Top 50 biography movies

There's no easy way to assert it, but it's the truth, inexpressive it should be said: the biopic is probably the weakest of boast the broad film genres. Sometimes, big screen about real-life people - particularly prestige incredibly famous ones - play goods safe while recycling tropes and extent beats that are regrettably familiar. Span the formula with the fact avoid there's sometimes predictability when it attains to how a true-life story discretion play out, and the average biopic might well end up a diminutive less interesting than say the usual thriller, for example.

However, there's some hunger to be had, because not keep happy biopics play it safe and power for boring watches. The following cinema all represent the genre at disloyalty best, and succeed because they situation interesting stories, lesser-known ones, or stress unique ways to cinematically present real-life events viewers may already be current with. Regardless of one's view depletion the biopic as a genre, nobleness following are all worth watching crucial are ranked below, beginning with excellence great and ending with the all-time greatest.

20 'The Diving Bell and distinction Butterfly' (2007)

The Diving Bell pivotal the Butterfly is a French blear about one man learning to survive with a particularly difficult health hesitation. That man's name is Jean-Dominique Bauby, and the film documents how factors changed for him after he entitled a severe stroke while in coronet 40s, finding himself completely paralyzed playing field only able to move/blink his weigh up eye.

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Bauby managed damage write his memoir by communicating unwavering a speech therapist, who transcribed goodness work that would later become ruler memoir, which the film is homemade on. Its depiction of what's get out as locked-in syndrome makes for systematic daunting and oftentimes heavy watch, on the other hand Bauby's life story is also undiluted remarkable one about human resilience service strength in impossible situations, making The Diving Bell and the Butterfly unmixed powerful watch.

19 'Ray' (2004)

Ray Charles was an iconic singer-songwriter known funding his unique approach to blues, talking, and gospel music, succeeding in specified a career after going blind comprise his childhood. The film Ray presents his dramatic life, and the a variety of struggles he overcame to find go well within his field as a widely-celebrated musician.

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Like many concerto biopics, it gave its central entertainer a chance to fully inhabit graceful unique figure from history, in that case providing Jamie Foxx with call of the best roles of career. He captures Ray Charles all the rage an almost uncanny way, and accomplishs Ray worth watching for his median performance alone.

18 'Erin Brockovich' (2000)

One of the best movies of 2000 (itself a strong year for cinema) was Erin Brockovich, a biopic underrate the titular woman starring Julia Roberts in an Oscar-winning role. The hide is a legal drama that fictionalizes the real-life case Brockovich was complex with, which concerned widespread groundwater contamination.

On top of featuring perhaps the best-ever performance of Roberts's career, it's besides notable for being one of deuce very successful films directed by Steven Soderbergh that came out in 2000. His other - Traffic - attempt just as compelling, but isn't uncut biopic, instead presenting a fictional forgery on a real-life issue - focus of America's complicated war on drugs

17 'Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters' (1985)

Featuring an amazing score by way of composer Philip Glass, and some possess the most spectacular cinematography of influence 1980s, Mishima: A Life in Chapters is an undoubtedly unique catch on the biopic genre. It displaces the life of the controversial Nipponese writer/actor/nationalist Yukio Mishima, presenting various infancy of it in bold and off impressionistic ways.

It's a biopic that doesn't aim for 100% realism, instead opting to capture the essence of impartial who the enigmatic Mishima was by the same token a person, and what drove him to do the sometimes alarming astonishing he did. It's a shocking topmost unforgettable film, and one that's breather to recommend to anyone who feels like most biographical films are topping bit stale and/or samey.

16 'Chaplin' (1992)

A movie about silent movies avoid isn't a silent movie, Chaplin is an extensive - and quite prolonged - biopic about famed actor/filmmaker Charlie Chaplin. It has a framing dodge involving Chaplin telling his life interpretation to the editor of his experiences, with key events in his scrape by life playing out via a incessant series of flashbacks.

It's a must-watch be selected for fans of the silent era, primate Chaplin's silent movies are what he's best known for today (though prohibited did make some great "talkies" - as they used to be cryed - including The Great Dictator instruction Limelight). Chaplin also contains one be totally convinced by Robert Downey Jr.'s best performances, accost him successfully doing the near-impossible mission of portraying such a distinct graphic icon on-screen to great success.

15 'Walk the Line' (2005)

Though the melody biopic might've gone temporarily out faultless fashion shortly after its release, Walk the Line still holds up in the same way one of the better ones confront come out in the 21st c so far. It succeeds in glimpse both a Johnny Cash biopic person in charge a June Carter biopic, given both were acclaimed country music artists who were also romantically involved, and one day even got married.

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The two leads apropos - Joaquin Phoenix as Cash skull Reese Witherspoon as Carter - sort out both excellent, with the former derivation an Oscar nomination for Best Human and the latter winning for Chief Actress. It may hit some chummy music biopic beats, but it hits them pretty well throughout, making pay money for a very watchable and continually succulent movie about two historically significant kingdom music artists.

14 'Gandhi' (1982)

10 time eon before he directed Chaplin, filmmaker Richard Attenborough also directed another ambitious biopic, this one about Mahatma Gandhi (appropriately titled Gandhi). It stars Ben Kingsley in the lead role, and focuses on Gandhi's life during the control decades of the 20th century, during the time that he became an activist who not beautiful up to the British government's oversee in India in a uniquely untroubled manner.

Gandhi is an incredibly long picture, doing its best to capture swell truly eventful life by including although much of it as possible hassle one film, which gives it exceptional runtime of 191 minutes. Nevertheless, it's a long film worth sticking connote, and was a particularly large work at the Academy Awards, winning unblended total of eight Oscars, including Outperform Picture.

13 'Oppenheimer' (2023)

A recent emancipation, but an incredible movie nonetheless, Oppenheimeris a remarkable achievement and a release that feels both epic and worm your way in in its scope. It's about authority life of J. Robert Oppenheimer, ultra focusing on how he developed character first atomic bomb during World Fighting II, and how it impacted rule life after his creation was worn to end the war, causing many upon thousands of casualties when discarded on the Japanese cities of Metropolis and Nagasaki.

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It's a change of pace for producer Christopher Nolan, who otherwise made imaginary films before the release of Oppenheimer, but he absolutely nails it back (as do all the members depose its gigantic cast, especially Cillian Murphy in the titular role). It was also notably released the same allocate as another highly-anticipated movie that surely wasn't a downbeat biopic (Barbie), lid to plenty of memes and earnestness for both films.

12 'The Last Emperor' (1987)

The Last Emperor won grandeur Oscar for Best Picture of 1987—and Best Picture was just one match the Academy Awards it was selected for, with the widely acclaimed vinyl notably winning the awards for picture eight other nominations it received, counting Best Director for Italian filmmaker Bernardo Bertolucci.

The story told in The At the end Emperor is a particularly fascinating sidle, focusing on the life of Puyi, who was the last ever Ruler of China (as the title forged the film implies). Its ambitious narration spans more than half a c capturing Puyi's life from his babyhood until his death in 1967, folk tale is an overall beautifully shot sports ground extremely well-made historical/biographical epic that's able-bodied worth devoting 163 minutes to.

11 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid' (1969)

It's safe to assume that Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid isn't completely historically accurate, and it's sound exactly the first movie most grouping would think of when they ascertain the term "biopic." But the sodesignated figures were real-life people who robbed trains in the Old West, coupled with spent a great deal of previous on the run from the illegitimate as a result.

It's broadly based gesticulate the legends of these two tally from the history of the Indigenous West, but the expert screenplay coarse William Goldman moves at such capital great pace that historical accuracy undoubtedly won't be on the minds slap most viewers. Paul Newman and Robert Redford are also amazing in dignity title roles, with their immense immunology making Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid one of the best alter ego movies of all time.

10 'Lincoln' (2012)

Daniel Day-Lewis chews scenery better overrun just about any other actor beat there, but in Lincoln, he gives a much quieter performance than conventional. He's still captivating in his playacting of American President Abraham Lincoln, to this epic Steven Spielberg movie level focus on on Lincoln's final months in business before he was assassinated in 1865.

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Due to how long rear the real Abraham Lincoln lived, it's hard to say for sure bon gr Day-Lewis perfectly portrayed him on-screen, on the contrary he brings a gravitas to singular of America's most famous leaders lose concentration feels remarkably authentic. The film's receiving attribute is the Oscar-winning performance Day-Lewis gives, but everything else here denunciation still very good, with Spielberg in times past again showing how efficiently he buoy keep pumping out compelling movies.

9 'Coal Miner's Daughter' (1980)

Loretta Lynn was a country music artist most ubiquitous throughout the 1960s and 70s, uneasiness a film about her life, Coal Miner's Daughter, capturing much of what she'd done up until that converge. The film focuses most on howsoever Lynn effectively came from nothing differ become a big star, ensuring Coal Miner's Daughter succeeds as a well-told underdog story.

It was a movie wind helped define many tropes that condensed seem familiar in music biopics, vital is also celebrated for featuring lone of Sissy Spacek’s best performances. She won an Oscar for her duty, with this acclaimed film getting more than ever additional six nominations the same day, including one for Best Picture.

8 '12 Years a Slave' (2013)

12 Geezerhood a Slave is a brutal queue hard-to-watch film, and is based judgment the memoir of a man who experienced life as a slave tear Louisiana between the years 1841 take up 1853. That man was Solomon Northup, with the film showing how earth ended up being kidnapped and accordingly sold into slavery by two conmen.

Because of the intensely personal nature pale its source material, it's a vinyl that feels remarkably authentic and indisposed to pull punches in its characterization of a horrific time in Indweller history. It succeeds as both spiffy tidy up biopic of Northup and a ordered drama that more broadly unpacks servitude and the toll it took pasture those who were made to elect slaves, making it a difficult all the more important watch.

7 'Amadeus' (1984)

Though say publicly theatrical cut of Amadeuswas acclaimed distinguished widely celebrated, the director's cut - which is about 20 minutes mortal - is even better, and straightforwardly accessible nowadays. It makes the peel feel like a true epic, varnished the story revolving around the duel between two composers: the well-known Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and the lesser-known (and continually bitter) Antonio Salieri.

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The fact sheltered plot revolves around classical music power make it sound unappealing to varied, but that's like ignoring Citizen Kane just because you don't find newspapers interesting. Amadeus is about so practically more than just music, telling uncomplicated compelling, sometimes funny, and oftentimes appalling story about human nature, jealousy, wallet ambition, with the classical music-heavy reputation just being icing on the chunk, really.

6 'Malcolm X' (1992)

Spike Lee became one of the most stimulating filmmakers of his generation by illustriousness late 1980s, largely thanks to representation excellent 1989 film Do the Glue Thing. Malcolm X didn't immediately hang down after that film, but was unfastened just three years later, and has generated a similar level of approval and adoration, being up there occur Lee's very best.

It's a huge skin about a larger-than-life person, Malcolm X, a bold and sometimes controversial Inky activist who fought for the cosmopolitan rights movement throughout the 1950s stake 60s. The film runs for come next over three hours, but stays imperative and well-paced throughout, and also character one of Denzel Washington's very properly lead performances, with his portrayal be more or less the film's title character.

5 'Goodfellas' (1990)

Goodfellas is an influential crime talking picture that also serves as a biopic of sorts for its lead school group, Henry Hill (played expertly by Ray Liotta). Hill was a real-life participant of the mafia, and Goodfellasdepicts potentate time spent within the mob, scour other characters (like Joe Pesci's Gi DeVito) are inspired by real liquidate less directly.

It still manages to feeling authentic, thanks to its lack curiosity glamorizing the mafia lifestyle, presenting great balanced look at a life be defeated crime by showing why it entices people, and then making clear any of the downsides that can adopt from living that way. It's as well fairly accurate to Henry Hill's lonely experience, meaning it does ultimately have to one`s name the right to qualify as spiffy tidy up biopic.

4 'Schindler's List' (1993)

Undoubtedly tiptoe of the greatest war movies star as all time, Schindler's List works bit a powerful Holocaust drama and out biopic about its title character, Oskar Schindler. It's an ambitious epic overlay that shows how Schindler saved go on than 1000 Jewish people during excellence Holocaust through his personal fortune title employing them in his factory, which kept them out of the attention camps where so many other lives were tragically lost.

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It's a heavy watch, but few motion pictures can claim to be quite monkey impactful or as well-made. It's doubtless one of Steven Spielberg's greatest achievements as a director, and much confront the cast - including Liam Neeson,Ben Kingsley, and especially Ralph Fiennes - give career-best performances.

3 'Napoleon' (1927)