Matthew Libatique talks ‘Maestro’, spends time on set with ‘icon’ Steven Spielberg and how Bradley Cooper became ‘a real director’ – Camerimage

Bradley Cooper’s second directorial outfit master, an ambitious and lavish biopic of Leonard Bernstein that premiered in Venice, none of the film’s stars or crew made it to the red carpet. SAG was already 51 days into its attack on the studios.

The experience of watching the premiere and subsequent raves from afar was “actually better than normal”, says the two-time Oscar nominee master DoP Matthew Libatique told Deadline. Libatique called us at the EnergaCamerimage Film Festival in Poland, where master participate in the most important cinematography-oriented competition.

“It’s actually a lot of work to promote a film. “I’ve always been in favor of just putting the work out there and letting people decide whether they like it or not without me saying anything,” he added.

master tells the complex love story of Leonard Bernstein and Felicia Montealegre Cohn Bernstein (Carey Mulligan) – a story that spans more than 30 years. Perhaps best known for his scores for Broadways west side story and the classic Marlon Brando film At the water’s edgeBernstein married the actress in 1951 and had three children with her, with the couple dividing their time between New York and Connecticut. The dynamic between the duo is complicated by the relationships he’s had with both men and women over the years, though conducted with Felicia’s approving consciousness. The couple was once separated for a period of a year, but ended up staying together until Felicia’s death in 1978. Netflix will be in select US theaters on November 22 before airing on December 20.

master is the second collaboration between Cooper and Libatique after 2018 A star is born, and the picture cements the pair as one of the more interesting and daring director-DoP duos that contemporary Hollywood has to offer. Below, Libatique talks to Deadline about working with Cooper, who he says “became a real director,” Steven Spielberg, one of the film’s producers, and his fears about filming in the Bernstein family’s real home.

Camera image runs until 18 November.

DEADLINE: Due to the strike, this is one of the first in-depth meetings Conversations with a member of the The Maestro team gave in public. What was it like to see the reaction to the film even though you were a little removed from it?

MATTHEW LIBATIQUE: Things actually went better than normal. It’s actually a lot of work to promote a film. I’ve always been in favor of just putting the work out there and letting people decide whether they like it or not, without me saying anything. So that was great. There have been many positive comments and I have been told that the reviews are good. That’s why I’m so grateful that people understand what the film is about and appreciate the extraordinary lives of Leonard and Felicia Bernstein.

DEADLINE: What initially made you feel like Bradley Cooper was someone you might want to work with? There is usually a lot of snobbery around actors who direct.

LIBATICS: Honestly, it was from the first time I met him. It just clicked. It was our first meeting before A star is born. And that was the way he approached cinema. He is a student of the game. Every time I see him he learns a little more. He was fed like an AI by ethereal information about how we do it, and he became a real director. He is probably one of the most ruthless people I know, so I knew from the start that he was someone I would want to work with more than once.

DEADLINE: I’m from the UK so I didn’t know much about Leonard Bernstein. Have you? And how did you get involved with the film?

LIBATICS: I didn’t know much about him either. I knew him through west side story And At the water’s edge. I didn’t know his own music. Bradley called me. It was right after we did that A star is born, and we were in awards season. He talked to me about this new film idea that inspired him and that was it. He spent the better part of five or six years on the script and his voice, just starting to figure out the shape of the film until we finally started shooting. I was just excited. He was so inspiring and I love being around that energy. I am also a fan of biopics. I like the study of a person. It was fascinating to me. And I was interested in the idea of ​​photographing the different eras.

DEADLINE: The film cycles through various formats, including black and white, 4:3 frame and widescreen. Can you explain these decisions to me?

LIBATICS: Bradley always saw the film in black and white. The question was when it would be colored. Right now it’s about 70 minutes to look ahead, and they’re married with kids, but we’re still keeping the 4:3 aspect ratio. We ran tests for every size and aspect ratio, and I think Bradley liked the conflict. The horizontal setting of two people, because actually it is a film about two people, a man and a woman. There is a horizontal constraint in this framework. And if you notice, the movie starts at 1:85 after she dies. Now there is a lonely man in the picture. And we shot on film. We tried Digital, ARRI 66, Monochrome and Red Monochrome, but the magic came when we rolled 5222 [Kodak film stock]and there was no comparison. It was inexplicable, a very clear, beautiful black and white in the monochrome cameras.

DEADLINE: Does it change the way you work knowing you’re shooting it for Netflix and people are probably going to do it too? Watching at home?

LIBATICS: No, I still take pictures in front of a screen. Before I called, I was filming a movie for Netflix The ball, and I recorded it for the screen anyway, knowing it would probably never get a theatrical release, but it would probably play on someone’s 85-inch TV. It’s quite big. I take pictures for the big presentation, and at some point someone will look at them on a phone on the subway, and that’s just the way it is. But I think the real purpose is to take a photo and present it to an audience of strangers.

DEADLINE: Let’s talk about the view scene in the cathedral when Leonard Mahler no. 2 composed. It’s a great scene and many people discuss it here on Camerimage. Can you explain it to me?

LIBATICS: When I entered this room, Ely Cathedral, very close to Cambridge, it was so large that it seemed eerie. I thought, how on earth am I going to light this room? So there was some apprehension, but I had a great team from London. We had a pretty basic lighting plan and shot a lot more footage compared to what ended up in the film, but that’s the interesting thing. The soul of the scene also makes it one of Bradley’s films. This experience was one of the highlights of my career. I had never been surrounded by a band before. There was the London Philharmonic and I was sitting on the front bench during our opening session. They were practicing and I knew I was in a special place. Something cool was supposed to happen in this scene. It’s just a powerful moment.

DEADLINE: I actually know Ely Cathedral very well. What was it like filming there? It’s quite old. And I know that you also shot into the Bernstein family home.

LIBATICS: It’s quite old. But it is very big. And there are some modernizations related to it. They have a number of installations up there that they put lights on because they have to be lit at night these days. It served us well. Things were a little more difficult at Bernstein’s summer home in Fairfield, Connecticut. We were afraid to bring the crane with the big lights onto the property of the house. But after a few days, the presence of the Bernstein family and the knowledge that we had their blessing, a spirit of creativity prevailed. It felt like we were good and Lenny’s spirit gave us permission to do it.

DEADLINE: Now that Bradley is in full costume, how exactly do you as a director work with him on set?

LIBATICS: Well, that’s a good question. On his filming days, he arrived extremely early. If our call time was at seven, Bradley would be there at three or two to begin his prosthesis and his process of turning into Lenny for the day. When I arrived at the appointed time, he was usually almost ready. So he was already Lenny, and it was like working with Leonard Bernstein and not Bradley Cooper. We realized we just had to get used to it. And instead of planning multiple shots at once, Bradley worked on one or two shots. He took a viewfinder and walked through the scene just like Leonard Bernstein. And while we were cutting out the scenes, we thought about how we could possibly keep the camera rolling. The process was very simple.

DEADLINE: The film was produced by Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg. Both are known for being very practical. Have you visited the set?

LIBATICS: We never saw Marty. He didn’t come over. But Steven came by countless times. And wow, how cool is it to do it with Steven Spielberg. It was very cool. He’s such an icon, but he was super approachable and just imparted his wealth of knowledge. He talked to me about black and white films and the history of American cinema. It was a great energy to be around during filming.

DEADLINE: What are you planning now?

LIBATICS: Honestly, I don’t know what to do now. The strike has just ended. So I am in a good position to be available and open to things. Ideally, I will work with someone I have worked with before. I enjoy it, whether it’s Darren, Spike or Bradley. Organizing a film is currently chaotic. But I hope to do something in a week or so.

DEADLINE: Oh, and you also directed Darren Aronofsky’s film Postcard From Earth for the Vegas vibe. Did you see it on the light bulb?

LIBATICS: This is a place you must see if you have the chance. Imagine sitting somewhere where the screen is bigger than your peripheral vision. It’s almost 360 degrees and it feels damn close. The reliability of this camera developed by MGM is 16K and the images are vivid. And the screen lasts. It looks cinematic. I was afraid it looked like a giant TV screen. But it’s actually very cinematic. It will be interesting to see what plays there in the future since it is such a large screen. The storytelling will change because you can’t do big close-ups on this screen. The person will simply look like a giant. So it will be interesting to see how it develops from a storytelling perspective because it has to fit this big thing. I think what we did was a good introduction to the technology.