopic has a long-running tradition in America and includes wellknown
films like W (2008), Nixon (1996) and The Young Mr. Lincoln (1939).
The Political Biopic
A rather vague and often neglected genre, the biopic may generally be
construed as a ‘genre depicting the life of a famous person in an often
dramatic form’ (Schepelern 2010, p. 81; see also Nielsen 2011). This
genre, thus, includes a variety of different films: from musical biopics
(films like Ray [2004] or Walk the Line [2005]) to philosophical biopics
(films dealing with major thinkers such as Voltaire [1933]) and, as
mentioned, political biopics,dealing with people who have (had) a great
influence on political events and the political system (from fictionalized
accounts of presidential lives to films like Malcolm X [1992] or Milk
[2008], about the gay activist Harvey Milk, played by Sean Penn (fig.
8-9)).
We may naturally assume that this genre (as most of Hollywood’s
classical genres) harks back to the infancy, if not the very birth, of
cinema. Even so, says Rick Altman, early biopics like Warner Bros.’
Disraeli (1929) (fig. 10) were not originally produced and advertised as
biopics (Altman 2002, p. 39). “Films are always available for
redefinition […] and genres for realignment,” writes Altman, and,
thusly, political biopics may have existed for many decades, but the
term itself – political biopic – is relatively new and only vaguely
defined (cf. Altman 2002, p. 42-44).
That political biopics are only vaguely defined is hardly a surprise,
given the fact that the biopic is actually a rather vague genre with only
a few, if any, necessary stylistic features. Trying more specifically to
define the political biopic, however, we could point to a number of
features which are often, but not necessarily, seen in such films,
including
An actor playing a central political figure, whose life is depicted
and dramatized;
An emphasis on tour de force acting, particularly the
physical and psychological characteristics of the portrayed
politician, e.g. in relation to facial and bodily appearance, verbal
dexterity, gesticulations and mimicry (2);
A fictionalized account of authentic historical events;
A dual focus on the political figure as a public and private
character;
A success tragedy structure, often juxtaposing a private
and Gus Van Sant’s Milk (2008), about a
lesser known political activist, could both be
considered political biopics. This subgenre,
in other words, can focus on virtually any
kind of political figure who has (had) an
influence on the political system.
Fig. 10: George Arliss stars as the former
British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli in
the 1929 Warner Bros. film Disraeli, which
is known today as an early political biopic.
The film, however, was never produced and
sold using that nomenclature.
2) In the wording of this particular passage
I am indebted to Jakob Isak Nielsen, who
has edited this article.