This book offers a series of case studies that throw light on the type of films that are collectively known as bio-pics. It asks whether the bio-pic is a genre in its own right, or whether such films are merely footnotes to other more traditional genres such as western or costume dramas. It shows how bio-pics, unlike other genre forms, seem to share no familiar iconography, codes, or conventions. They can be set anywhere and at any time. It argues that what links them is, quite simply, the fact that the films depict the life of an “important” person. Through a carefully selected range of thema ... More

This book offers a series of case studies that throw light on the type of films that are collectively known as bio-pics. It asks whether the bio-pic is a genre in its own right, or whether such films are merely footnotes to other more traditional genres such as western or costume dramas. It shows how bio-pics, unlike other genre forms, seem to share no familiar iconography, codes, or conventions. They can be set anywhere and at any time. It argues that what links them is, quite simply, the fact that the films depict the life of an “important” person. Through a carefully selected range of thematically linked (English-language) bio-pics released since 1990, this book explores key issues surrounding their resurgence, narrative structure and production. It also looks at the issue of subject representation or misrepresentation in bio-pics and the critical response these type of films have engendered. The films under discussion are grouped around a number of professions (writers, singers, politicians, sportsmen, criminals, artists). This allows for comparisons to be drawn about the way in which similar subject matter is approached.