There is something immediately alluring about the enigmatic life of 'the successful writer.' Throughout literary history, the image of the solitary, brooding novelist sitting behind a typewriter churning out genius from their fevered minds is a cultural stereotype now that has been cultivated through the combined life stories of literature's most mysterious and troubling figures.
The isolated nature of the writer's profession, as well as their tendencies to live with a certain amount of idiosyncrasies, has led to numerous cinematic interpretations of some of history's best scribes. Here are the 10 best films about real-life famous writers, as ranked by their IMDb scores.
10 Shakespeare In Love (7.1)
The Oscar winner for Best Picture when it was originally released, Shakespeare in Love is an old school period piece about the world's most famous playwright as he falls into writer's block and debt. The rest of the film details his love affair with a young woman that eventually reignites his creative engines.
Melodramatic, corny, and already a bit dated, Shakespeare in Love nevertheless remains a charming portrait of the young man who would soon become history's greatest writer. Additionally, Dame Judi Dench's performance as the Queen of England is one of her best-supporting turns.
9 Before The Night Falls (7.2)
Famous artist-turned-filmmaker Julian Schnabel truly turned in his first amazing effort with this biopic of Cuban writer Reinaldo Arenas, played by the always-reliable Javier Bardem. Featuring one of Johnny Depp's more outlandish pre-Jack Sparrow roles and a wealth of gorgeous Cuban imagery, Schnabel's film manages to capture the fragmented, but perpetually important ways that Arenas channeled his turbulent life into his work.
Additionally, the film does a great job relaying how the poet/writer used his open homosexuality as an important and revolutionary tool throughout his career.
8 TIE: Quills (7.3)
Quills is a film that explores a particular point in the life of infamous French provocateur, Marquis De Sade. Locked up in a mental asylum for his deviant sexual acts, the Marquis forges relationships with both the boss of the establishment (Joaquin Phoenix), as well as a young woman who does laundry at the asylum (Kate Winslet).
With Geoffrey Rush in the lead as De Sade, all three principal players are portrayed by Academy Award winners, making it a powerhouse film for fans of powerful and bold acting.
7 TIE: The End Of The Tour (7.3)
Controversial postmodern essayist and novelist David Foster Wallace tragically committed suicide in 2008, leaving behind a challenging and intellectually robust library of work. His most renowned and well known/reviled work is his "encyclopedic novel," Infinite Jest. The novel was a literary sensation when released in the mid-90s and the reclusive and introverted author was sent on a national tour to promote the landmark novel.
The film centers on the last two weeks of that tour, in which Wallace was accompanied by a brash reporter. The film's crowning achievement is the revelatory performance of comedian Jason Segel as the eccentric Foster Wallace.
6 TIE: Shadowlands (7.3)
Based on the play that was, in turn, based on the memoir A Grief Observed, Shadowlands tells the tragic story of the all-too-brief romance between novelist and theologian C.S. Lewis and literary prodigy Joy Grisham.
The deeply moving film is an adult look at the process of falling in love later in life, as well as how one chooses to view their faith when confronted with death. Anthony Hopkins gives one of his best pre-Hannibal performances as the brilliant Lewis, a complicated and cherished literary figure whose life was one of erudition and pain, both of which come through in this film.
5 TIE: Capote (7.3)
Philip Seymour-Hoffman was one of the best actors working when he passed away from a drug overdose. He left behind an incredible body of work that most actors twice his age would covet. Perhaps his greatest performance, certainly his most chameleon-esque, is his turn as (in)famous writer and socialite Truman Capote.
Capote, directed by Bennet Miller, tells of the author's time spent researching his greatest written work, the true-crime book In Cold Blood. A book about the ethics of writing as much as it is about the titular icon, Capote shines above the rest much as its star did.
4 The Hours (7.5)
The rollercoaster life that author Virginia Woolfe led is ripe for cinematic adaptation. Using a mixture of fiction and Woolfe's life story, The Hours paid tribute to the notoriously troubled writer whilst simultaneously delving into larger themes of depression and suicide. The film garnered numerous awards, including an Academy Award win for Nicole Kidman as Virginia Woolfe.
Accompanied by the one and only musical melancholy of Phillip Glass in his best film scoring performance yet, the film's bleak tone and deliberate pace make it a contemplative and strikingly well-structured piece of cinema.
3 Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas (7.6)
Terry Gilliam's zany adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson's "gonzo" memoir/novel has always been a bigger hit with audiences than critics. And, in the case of this film, that's probably how it was always going to be. Johnny Depp, a professed fan and friend of Thompson's, steps into the notorious author's shoes in a road trip to psychedelic terrors unknown.
The film's surreal visual palette and the off-the-wall energy Depp and Benicio Del Toro, as his lawyer, bring to the screen, make the film a singular experience one either loves or despises. There's nothing quite like it.
2 Bukowski: Born Into This (7.9)
The goal of this 2003 deep-dive documentary into the life of underground writer and poet Charles Bukowski was to lay out an argument for the author's overall importance within the literary canon. The documentary is more than a typical chronological retelling of a writer's life story, instead choosing to focus on who Bukowski was as a person and why his writing was such a breath of fresh air.
Featuring plenty of inspired footage of Bukowski alongside interviews and recordings of close friends' testimony, the film is an intimate gaze at a legendary personality.
1 The Diving Bell And The Butterfly (8.0)
The second stroke of genius from previously mentioned artist-turned-auteur Julian Schnabel is the biographical story of the French fashion magazine editor Jean-Dominique Bauby after he suffers a severe stroke that leaves him almost completely paralyzed. With only the ability to blink one of his eyes, Bauby enlists the help of a patient woman to transcribe his winks into an autobiography, the titular book on which the film is based.
A beautiful and life-affirming film about the incredible power of writing as a source of healing, the film is nothing short of a masterwork.
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