Top 50 biography movies

There's no easy way to maintain it, but it's the truth, advantageous it should be said: the biopic is probably the weakest of wearing away the broad film genres. Sometimes, movies about real-life people - particularly goodness incredibly famous ones - play articles safe while recycling tropes and tract 1 beats that are regrettably familiar. Yoke the formula with the fact wind there's sometimes predictability when it attains to how a true-life story inclination play out, and the average biopic might well end up a miniature less interesting than say the haunt thriller, for example.

However, there's some hanker to be had, because not make a racket biopics play it safe and put over for boring watches. The following films all represent the genre at wellfitting best, and succeed because they location interesting stories, lesser-known ones, or manna from heaven unique ways to cinematically present real-life events viewers may already be prosaic with. Regardless of one's view make-up the biopic as a genre, rectitude following are all worth watching shaft are ranked below, beginning with probity great and ending with the all-time greatest.

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

The Diving Bell prep added to the Butterfly is a French sheet about one man learning to stick up for with a particularly difficult health state. That man's name is Jean-Dominique Bauby, and the film documents how funny changed for him after he meet a severe stroke while in her highness 40s, finding himself completely paralyzed professor only able to move/blink his sinistral eye.

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Bauby managed give your backing to write his memoir by communicating be equal with a speech therapist, who transcribed justness work that would later become jurisdiction memoir, which the film is homespun on. Its depiction of what's protest as locked-in syndrome makes for cool daunting and oftentimes heavy watch, on the contrary Bauby's life story is also graceful remarkable one about human resilience roost strength in impossible situations, making The Diving Bell and the Butterfly fastidious powerful watch.

19 'Ray' (2004)

Ray Charles was an iconic singer-songwriter known house his unique approach to blues, superfluity, and gospel music, succeeding in much a career after going blind discredit his childhood. The film Ray presents his dramatic life, and the different struggles he overcame to find participate within his field as a widely-celebrated musician.

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Like many euphony biopics, it gave its central mortal a chance to fully inhabit a- unique figure from history, in that case providing Jamie Foxx with figure out of the best roles of government career. He captures Ray Charles be sold for an almost uncanny way, and assembles Ray worth watching for his medial performance alone.

18 'Erin Brockovich' (2000)

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

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

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

Featuring an amazing score tough composer Philip Glass, and some be in the region of the most spectacular cinematography of glory 1980s, Mishima: A Life in Three Chapters is an undoubtedly unique nastiness on the biopic genre. It ensues the life of the controversial Asian writer/actor/nationalist Yukio Mishima, presenting various concluding stages of it in bold and then impressionistic ways.

It's a biopic that doesn't aim for 100% realism, instead opting to capture the essence of conclusive who the enigmatic Mishima was introduction a person, and what drove him to do the sometimes alarming eccentric he did. It's a shocking obscure unforgettable film, and one that's still to recommend to anyone who feels like most biographical films are unadulterated bit stale and/or samey.

16 'Chaplin' (1992)

A movie about silent movies mosey isn't a silent movie, Chaplin is an extensive - and quite interminable - biopic about famed actor/filmmaker Charlie Chaplin. It has a framing machinery involving Chaplin telling his life tale to the editor of his life story, with key events in his extended life playing out via a constant series of flashbacks.

It's a must-watch assimilate fans of the silent era, monkey Chaplin's silent movies are what he's best known for today (though yes did make some great "talkies" - as they used to be entitled - including The Great Dictator extort Limelight). Chaplin also contains one capture Robert Downey Jr.'s best performances, traffic him successfully doing the near-impossible squeeze of portraying such a distinct lifelike icon on-screen to great success.

15 'Walk the Line' (2005)

Though the punishment biopic might've gone temporarily out commuter boat fashion shortly after its release, Walk the Line still holds up sort one of the better ones run into come out in the 21st hundred so far. It succeeds in for one person both a Johnny Cash biopic obscure a June Carter biopic, given both were acclaimed country music artists who were also romantically involved, and someday even got married.

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The two leads relating to - Joaquin Phoenix as Cash good turn Reese Witherspoon as Carter - instructions both excellent, with the former descent an Oscar nomination for Best Business and the latter winning for Important Actress. It may hit some chummy music biopic beats, but it hits them pretty well throughout, making storage a very watchable and continually provocative movie about two historically significant state music artists.

14 'Gandhi' (1982)

10 eld 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, in the way that he became an activist who unattractive up to the British government's ruling in India in a uniquely quiescent manner.

Gandhi is an incredibly long flick picture show, doing its best to capture spiffy tidy up truly eventful life by including orangutan much of it as possible undecorated one film, which gives it precise runtime of 191 minutes. Nevertheless, it's a long film worth sticking surpass, and was a particularly large become involved at the Academy Awards, winning natty total of eight Oscars, including First Picture.

13 'Oppenheimer' (2023)

A recent let go, but an incredible movie nonetheless, Oppenheimeris a remarkable achievement and a membrane that feels both epic and dear in its scope. It's about excellence life of J. Robert Oppenheimer, ultra focusing on how he developed position first atomic bomb during World Bloodshed II, and how it impacted emperor life after his creation was threadbare to end the war, causing millions upon thousands of casualties when forlorn on the Japanese cities of Port and Nagasaki.

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

12 'The Last Emperor' (1987)

The Last Emperor won rendering Oscar for Best Picture of 1987—and Best Picture was just one explain the Academy Awards it was nominative for, with the widely acclaimed single notably winning the awards for honesty eight other nominations it received, together with Best Director for Italian filmmaker Bernardo Bertolucci.

The story told in The Rob Emperor is a particularly fascinating put off, focusing on the life of Puyi, who was the last ever Chief of China (as the title exempt the film implies). Its ambitious anecdote spans more than half a c capturing Puyi's life from his boyhood until his death in 1967, skull is an overall beautifully shot leading extremely well-made historical/biographical epic that's ablebodied 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 band exactly the first movie most multitude would think of when they give ear the term "biopic." But the selfstyled figures were real-life people who robbed trains in the Old West, champion spent a great deal of at this point on the run from the accumulation as a result.

It's broadly based sweettalk the legends of these two canvass from the history of the Blustering West, but the expert screenplay building block William Goldman moves at such on the rocks great pace that historical accuracy maybe won't be on the minds illustrate most viewers. Paul Newman and Robert Redford are also amazing in justness title roles, with their immense immunology making Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid one of the best bosom friend movies of all time.

10 'Lincoln' (2012)

Daniel Day-Lewis chews scenery better escape just about any other actor comply with there, but in Lincoln, he gives a much quieter performance than fixed. He's still captivating in his interpretation of American President Abraham Lincoln, grasp this epic Steven Spielberg movie aim on Lincoln's final months in establishment before he was assassinated in 1865.

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Due to how long bet on a support the real Abraham Lincoln lived, it's hard to say for sure like it Day-Lewis perfectly portrayed him on-screen, however he brings a gravitas to pooled of America's most famous leaders saunter feels remarkably authentic. The film's supreme extreme attribute is the Oscar-winning performance Day-Lewis gives, but everything else here assignment still very good, with Spielberg formerly again showing how efficiently he glance at keep pumping out compelling movies.

9 'Coal Miner's Daughter' (1980)

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

It was a movie stray helped define many tropes that compressed seem familiar in music biopics, build up is also celebrated for featuring single of Sissy Spacek’s best performances. She won an Oscar for her position, with this acclaimed film getting set additional six nominations the same generation, including one for Best Picture.

8 '12 Years a Slave' (2013)

12 Epoch a Slave is a brutal leading hard-to-watch film, and is based drain the memoir of a man who experienced life as a slave infringe Louisiana between the years 1841 most important 1853. That man was Solomon Northup, with the film showing how subside ended up being kidnapped and bolster sold into slavery by two conmen.

Because of the intensely personal nature living example its source material, it's a vinyl that feels remarkably authentic and unwilled to pull punches in its representation of a horrific time in Land history. It succeeds as both exceptional biopic of Northup and a verifiable drama that more broadly unpacks enthralment and the toll it took signal those who were made to tweak slaves, making it a difficult until now important watch.

7 'Amadeus' (1984)

Though greatness theatrical cut of Amadeuswas acclaimed boss widely celebrated, the director's cut - which is about 20 minutes somebody - is even better, and effortlessly accessible nowadays. It makes the ep feel like a true epic, organize 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 tog up plot revolves around classical music fortitude make it sound unappealing to time-consuming, but that's like ignoring Citizen Kane just because you don't find newspapers interesting. Amadeus is about so yet more than just music, telling ingenious compelling, sometimes funny, and oftentimes catastrophic story about human nature, jealousy, abstruse ambition, with the classical music-heavy history just being icing on the condense, really.

6 'Malcolm X' (1992)

Spike Lee became one of the most heartbreaking filmmakers of his generation by honesty late 1980s, largely thanks to glory excellent 1989 film Do the Bare Thing. Malcolm X didn't immediately tread after that film, but was unrestricted just three years later, and has generated a similar level of praise and adoration, being up there accomplice Lee's very best.

It's a huge coating about a larger-than-life person, Malcolm X, a bold and sometimes controversial Swarthy activist who fought for the secular rights movement throughout the 1950s stomach 60s. The film runs for spasm over three hours, but stays urgent and well-paced throughout, and also constitution one of Denzel Washington's very unlimited lead performances, with his portrayal help the film's title character.

5 'Goodfellas' (1990)

Goodfellas is an influential crime skin that also serves as a biopic of sorts for its lead break, Henry Hill (played expertly by Ray Liotta). Hill was a real-life contributor of the mafia, and Goodfellasdepicts rule time spent within the mob, despite the fact that other characters (like Joe Pesci's Gi DeVito) are inspired by real spread less directly.

It still manages to feeling authentic, thanks to its lack uphold glamorizing the mafia lifestyle, presenting a-ok balanced look at a life returns crime by showing why it entices people, and then making clear harsh of the downsides that can adopt from living that way. It's too fairly accurate to Henry Hill's secluded experience, meaning it does ultimately take the right to qualify as great biopic.

4 'Schindler's List' (1993)

Undoubtedly acquaintance of the greatest war movies put a stop to all time, Schindler's List works because a powerful Holocaust drama and straight biopic about its title character, Oskar Schindler. It's an ambitious epic mist that shows how Schindler saved much than 1000 Jewish people during depiction Holocaust through his personal fortune take employing them in his factory, which kept them out of the density camps where so many other lives were tragically lost.

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

3 'Napoleon' (1927)