Movie Genre: Biography
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1.
Amadeus
(1984)
The incredible story of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, told by his peer and secret rival Antonio Salieri - now confined to an insane asylum. (160 mins.)
Director: Milos Forman
2.
Elizabeth
(1998)
A film of the early years of the reign of Elizabeth I of England and her difficult task of learning what is necessary to be a monarch. (124 mins.)
Director: Shekhar Kapur
3.
Evita
(1996)
The hit musical based on the life of Evita Duarte, a B-picture Argentinian actress who eventually became the wife of Argentinian president Juan Perón, and the most beloved and hated woman in Argentina. (135 mins.)
Director: Alan Parker
4.
Farinelli
(1994)
Farinelli, is the artistic name of Carlo Broschi, a young singer in Handel's time. He was castrated in his childhood in order to preserve his voice... (111 mins.)
Director: Gérard Corbiau
5.
Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus
(2006)
Turning her back on her wealthy, established family, Diane Arbus falls in love with Lionel Sweeney, an enigmatic mentor who introduces Arbus to the marginalized people who help her become one of the most revered photographers of the twentieth century. (122 mins.)
Director: Steven Shainberg
6.
Gandhi
(1982)
The life of the lawyer who became the famed leader of the Indian revolts against the British rule through his philosophy of nonviolent protest. (191 mins.)
Director: Richard Attenborough
7.
Goya's Ghosts
(2006)
Painter Francisco Goya faces a scandal involving his muse, who is labeled a heretic by a monk. (113 mins.)
Director: Milos Forman
8.
Kinsey
(2004)
A look at the life of Alfred Kinsey, a pioneer in the area of human sexuality research, whose 1948 publication "Sexual Behavior in the Human Male" was one of the first recorded works that saw science address sexual behavior. (118 mins.)
Director: Bill Condon
9.
Milk
(2008)
The story of Harvey Milk, and his struggles as an American gay activist who fought for gay rights and became California's first openly gay elected official. (128 mins.)
Director: Gus Van Sant
10.
Nixon
(1995)
A biographical story of former U.S. president Richard Milhous Nixon, from his days as a young boy to his eventual presidency which ended in shame. (192 mins.)
Director: Oliver Stone
11.
October Sky
(1999)
The true story of Homer Hickam, a coal miner's son who was inspired by the first Sputnik launch to take up rocketry against his father's wishes. (108 mins.)
Director: Joe Johnston
12.
Papillon
(1973)
A man befriends a fellow criminal as the two of them begin serving their sentence on a dreadful prison island, which inspires the man to plot his escape. (151 mins.)
Director: Franklin J. Schaffner
13.
Rain Man
(1988)
Selfish yuppie Charlie Babbitt's father left a fortune to his savant brother Raymond and a pittance to Charlie; they travel cross-country. (133 mins.)
Director: Barry Levinson
14.
Ray
(2004)
The story of the life and career of the legendary rhythm and blues musician Ray Charles, from his humble beginnings in the South, where he went blind at age seven, to his meteoric rise to stardom during the 1950s and 1960s. (152 mins.)
Director: Taylor Hackford
15.
Robin Hood
(2010)
In 13th century England, Robin and his band of marauders confront corruption in a local village and lead an uprising against the crown that will forever alter the balance of world power. (140 mins.)
Director: Ridley Scott
16.
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
(2007)
The infamous story of Benjamin Barker, AKA Sweeney Todd, who sets up a barber shop down in London which is the basis for a sinister partnership with his fellow tenant, Mrs. Lovett. Based on the hit Broadway musical. (116 mins.)
Director: Tim Burton
17.
The Elephant Man
(1980)
A Victorian surgeon rescues a heavily disfigured man who is mistreated while scraping a living as a side-show freak. Behind his monstrous facade, there is revealed a person of intelligence and sensitivity. (124 mins.)
Director: David Lynch
18.
The King's Speech
(2010)
The story of King George VI of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, his impromptu ascension to the throne and the speech therapist who helped the unsure monarch become worthy of it. (118 mins.)
Director: Tom Hooper
19.
The Last Emperor
(1987)
The story of the final Emperor of China. (163 mins.)
Director: Bernardo Bertolucci
20.
The Last King of Scotland
(2006)
Based on the events of the brutal Ugandan dictator Idi Amin's regime as seen by his personal physician during the 1970s (121 mins.)
Director: Kevin Macdonald
21.
The Libertine
(2004)
The story of John Wilmot, a.k.a. the Earl of Rochester, a 17th century poet who famously drank and debauched his way to an early grave, only to earn posthumous critical acclaim for his life's work. (114 mins.)
Director: Laurence Dunmore
22.
The People vs. Larry Flynt
(1996)
A partially idealized film of the controversial pornography publisher and how he became a defender of free speech for all people. (129 mins.)
Director: Milos Forman
23.
The Social Network
(2010)
Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg creates the social networking site that would become known as Facebook, but is later sued by two brothers who claimed he stole their idea, and the cofounder who was later squeezed out of the business. (120 mins.)
Director: David Fincher
24.
The World's Fastest Indian
(2005)
The life story of New Zealander Burt Munro, who spent years building a 1920 Indian motorcycle -- a bike which helped him set the land-speed world record at Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats in 1967. (127 mins.)
Director: Roger Donaldson
25.
You Don't Know Jack
(2010 TV Movie)
A look at the life and work of doctor-assisted suicide advocate Jack Kevorkian. (134 mins.)
Director: Barry Levinson
26.
Quills
(2000)
In a Napoleonic era insane asylum, an inmate, the irrepressible Marquis De Sade, fights a battle of wills against a tyrannically prudish doctor. (124 mins.)
Director: Philip Kaufman
27.
The Motorcycle Diaries
(2004)
The dramatization of a motorcycle road trip Che Guevara went on in his youth that showed him his life's calling. (126 mins.)
Director: Walter Salles
28.
Walk the Line
(2005)
A chronicle of country music legend Johnny Cash's life, from his early days on an Arkansas cotton farm to his rise to fame with Sun Records in Memphis, where he recorded alongside Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins. (136 mins.)
Director: James Mangold
29.
Frida
(2002)
A biography of artist Frida Kahlo, who channeled the pain of a crippling injury and her tempestuous marriage into her work. (123 mins.)
Director: Julie Taymor
30.
Gods and Monsters
(1998)
The last days of Frankenstein director James Whale are explored. (105 mins.)
Director: Bill Condon
31.
Invictus
(2009)
Nelson Mandela, in his first term as the South African President, initiates a unique venture to unite the apartheid-torn land: enlist the national rugby team on a mission to win the 1995 Rugby World Cup. (134 mins.)
Director: Clint Eastwood
32.
Kundun
(1997)
From childhood to adulthood, Tibet's fourteenth Dalai Lama deals with Chinese oppression and other problems. (134 mins.)
Director: Martin Scorsese
33.
Mask
(1985)
A teenager with a massive facial skull deformity and biker gang mother attempts to live as normal a life as possible under the circumstances. (120 mins.)
Director: Peter Bogdanovich
34.
Blow
(2001)
The story of George Jung, the man who established the American cocaine market in the 1970s. (124 mins.)
Director: Ted Demme
35.
Braveheart
(1995)
When his secret bride is executed for assaulting an English soldier who tried to rape her, William Wallace begins a revolt and leads Scottish warriors against the cruel English tyrant who rules Scotland with an iron fist. (177 mins.)
Director: Mel Gibson
36.
Sunshine
(1999)
The fate of a Hungarian Jewish family throughout the 20th century. (181 mins.)
Director: István Szabó
37.
Seven Years in Tibet
(1997)
True story of Heinrich Harrer, an Austrian mountain climber who became friends with the Dalai Lama at the time of China's takeover of Tibet. (136 mins.)
Director: Jean-Jacques Annaud
38.
Hotel Rwanda
(2004)
The true story of Paul Rusesabagina, a hotel manager who housed over a thousand Tutsi refugees during their struggle against the Hutu militia in Rwanda. (121 mins.)
Director: Terry George
39.
Capote
(2005)
In 1959, Truman Capote learns of the murder of a Kansas family and decides to write a book about the case. While researching for his novel In Cold Blood, Capote forms a relationship with one of the killers, Perry Smith, who is on death row. (114 mins.)
Director: Bennett Miller
40.
Behind the Candelabra
(2013 TV Movie)
Based on the autobiographical novel, the tempestuous 6-year relationship between Liberace and his (much younger) lover, Scott Thorson, is recounted. (118 mins.)
Director: Steven Soderbergh