Celebrity Reenactment, Biopic, and the Mortal Body

Abstract

This chapter analyzes two stars’ biopics from the 1950s: Carlos Velo’s Torero! on bullfighter Luis Procuna and Sophia: Her Own Story (1980) featuring the famous Loren playing herself and her mother in a TV biopic. The chapter analyzes the constraints posed to celebrity self-reenactment: how different temporal orders: of biology (the star’s aging body), the recurrent circuitry of star iconography, and the flexible order of aesthetic representation balance precariously in these narratives. Taking the cue from André Bazin’s analysis on bullfighting and death in the cinema, this chapter analyzes the specific roles of archival footage and of reenactment in star biopics. In particular, it looks at how reenactment’s temporal indeterminacy contrasts with documentary images of bullfights. The chapter situates Velo’s work within Mexican experiments with ciné-verdad as well as Zavattini’s international influence in these efforts in 1950s Mexico.