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242 films

Biography

Biographical films, or biopics, dramatise real lives: artists, leaders, scientists, athletes, outlaws. Hollywood's studio biographies of the 1930s–40s gave way to more critical treatments such as Lawrence of Arabia, Raging Bull and Amadeus. The challenge is to find a shape in a life without flattering it, and the best biopics focus on one revealing period or conflict rather than a cradle-to-grave summary.

Where
The United States, Britain, France, Russia, Italy
When
From the 1910s; studio peak 1930s–50s
Key figures
Abel Gance, David Lean, Martin Scorsese, Miloš Forman, Richard Attenborough, Pablo Larraín
Landmark films
Napoléon (1927), Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Raging Bull (1980), Amadeus (1984)
Legacy
Brought history and celebrity together as a prestige genre and awards favourite

What to look for

  • One decisive period instead of the full life
  • Performances that capture voice and manner
  • Period design and costume
  • Tension between legend and fact
  • Endings that reflect on legacy

Directors with the most films in this genre

Werner Herzog6 filmsMartin Scorsese5 filmsStephen Frears5 filmsAgnieszka Holland4 filmsMiloš Forman4 filmsPablo Larraín4 filmsRichard Attenborough4 filmsSteven Spielberg4 filmsTerence Davies4 filmsAgnès Varda3 filmsAndrzej Wajda3 filmsFranklin J. Schaffner3 filmsHans-Jürgen Syberberg3 filmsHiroshi Inagaki3 filmsMargarethe von Trotta3 filmsRoberto Rossellini3 filmsSergei Eisenstein3 filmsSofia Coppola3 filmsSteven Soderbergh3 filmsAbel Gance2 filmsAlejandro Jodorowsky2 filmsAlexander Dovzhenko2 filmsAndrei Tarkovsky2 filmsArthur Penn2 films
See all 162 directors
Barry Levinson2 filmsBille August2 filmsBo Widerberg2 filmsBob Fosse2 filmsCecil B. DeMille2 filmsCosta-Gavras2 filmsDavid Fincher2 filmsDavid Lynch2 filmsDerek Jarman2 filmsFrançois Truffaut2 filmsHou Hsiao-hsien2 filmsJane Campion2 filmsJim Sheridan2 filmsKenneth Branagh2 filmsLaura Poitras2 filmsMarco Bellocchio2 filmsMike Newell2 filmsMike Nichols2 filmsMira Nair2 filmsNanni Moretti2 filmsOliver Stone2 filmsRaoul Walsh2 filmsRobert Altman2 filmsRoland Joffé2 filmsShyam Benegal2 filmsSidney Lumet2 filmsSpike Lee2 filmsSteve McQueen2 filmsTerrence Malick2 filmsTodd Haynes2 filmsWalter Salles2 filmsAbbas Kiarostami1 filmAbel Ferrara1 filmAkira Kurosawa1 filmAlain Resnais1 filmAlan Parker1 filmAlf Sjöberg1 filmAli Abbasi1 filmAmos Gitai1 filmAng Lee1 filmAnn Hui1 filmAri Folman1 filmAva DuVernay1 filmBaz Luhrmann1 filmBen Affleck1 filmBernardo Bertolucci1 filmBertrand Tavernier1 filmCarl Theodor Dreyer1 filmCarlos Saura1 filmChloé Zhao1 filmChris Marker1 filmChristopher Nolan1 filmClaude Chabrol1 filmClaude Lelouch1 filmD.W. Griffith1 filmDamien Chazelle1 filmDanny Boyle1 filmDavid Cronenberg1 filmDavid Lean1 filmDon Siegel1 filmElem Klimov1 filmElia Kazan1 filmErden Kıral1 filmErnst Lubitsch1 filmFederico Fellini1 filmFernando Meirelles1 filmFrancesco Rosi1 filmFrancis Ford Coppola1 filmFred Zinnemann1 filmGavin Hood1 filmGeorge Roy Hill1 filmGillian Armstrong1 filmGiuseppe Tornatore1 filmGus Van Sant1 filmHal Ashby1 filmHayao Miyazaki1 filmHenri-Georges Clouzot1 filmHiroshi Teshigahara1 filmHoward Hawks1 filmIstván Szabó1 filmJacques Becker1 filmJacques Demy1 filmJacques Rivette1 filmJan Troell1 filmJean Cocteau1 filmJean-Marie Straub1 filmJoaquim Pedro de Andrade1 filmJohn Ford1 filmJoseph L. Mankiewicz1 filmJulien Duvivier1 filmKaouther Ben Hania1 filmKarel Reisz1 filmKarim Aïnouz1 filmKen Loach1 filmLuchino Visconti1 filmMani Kaul1 filmManoel de Oliveira1 filmMaurice Pialat1 filmMax Ophüls1 filmMay el-Toukhy1 filmMichael Curtiz1 filmMichael Radford1 filmMichael Winterbottom1 filmMike Leigh1 filmMikhail Kalatozov1 filmMárta Mészáros1 filmNaomi Kawase1 filmNeil Jordan1 filmNelson Pereira dos Santos1 filmNicholas Ray1 filmOlivier Assayas1 filmPablo Trapero1 filmPaolo Sorrentino1 filmPatrice Chéreau1 filmPaul Greengrass1 filmPeter Bogdanovich1 filmPeter Greenaway1 filmPeter Jackson1 filmPier Paolo Pasolini1 filmRichard Linklater1 filmRitwik Ghatak1 filmRobert Bresson1 filmRoman Polanski1 filmSam Peckinpah1 filmSergei Parajanov1 filmStanley Kubrick1 filmStanley Kwan1 filmThe Taviani Brothers1 filmTim Burton1 filmTodd Phillips1 filmVictor Fleming1 filmVincente Minnelli1 filmVsevolod Pudovkin1 filmWilliam Wyler1 filmWim Wenders1 filmWong Kar-wai1 filmYorgos Lanthimos1 filmZeresenay Berhane Mehari1 film

Often combined with

Drama History Crime Comedy Romance Documentary

Top 100 rated films

  1. Schindler's List 1993 · Steven Spielberg · IMDb 9.0
  2. Goodfellas 1990 · Martin Scorsese · IMDb 8.7
  3. The Pianist 2002 · Roman Polanski · IMDb 8.5
  4. Amadeus 1984 · Miloš Forman · IMDb 8.4
  5. The Salt of the Earth 2014 · Wim Wenders · IMDb 8.4
  6. Lawrence of Arabia 1962 · David Lean · IMDb 8.3
  7. Close-Up 1990 · Abbas Kiarostami · IMDb 8.2
  8. Dersu Uzala 1975 · Akira Kurosawa · IMDb 8.2
  9. Ennio 2021 · Giuseppe Tornatore · IMDb 8.2
  10. Napoléon 1927 · Abel Gance · IMDb 8.2
  11. Oppenheimer 2023 · Christopher Nolan · IMDb 8.2
  12. The Elephant Man 1980 · David Lynch · IMDb 8.2
  13. The Voice of Hind Rajab 2025 · Kaouther Ben Hania · IMDb 8.2
  14. 12 Years a Slave 2013 · Steve McQueen · IMDb 8.1
  15. Catch Me If You Can 2002 · Steven Spielberg · IMDb 8.1
  16. I'm Still Here 2024 · Walter Salles · IMDb 8.1
  17. In the Name of the Father 1993 · Jim Sheridan · IMDb 8.1
  18. Raging Bull 1980 · Martin Scorsese · IMDb 8.1
  19. The Miracle Worker 1962 · Arthur Penn · IMDb 8.1
  20. The Passion of Joan of Arc 1928 · Carl Theodor Dreyer · IMDb 8.1
  21. Andrei Rublev 1966 · Andrei Tarkovsky · IMDb 8.0
  22. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid 1969 · George Roy Hill · IMDb 8.0
  23. Citizenfour 2014 · Laura Poitras · IMDb 8.0
  24. Dog Day Afternoon 1975 · Sidney Lumet · IMDb 8.0
  25. Gandhi 1982 · Richard Attenborough · IMDb 8.0
  26. Little Dieter Needs to Fly 1997 · Werner Herzog · IMDb 8.0
  27. Papillon 1973 · Franklin J. Schaffner · IMDb 8.0
  28. The Beaches of Agnès 2008 · Agnès Varda · IMDb 8.0
  29. The Straight Story 1999 · David Lynch · IMDb 8.0
  30. Waltz with Bashir 2008 · Ari Folman · IMDb 8.0
  31. Mirror 1975 · Andrei Tarkovsky · IMDb 7.9
  32. Patton 1970 · Franklin J. Schaffner · IMDb 7.9
  33. Spartacus 1960 · Stanley Kubrick · IMDb 7.9
  34. Aguirre, the Wrath of God 1972 · Werner Herzog · IMDb 7.8
  35. Captain Phillips 2013 · Paul Greengrass · IMDb 7.8
  36. Ed Wood 1994 · Tim Burton · IMDb 7.8
  37. Hamnet 2025 · Chloé Zhao · IMDb 7.8
  38. Il Postino 1994 · Michael Radford · IMDb 7.8
  39. My Best Fiend 1999 · Werner Herzog · IMDb 7.8
  40. My Left Foot 1989 · Jim Sheridan · IMDb 7.8
  41. The Irishman 2019 · Martin Scorsese · IMDb 7.8
  42. The Killing Fields 1984 · Roland Joffé · IMDb 7.8
  43. The Last Bolshevik 1993 · Chris Marker · IMDb 7.8
  44. The Social Network 2010 · David Fincher · IMDb 7.8
  45. The Wind Rises 2013 · Hayao Miyazaki · IMDb 7.8
  46. A Man for All Seasons 1966 · Fred Zinnemann · IMDb 7.7
  47. Argo 2012 · Ben Affleck · IMDb 7.7
  48. Bonnie and Clyde 1967 · Arthur Penn · IMDb 7.7
  49. Donnie Brasco 1997 · Mike Newell · IMDb 7.7
  50. Grizzly Man 2005 · Werner Herzog · IMDb 7.7
  51. Malcolm X 1992 · Spike Lee · IMDb 7.7
  52. Missing 1982 · Costa-Gavras · IMDb 7.7
  53. Sergeant York 1941 · Howard Hawks · IMDb 7.7
  54. Serpico 1973 · Sidney Lumet · IMDb 7.7
  55. The Best Intentions 1992 · Bille August · IMDb 7.7
  56. The Last Emperor 1987 · Bernardo Bertolucci · IMDb 7.7
  57. The Motorcycle Diaries 2004 · Walter Salles · IMDb 7.7
  58. Dark Waters 2019 · Todd Haynes · IMDb 7.6
  59. Ivan the Terrible, Part I 1944 · Sergei Eisenstein · IMDb 7.6
  60. Jacquot de Nantes 1991 · Agnès Varda · IMDb 7.6
  61. Philomena 2013 · Stephen Frears · IMDb 7.6
  62. The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser 1974 · Werner Herzog · IMDb 7.6
  63. The Gospel According to St. Matthew 1964 · Pier Paolo Pasolini · IMDb 7.6
  64. The Mattei Affair 1972 · Francesco Rosi · IMDb 7.6
  65. The Two Popes 2019 · Fernando Meirelles · IMDb 7.6
  66. Yankee Doodle Dandy 1942 · Michael Curtiz · IMDb 7.6
  67. 127 Hours 2010 · Danny Boyle · IMDb 7.5
  68. A Time to Live and a Time to Die 1985 · Hou Hsiao-hsien · IMDb 7.5
  69. All the Beauty and the Bloodshed 2022 · Laura Poitras · IMDb 7.5
  70. BlacKkKlansman 2018 · Spike Lee · IMDb 7.5
  71. Chaplin 1992 · Richard Attenborough · IMDb 7.5
  72. Endless Poetry 2016 · Alejandro Jodorowsky · IMDb 7.5
  73. Erin Brockovich 2000 · Steven Soderbergh · IMDb 7.5
  74. Escape from Alcatraz 1979 · Don Siegel · IMDb 7.5
  75. Gentleman Jim 1942 · Raoul Walsh · IMDb 7.5
  76. Hunger 2008 · Steve McQueen · IMDb 7.5
  77. Lenny 1974 · Bob Fosse · IMDb 7.5
  78. Ludwig 1973 · Luchino Visconti · IMDb 7.5
  79. Midnight Express 1978 · Alan Parker · IMDb 7.5
  80. Milk 2008 · Gus Van Sant · IMDb 7.5
  81. Samurai III: Duel at Ganryu Island 1956 · Hiroshi Inagaki · IMDb 7.5
  82. Selma 2014 · Ava DuVernay · IMDb 7.5
  83. The Aviator 2004 · Martin Scorsese · IMDb 7.5
  84. The Color of Pomegranates 1969 · Sergei Parajanov · IMDb 7.5
  85. The Fabelmans 2022 · Steven Spielberg · IMDb 7.5
  86. The Favourite 2018 · Yorgos Lanthimos · IMDb 7.5
  87. The Mystery of Picasso 1956 · Henri-Georges Clouzot · IMDb 7.5
  88. Young Mr. Lincoln 1939 · John Ford · IMDb 7.5
  89. A Hidden Life 2019 · Terrence Malick · IMDb 7.4
  90. Alexander Nevsky 1938 · Sergei Eisenstein · IMDb 7.4
  91. An Angel at My Table 1990 · Jane Campion · IMDb 7.4
  92. Center Stage 1991 · Stanley Kwan · IMDb 7.4
  93. Colonel Redl 1985 · István Szabó · IMDb 7.4
  94. Cry Freedom 1987 · Richard Attenborough · IMDb 7.4
  95. Danton 1983 · Andrzej Wajda · IMDb 7.4
  96. Funny Girl 1968 · William Wyler · IMDb 7.4
  97. Henry V 1989 · Kenneth Branagh · IMDb 7.4
  98. Hitler: A Film from Germany 1977 · Hans-Jürgen Syberberg · IMDb 7.4
  99. Korczak 1990 · Andrzej Wajda · IMDb 7.4
  100. Man on the Moon 1999 · Miloš Forman · IMDb 7.4