Talk:List of biographical films

Lucy
The link for the film goes to the article for the name "Lucy" not the film.Promontoriumispromontorium (talk) 23:00, 25 October 2009 (UTC)

How are films organised?
I see that it's by year, but what about within individual years? Should it by alphabetical order (as in the List of animated feature films) or is it in order of the first release date? Right now, it seems to be in no order at all... Esn 06:45, 9 June 2006 (UTC)

I like alphabetical order within a year, but being able to use CTRL-F to find something, means that any order is fine.Bejnar 12:53, 8 September 2006 (UTC)

What is a biofilm?
Should Good Night, and Good Luck be on here? After all, it doesn't give us a life portrait of its main character, only in-depth detail of a single episode in his life. It's not really a life story. Should the list include films that only cover select episodes in someone's life? If we do, it becomes a bit difficult to weed out the "historical" films from the "biographical" films... Esn 07:20, 9 June 2006 (UTC)

I don't think Good Night, and Good Luck qualifies. Just like I think World Trade Center doesn't qualify. They have biographical elements, based on actual events, but are not biographies. Biographies don't have to cover every event in a life, nor even a whole life. With movies it is often hard to tell entertainment from content. I don't think we should try too hard to weed out the merely historical where their focus is on a single individual's contribution. Bejnar 12:53, 8 September 2006 (UTC)

Someone added the comment to the top of the database: Please keep this table limited to films w/ significant acclaim or historic significance and films that are, strictly speaking, biopics, not historic films or films based on a true story (Erin Brokovich, In Cold Blood).
 * In general, I agree with that statement. Bejnar 19:37, 22 October 2006 (UTC)
 * I've just removed two from the list that do not adhere to a strict definition of biopic: The Man Who Would Be King (an adaptation of a Kipling short story that includes Kipling as a character, but which is a fictional story) and All the President's Men (which is not a biopic about Woodward and Bernstein as stated in the table). There are others that require some sort of ruling: The Untouchables and Confessions of a Dangerous Mind are almost entirely fictional, based loosely on events from the lives of real people (Chuck Barris was never actually a CIA agent; Eliot Ness was already an experienced lawman when he arrived in Chicago and was not involved in Capone's arrest and conviction for tax evasion, Frank Nitti didn't die by Ness' hand and in fact managed Capone's empire while the later was imprisoned, etc.), which I doubt matches the definition of "biographical film".  I'm sure the entire list could withstand a critical analysis. 12.233.146.130 (talk) 21:25, 17 January 2011 (UTC)

Dating
Sholdn't the last category be titled 2000-2009? Gohst 10:16, 5 September 2006 (UTC)

Yes, it should for consistency. If too many biopics are made in this decade it may end up being 2000-2004 and 2005-2009. Bejnar 12:53, 8 September 2006 (UTC)

Biopics on living subjects
I've had a scout around, but I can't see any list of biopics made about living subjects. Is there one? -- JackofOz (talk) 00:04, 17 February 2009 (UTC)

Shakespeare films
I just wonder to what degree these are "biographical" films. They are certainly filmed plays, but whether the plays themselves were truly biographical is another question. They tend to focus on certain important events, but they don't purport to be a theatrical presentation of the subject's entire life, and what they do portray is not necessarily even supported by the facts of history. I would tend to place these in the same category as "Good Night and Good Luck.". That was much closer to the truth than, say, "Macbeth" is, but it doesn't qualify for this list because it focusses, like most of Shakespeare, on selected events. Comments? -- JackofOz (talk) 01:31, 17 February 2009 (UTC)

Me and Orson Welles
Should this film be included in this article? It stars Christian McKay as Orson Welles, but I'm not sure if it can be classed as a biographical film. 84.92.117.93 (talk) 22:23, 15 January 2010 (UTC)

WorldCat Genres
Maximilianklein (talk) 23:00, 5 December 2012 (UTC)

Oscars/Awards
It would be very cool to add a column with the awards the role has won. It would probably reveal that a huge quantity of Oscars have resulted from biopics. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Amurri (talk • contribs) 00:01, 7 February 2013 (UTC)

Split
This article needs a WP:SIZESPLIT, as it is way too large. Would recommend some splitting based on decades. Natg 19 (talk) 23:39, 15 September 2022 (UTC)