For Your Binge Consideration: 10 'Unconventional' Biopics

10. 24 Hour Party People directed by Michael Winterbottom

What's the subject matter? The Manchester music scene from 1976 to 1992 through focal point of Tony Wilson's (Steve Coogan) Factory Records, all the way from punk rock to rave culture.

How is it 'unconventional'?  Rather than hitting individual story beats or ticking boxes of 'this happened' and 'that happened', the film spirals into a frenzied concoction of real-life events and urban legends, brimming with chaotic energy and irreverence that's so entertaining, with just enough substance brought largely by the devoted performances of a strong ensemble cast. Though its scope is occasionally too broad for the most part the approach works very well.

9. American Splendor directed by Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini

What's the subject matter? Comic book writer Harvey Pekar (Paul Giamatti), and partially an adaptation of his autobiographical American Splendor comics.

How is it 'unconventional'? Using a rather daring device of having the real-life Harvey Pekar - as well as his wife and writer Joyce Brabner (Hope Davis) and frequent collaborator Toby Radloff (Judah Friedlander) - appear at regular intervals, this very dry, acerbic film provides a very vivid insight into Pekar's very particular mindset: sour, cynical, moody but also strangely likeable which the self-deprecating approach of both the direction and performances at hand utilise.

8. Lenny directed by Bob Fosse

What's the subject matter? Controversial stand-up comic Lenny Bruce (Dustin Hoffman) who butted heads with the law and establishment through his freewheeling, no-holes-barred routines over a range of social issues and was convicted in 1964 over obscenity charges.

How is it 'unconventional'? A terrifically edited and shot B&W biopic, the unique narrative structure here involving the exploration of both Bruce's fight against the system and his own personal demons and negative qualities is told through an effective framing device of his standup routines, all performed terrifically by Hoffman who puts his all in the role, and has an additional ace up the sleeve in Valerie Perrine's depiction of his wife Honey and their tumultuous relationship that forms the broken heart at the film's core.

7. Bronson directed by Nicolas Winding Refn

What's the subject matter? Britain's 'most violent' criminal Charles Bronson (Tom Hardy).

How is it 'unconventional'? Fittingly for such a larger-than-life, high profile personality, Refn presents us with what's almost a performance art piece almost with Hardy's Bronson performing a series of stage renactments and monologues about his life to an audience, interspersed with snippets of Bronson's upbringing and crimes both outside and most predominantly within the prison. This unique combination makes for a truly absorbing experience into the psychotic yet strangely relatable mindset of Bronson, and sets the stage for one of Hardy's best performances.

6. The Wind Rises directed by Hayao Miyazaki

What's the subject matter? Japanese aviation engineer Jiro Horikoshi who designed an array of WWII Japanese fighters, including the Mitsubishi A6M Zero.

How is it 'unconventional'? As is to be expected from Studio Ghibli, this delivers on being a great animated film, and particularly intriguing in its approach as a biography as both a tale of inspiration but also tinged with the troubles and tragedies fitting to the nature of the era and realities it takes place within. It's a great example of how you can craft a narrative that's light in tone while taking into account the darker elements, without letting one side compromise the other, a balance I feel more biopics should strive to achieve.

5. Love and Mercy directed by Bill Pohlad

What's the subject matter? Musician Brian Wilson who co-founded/led the Beach Boys in two stages of his life: as a young man with a promising career suffering from mental setbacks (Paul Dano) and an older, heavily medicated individual (John Cusack).

How is it 'unconventional'? We get a structure that is particularly remiscient of a Pet Sounds single: the two narrative strands operate on very different wavelengths, Dano's section focusing more on the glee and creative spark of the music production process, Cusack's on a burgeoning romance with a car saleswoman (a winning Elizabeth Banks), with the bridging factor being Wilson's struggles with mental illness and his subsequent slow recovery. It results in quite a unique biopic that doesn't tell a straightforward 'this happened, that happened' story but rather focuses on the experiences of Wilson and putting us in his shoes, so to speak.

4. I'm Not There directed by Todd Haynes

What's the subject matter? American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan.

How is it 'unconventional'? Haynes rather than trying to tell a biopic of Dylan directly, crafts six narratives with six different actors - Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Marcus Carl Franklin, Richard Gere, Heath Ledger, Ben Whishaw - as six different parts of Dylan's persona. This is an experimental technique put to great use here as we get six rather compelling stories for the price of one, all which cohere into a collective exploration of his musical identity as a poet, the different eras and phases of his music, and uses Dylan and his music as a platform for a rather intriguing exploration of the search for identity.

3. The Right Stuff directed by Philip Kaufman

What's the subject matter? The test pilots doing research for, and the seven military pilots selected as astronauts, in the formation of NASA's Project Mercury space programme.

How is it 'unconventional'? One of the great cinematic epics, though not in the way you might expect, since despite the epic length this is in many ways one of the most intimate and interpersonal biopics you'll ever see. You learn so much about the space programme itself, but so much time is also devoted to the Mercury Seven astronauts' personal lives and the way they approached their status as 'American heroes', which the film treats with humour, dignity, honesty and respect that is far better than the usual biopic over-reverence, as well as the legendary pilot Chuck Yeager, played brilliantly by Sam Shepard. Bolstered by some amazing technical elements, in particular that great Bill Conti score, this masterful space biopic flies right by you as a very entertaining film, but also a truly inspiring one without being schmaltzy or manipulative.

2. The Last Emperor directed by Bernardo Bertolucci

What's the subject matter? The life of Puyi (John Lone), the last emperor of China.

How is it 'unconventional'? As we follow the birth, brief reign in the Forbidden City, abdication, descent into becoming a puppet ruler by Japanese invaders and subsequent disappearance into obscurity, this is a fascinating biopic because it is essentially about a man in power who was essentially powerless throughout his reign as emperor. Lavishly costumed, designed, scored and shot, the film immerses you with period detail but most importantly creates a vivid realisation of not some vibrant, exciting life with lots of eventful happenings, but the powerlessness of both the ascent and descent of Puyi from power, despite all the appearances of power and wealth. The emptiness of the royal position given to him is what forms the crux of the emotional core to the narrative, amplified by John Lone's amazing performance, and as the film moves back and forth in time to show Puyi being imprisoned post-WWII, broken down by his experiences. It's an incredible film that deals with so many themes and issues through such a unique sort of protagonist for a biopic: a man defined not by his own actions, but the actions of others.

1. Ed Wood directed by Tim Burton

What's the subject matter? Cult filmmaker Ed Wood (Johnny Depp) whose 1950s low-budget campy features have become a staple of cult moviedom.

How is it 'unconventional'? One of my favourite films of all-time, this is quite possibly Tim Burton's magnum opus as it takes everything great about his style and implements it into a figure ripe for his treatment. The film is not just about Ed Wood, it breathes and lives through the spirit of Ed Wood and it's rare to see any film or biopic being treated with such love and care. With the cinematography and aesthetic choices all attuned to that specific era of filmmaking, it creates an often hilarious and strangely inspiring story of a technically incompetent and rather daffy filmmaker, and his gang of misfit cohorts who he strings along for his wacky, campy motion pictures. The recreations of each of these films is so different to most biopics' attempts as Burton doesn't simply try to replicate them, he creates an environment, a world of Ed Wood's own where all of his trademark styles are evident both in the films within the film and the film itself. It is a grand technical achievement but also a very sweet film where Ed's friendship with his biggest asset, fading horror legend Bela Lugosi (an Oscar-winning Martin Landau) is perhaps the strongest part of the film. I could go on and on all day about how great this film is, really.