# Biographical (Biopic) — Genre

> Films depicting the life of a real person. Selectivity from real events into narrative.

## Defining elements

- Based on real person
- Selectivity (life → narrative)
- Truth + interpretation
- Period accuracy (often)
- Performance vehicle (lead role)

## Sub-genres

| Sub-genre | Example |
|-----------|---------|
| Cradle-to-grave | Gandhi, Lincoln |
| Pivotal moment | The King's Speech, Lincoln |
| Underdog rise | Rocky (semi-bio), 8 Mile |
| Tragic figure | Ray, Bohemian Rhapsody |
| Political | Vice, Lincoln |
| Sports | Ali, I, Tonya |
| Musician | Walk the Line, Bohemian Rhapsody, Rocketman |
| Scientist / inventor | The Imitation Game, A Beautiful Mind |
| Artist | Frida, At Eternity's Gate |
| Athlete | The Blind Side, King Richard |
| Activist | Selma, Milk |
| Criminal | Catch Me If You Can, The Wolf of Wall Street |

## Structural conventions

### Cradle-to-grave (full life)
- Birth or formative event
- Rise + struggles
- Peak
- Decline / death
- Legacy

### Defining period
- Pivotal years only
- Specific event-focused
- King's Speech: speech preparation
- Lincoln: passage of 13th Amendment

### Inciting incident from life
- Real event triggers narrative
- Audience knows ending (often)
- Tension from HOW not WHAT

## Voice / Style

### Visual
- Period accurate
- Production design = research
- Costume essential
- Locations authentic

### Dialogue
- Period-appropriate
- Accent, vocabulary
- Adapted real quotes
- Some invented

### Performance
- Often Oscar-bait
- Star transformation
- Mannerisms, voice
- Don't impersonate, embody

## Biopic mechanics

### Truth vs Drama
- Compress timelines
- Composite characters
- Invented dialogue
- Disclose: "Based on a true story" / "Inspired by"
- Honor essence even when changing facts

### Choosing what to include
- Cradle-to-grave hard (too much)
- Pivotal moment focused better
- Theme drives selection
- Climax = real climactic event

### Avoiding hagiography
- Show flaws
- Real people complex
- No saints
- Audience trusts honesty

### Avoiding hatchet job
- Even villains have humanity
- Understand from within
- Don't condemn from outside

## Sample biographical scene

```
INT. RECORDING STUDIO - NIGHT, 1965

YOUNG NAZIM (28), composer, sits at the piano. The producer leans
through the doorway.

PRODUCER
We need it tonight.

NAZIM
I know.

PRODUCER
The label is asking. Have you tried...

NAZIM
I've tried everything.

The producer leaves. Nazim sits in silence. Looks at the empty
sheet music. The deadline is six hours away.

He stands. Walks to the window. Below, the street lamps are coming
on. Baku in 1965. The Caspian beyond.

He hears something. Not music. A WOMAN's voice — singing softly
in Azerbaijani somewhere in another apartment. A folk song. His
grandmother's song.

He listens. Doesn't move.

The voice continues. Imperfect, untrained, but true.

He returns to the piano. Sits. Closes his eyes.

He plays one note. Listens to it die.

Plays another.

The first phrase emerges. Simple. Borrowed from her.

He writes it down. Then plays the next phrase.

By morning, he has the song that will outlive him.

INSERT TITLE CARD: "Nazim Aliyev wrote 'Bakı Gecəsi' that night.
It became one of the most recorded songs in Azerbaijani music
history. He never knew the woman whose singing inspired it."
```

This works through:
- Real person specific moment
- Vulnerability (deadline, blocked)
- Inspiration source (overheard song)
- Truth + invention
- Title card adds context
- Honors subject's craft

## Common mistakes

- Hagiography (pretending subject was saint)
- Cradle-to-grave bloat (too much, no focus)
- Hitting all the famous moments (greatest hits feel)
- Generic period (not specific)
- Bad makeup (distracting)
- Impersonation over embodiment
- Forgetting drama needs (real life isn't always dramatic)

## Best biographical films reference

### Cradle-to-grave
- Gandhi (1982)
- Lincoln (focused on months)
- Bohemian Rhapsody (selective)
- Lawrence of Arabia (epic biographical)

### Pivotal moment
- The King's Speech
- Lincoln (passage of 13th Amendment)
- Dunkirk (Christopher Nolan — semi-biographical of event)
- Selma (march)
- Milk (final years)

### Modern
- The Social Network (Zuckerberg, but invented dialogue)
- Steve Jobs (Sorkin — three product launches)
- Vice (Cheney)
- King Richard (the father, not Williams sisters)
- Maestro (Bernstein)
- Oppenheimer (life through Trinity test prism)

## When to write biographical

- Compelling real story
- Festival / awards aspirations
- Star vehicle
- Cultural moment
- Documentary subject deserves narrative
- Streaming long-form

## Combination with other genres

- Biopic + Drama (most common)
- Biopic + Music (Walk the Line)
- Biopic + Sports (Ali)
- Biopic + Romance (Iris)
- Biopic + Crime (Wolf of Wall Street)
- Biopic + War (Patton, Pianist)
