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To name a work is a delicate art: it has to capture the essence of the work (at least most of the times) and do justice to the content. With biopics and other biographical works, this is slightly trickier since a real person's life rarely follows a particular, simplistic theme that eases the process of naming.
Sometimes you can use certain phrases that you think represent the person well: "Raging Bull" for Jake LaMotta or "The Pursuit of Happyness" for Christopher Gardner. But some other times it's best to just name it after the person. Usually it's their last name. Sometimes the given name. It just has this immediate impact. Probably because being mononymous traditionally carries a certain honour (Plato, Rafael, and so forth), this has a certain effect of grandeur.
Sub-Trope of One Word Title (although some variations include the), and may even overlap with One-Letter Title (W.). Also a Sub-Trope of Character Title. Not to be confused with a variation where the trope is applied to fictional characters, common in TV series in order to highlight the title character's central role.
Film A-M[]
- Alexander (Alexander the Great)
- Ali (Muhammad Ali)
- Amadeus (a slightly odd example, as the protagonist is Antonio Salieri; Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is just the object of his obsession)
- Amelia (Amelia Earhart)
- Artemisia (Artemisia Gentileschi)
- Attila (Attila the Hun)
- Aurore (Aurore Gagnon)
- Babe (Babe Didrikson)
- Also The Babe (This time for Babe Ruth)
- Basquiat (Jean-Michel Basquiat)
- Becket (Thomas Becket)
- Bugsy (Bugsy Siegel)
- Caligula (Caligula)
- Capote (Truman Capote)
- Carlos (Carlos the Jackal)
- Carrington (Dora Carrington)
- Cass (Cass Pennant)
- Chaplin (Charlie Chaplin)
- Che (Che Guevara; actually a duology with a subtitle each.)
- Che!, a different film.
- Chisum (John Chisum)
- Cleopatra (Cleopatra; an extreme case with at least five films titled as such, the most famous being the one with Elizabeth Taylor [1].)
- Cromwell (Oliver Cromwell)
- Cobb (Ty Cobb)
- Danton (Georges Danton)
- Dempsey (Jack Dempsey)
- Dillinger (John Dillinger)
- Disraeli (Benjamin Disraeli)
- Domino (Domino Harvey)
- Elgar (Edward Elgar)
- Elizabeth (Queen Elizabeth I)
- Elvis (Elvis Presley)
- Evita (Evita Perón)
- Faustina (Mary Faustina Kowalska/Saint Faustina)
- Fidel (Fidel Castro)
- Frances (Frances Farmer)
- Freud: The Secret Passion (Sigmund Freud)
- Frida (Frida Kahlo)
- Gainsbourg (Serge Gainsbourg)
- Galileo (Galileo Galilei)
- Gandhi (Mohandas Gandhi)
- Gia (Gia Marie Carangi)
- Gie (Soe Hok Gie)
- Hamill (Matt Hamill)
- Hannibal (Hannibal of Carthage)
- Hansie (Hansie Cronje)
- Hawking (Stephen Hawking)
- Houdini (Harry Houdini)
- Iris (Iris Murdoch)
- Isadora (Isadora Duncan)
- Jinnah (Muhammad Ali Jinnah)
- Juarez (Benito Juarez)
- Kennedy (John F. Kennedy)
- Kinsey (Alfred Kinsey)
- Klimt (Gustav Klimt)
- Lenny (Lenny Bruce)
- Leonie (Leonie Gilmour)
- Luther (Martin Luther)
- Mahler (Gustav Mahler)
- Margaret (Margaret Thatcher)
- Marie (Marie Ragghianti)
- Milk (Harvey Milk)
- Modigliani (Amedeo Modigliani)
Film N-Z[]
- Napoléon (Napoleon Bonaparte)
- Nero (Nero)
- Nixon (Richard Nixon)
- Patton (George S. Patton)
- Prefontaine (Steve Prefontaine)
- Piñero (Miguel Piñero)
- Ray (Ray Charles)
- Sadat (Anwar Sadat)
- Selena (Selena Quintanilla-Pérez)
- Serpico (Frank Serpico)
- Silkwood (Karen Silkwood)
- Sinatra (Frank Sinatra)
- Soraya (Soraya Esfandiary-Bakhtiari)
- Spartacus (Spartacus)
- Sylvia (Sylvia Plath)
- Tatsumi (Yoshihiro Tatsumi)
- Truman (Harry S Truman)
- W. (George W. Bush)
- Wilde (Oscar Wilde)
- Wilson (Woodrow Wilson)
- Winchell (Walter Winchell)
- Wittgenstein (Ludwig Wittgenstein)
TV Series[]
- Benito (Benito Mussolini)
- King (Martin Luther King)
Web Original[]
- In a Cracked photoplasty on biopics you would naturally see some examples.
- ↑ To be fair, she is mononymous