Just watched Maestro, the film about Leonard Bernstein, on Netflicks. Not sure about the black and white of the first part, nor the highly personalised and rather vapid narrative which concentrated so much on the homosexual elements in his life (which certainly came into full bloom while he was married to his wife). Didn't get too much sense of the burgeoning genius who didn't start learning the piano till he was fourteen, yet became a first rate virtuoso, let alone world-class conductor and important composer and educator. Some of the latter came through in the depiction of his performance of Mahler's Resurrection Symphony, which gave some indication of the emotional depth of which he was capable, even when he was involved in his grotty homosexual affairs. Carey Mulligan as his wife gave a fine performance, and conveyed the deep emotional trauma she experienced when she realised the extent of Bernstein's betrayal of her.
