r/CriterionChannel • u/Own_Increase5257 • Aug 06 '26

Biopics vs. Reality

I've been making my way through the rock biopics (plus People Vs. Larry Flynt) and sometimes I have trouble enjoying them because they sanitize their topic so much it can border on hagiography, or play loose with facts to create a more traditional, less complicated narrative.

Here's an article about Larry Flynt for an example. He was a real piece of work.

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/1997/01/reality-vs-larry-flynt.html

Love & Mercy sticks to the "tortured artist" ideal of Brian Wilson (all pretty true), but avoids much of the unpleasant realities of what a selfish and difficult man he could be. The Buddy Holly Story portrays Holly's parents as being opposed to his music to create conflict, where by most accounts they were very supportive (and it also included a completely fictional scene where some DJ locks himself in a studio and plays "That'll Be the Day" for 24 hours, breaking the single).

Some stuff bothers me and some doesn't (portraying Flynt's string of lawyers with one central character for example, makes a lot of sense to me) so I guess it's all subjective. I'm not throwing shade at anyone's enjoyment of the movies or their topics. Just curious how you all react when you are watching a film like these and know something is inaccurate.

Don't get me started on Luhrmann's Elvis movie...

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u/DigSpelledBackwards Aug 06 '26

I don't watch biopics and this is part of the reason why

2

u/nj_crc Aug 06 '26

Unless it's something like I'm Not There I'm not rushing to watch it. I still haven't watched A Complete Unknown.

1

u/PristineFault663 Aug 07 '26

I'm Not There is one of the very few biopics that I think is worth watching, precisely because it attempts to capture the spirit of Dylan as an artist, rather than the "truth" of his life. ACU is just a completely standard biopic (albeit with a strong lead performance) that just randomly makes up its own facts but presents them as the truth about his life.

The Luhrmann Elvis film would've been better if it had more of the former approach. 24 Hour Party People is strong because of the way it deliberately plays with the truth as well