James Mangold's A Complete Unknown has eight Oscar nominations. Biopics today are often predictable, consisting of ups and downs and the obligatory happy ending. That's why exceptional biopics that go beyond the usual genre boundaries stand out more. 1. A Complete Unknown, 2024 On July 25, 1965, at the Newport Folk Festival, Bob Dylan played an electric set, was booed, disappointed his friend and mentor Pete Seeger, and moved on to rock music. Director does not try to retell the entire life of the legend, an impossible task, but stops at one important episode in the biography of the main character. Dylan changed the direction of musical development several times, including being at the origins of rock. Oscar-nominated Timothée Chalamet has to sing a lot and show the transformation from a man to a living myth. 2. Love & Mercy, 2014 In the mid-1960s, Beach Boys frontman Brian Wilson records the revolutionary album Pet Sounds, tries to bring the California surf band's music up to the level of the Beatles, hears voices in his head, and suffers a nervous breakdown. In the mid-1980s, Wilson has not communicated with his relatives and band members for several years, is unable to recover from the death of his brother Dennis, and takes a handful of pills every day at the insistence of his psychiatrist. A meeting with car saleswoman Melinda dramatically changes Brian's life. 3. I'm Not There, 2007 Bob Dylan is such a multifaceted and expansive figure that one biopic is not enough. Long before Mangold, Todd Haynes made a movie about the legend. Conceptually and originally, the director did not choose one episode from Dylan's life, but presented the musician in six images and asked Christian Bale, Richard Gere, Cate Blanchett and others to play him at different stages of his journey. The movie also includes fictional episodes, but Haynes is careful to capture all the character traits and sides of Dylan's already awe-inspiring talent. 4. Kneecap, 2024 Kneecap is partly an autobiographical movie. The musicians of the Irish hip-hop group play themselves and freely tell the story of the band's formation. In the late 2010s, childhood friends Liam and Naoise find themselves in a police station and accidentally meet their school music teacher JJ. The teacher comes into possession of a notebook containing the lyrics to the hip-hop duo's songs. JJ helps Naoise and Liam record their first album, starts performing in a group, and quits his job and girlfriend for the stage. 5. Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, 2022 The real Al Yankovic is such an extraordinary musician that a biopic about the parodist could not be an ordinary drama. Director Eric Appel, who wrote the screenplay, and the performer to whom the film is dedicated, took a different approach and created a hilarious grotesque comedy. As a schoolboy, Al took up the accordion, much to the consternation of his father and mother. During his college years, Yankovic cannot get into any rock band and decides to form his own. Al comes up with new words for thunderous hits. Songs about sausages and ice cream make him famous.
