Musicians often make for popular subjects in biographical films. In fact, there are so many that the term “music biopic” has become something of a sub-genre to the ordinary biopic. Even though they usually focus on older artists from decades past, they remain engaging and popular among filmgoers, as demonstrated by the success of Bohemian Rhapsody in 2018, and a strong debut for Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis more recently.
While most of these biographical films are about well-established, actual artists, occasionally, filmmakers dare to utilize the conventions of a music biopic while covering fictional artists. This can be done as a way of paying homage to certain artists without using their name or likeness directly, or as a way to parody certain real-life artists, sometimes in a mockumentary style. The following seven films do follow music biopic conventions to some extent, but focus on fictional musicians, making for less predictable storylines and giving more opportunities for the filmmakers behind said films to take a larger number of risks.
‘Velvet Goldmine’ (1998) – Brian Slade & Curt Wild
Todd Haynes’s strange, visually dazzling tribute to the glam-rock music scene of the 1970s is sometimes seen as a David Bowie film that doesn’t officially feature Bowie as a character. Instead, Jonathan Rhys Meyers’s Brian Slade feels like a mythical music legend with some strong similarities to Bowie, whilst Ewan McGregor’s Curt Wild is very much a depiction of another music legend from that decade, Iggy Pop, in everything but his name.
This means that Velvet Goldmine can get far more surreal and fantastical than the average music biopic, because the unusual story being told here doesn’t quite apply to the real-life figures that inspired it. Also, some of the film is built around the rivalry between Slade and Wild, and in real-life, Iggy Pop and David Bowie were actually pretty good friends, and while the real-life story of the partnership between the two is an interesting one, it’s not one with a lot of conflict or potential for drama.
‘Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story’ (2007) – Dewey Cox
Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story may not have killed the music biopic by being a great parody of the genre, but the most formulaic ones are harder to take seriously in its wake. It follows Dewey Cox, who does share many similarities with Johnny Cash, though this being a comedy, his life story is naturally much funnier and more ridiculous.
Walk Hard shines thanks to memorable lines, great scenes, and music that’s silly but also kind of catchy. It also has a truly memorable lead performance from the great John C. Reilly. Honestly, if Joaquin Phoenix could score an Oscar nomination for playing the real Johnny Cash in the biographical drama Walk the Line, why couldn’t Reilly also get some more awards love for playing a comedic version of that role?
‘Inside Llewyn Davis’ (2013) – Llewyn Davis
A Coen Brothers film set in the early 1960s – when folk music was becoming popular – Inside Llewyn Davis focuses on a decidedly not popular fictional musician, Llewyn Davis. The universe seems to have a grudge against Davis, but at the same time, he is a tortured and often bitter individual who fights back at the forces that bring him down, which only continually makes his situation worse. It’s a sometimes funny, sometimes very bleak film, and one of the Coen Brothers’ absolute best.
There’s a cyclical, spiraling nature to the film, and it captures the endless slog of being a creative person who can never find success in their chosen field. A music film about failure and despair almost has to be about a fictional person, because if a real-life musician is well-known enough to get a biopic made about them, chances are they found at least a little success in life. Maybe someone like Llewyn Davis really did exist, and the world never learned who they were. The fictional Llewyn Davis in this masterful film serves as a personification for all those musicians throughout history who tried their best to make it big, only to find their best was unfortunately never good enough.
‘This Is Spinal Tap’ (1984) – Spinal Tap
This Is Spinal Tap is admittedly more of a documentary spoof than a biopic spoof, but it’s simply too great of a film to pass over when discussing movies that depict fictional musicians. And honestly, because those musicians are fictional, it does ultimately achieve a similar type of comedy to something like Walk Hard: A Dewey Cox Story, which doesn’t present itself as a mockumentary.
The film follows the fictional rock band Spinal Tap, and though the actors who play the band members have since recorded genuine albums in character, the film came first, and in the film, they are definitely fictional. It’s a film packed with iconic scenes and hilarious improvised dialogue, and words really wouldn’t do any of the film’s jokes justice. This Is Spinal Tap shines a light on the absurdity that comes with a rock and roll lifestyle by quite literally turning the humor and madness of it all up to 11, and in doing so, becomes one of the best comedies of all time.
‘I’m Still Here’ (2010) – Joaquin Phoenix (the rapper)
I’m Still Here is a strange, strange film. It’s the kind of movie you watch and then read about and still feel at a loss for words when it comes to describing it. At the time of its release, it claimed to be a documentary about Joaquin Phoenix retiring from acting to pursue a hip-hop career (a phoenix-like rebirth/transformation, if you will), and for what it’s worth, Phoenix dedicated himself so fiercely to the role that back in 2010, some people believed him.
But his subsequent, continued acting career has confirmed that Joaquin Phoenix, the rapper, was just another character that Joaquin Phoenix, the actor, masterfully played. So while Phoenix may be a real person, I’m Still Here is very much about a fictional version of Phoenix. Confused? Good, because Phoenix and director Casey Affleck probably want you to be.
‘The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash’ (1978) – The Rutles
Releasing six years before This Is Spinal Tap, The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash is perhaps the first feature-length music mockumentary. While it’s not quite as well-known or funny as that 1984 classic, it’s still a very funny film that will appeal to anyone who enjoyed the mockumentary on Spinal Tap.
Instead of satirizing rock bands in general, The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash is very much focused on spoofing the career and popularity of The Beatles, which it does quite well throughout. It’s also notable for featuring two members of Monty Python, Michael Palin and Eric Idle, the latter of whom also wrote and co-directed the film. As such, it’s also easy to recommend to fans of the legendary British comedy group’s sense of humor.
‘I’m Not There’ (2007) – Six people who are sort of but not quite Bob Dylan
Made almost 10 years after Velvet Goldmine, director Todd Haynes takes a similar approach to depicting Bob Dylan in film in I’m Not There. It’s heavily inspired by Dylan’s life and music, but stars six actors who play different characters that all embody Bob Dylan in different ways without any of them literally being Bob Dylan.
It’s an odd concept and somewhat hard to get your head around, which might be why it’s far from one of the most popular music films in recent memory. Still, Bob Dylan was (and still is) a mysterious, even mythical figure within the music world, and so telling his life story in the style of a straightforward, traditional biopic likely wouldn’t have done the perpetually enigmatic singer justice.