Farinelli
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Movie Reviews of Farinelli
Movie Review: Tremenda pelicula
Summary: 5 Stars
Esta es una de las mejores peliculas que he visto en mi vida la he visto 3 veces en el cine, y ahora la compre en DVD. Y REALMENTE ES EXCELENTE!!! La recomiendo a personas sensibles, que amen el arte, la musica y un buen guion.Movie Review: Unique but Flawed
Summary: 4 Stars
Thank goodness this prize-winning, one-of-a-kind film "Farinelli" was made, even though there are many disappointments about it. It makes a good story about the greatest singer ever; however, the plot has little to do about the real Carlo Broschi. Some scenes and ideas about him actually are the antithesis of the real man. I would guess that this story is about 10% Carlo, 10% about other known castrati, 10% about castrati in general, 20% about Baroque opera and that era, and 50% just plain fiction. As astonishing as Farinelli's voice and career were, he did not have the conflicts and drama film makers believed necessary to make a successful movie; therefore, they made it up.
My being a true music lover and also knowledgable about Baroque belle canto, I'm most disappointed in the voices used. The Sony techs knew how to electronically meld the voices of a countertenor and a female soprano, but obviously they knew little about the belle canto sound, regardless of the fact that there were clues in their own script(!), let along first-hand accounts written by knowledgable people of that time. Admittedly in 1994, better trained countertenors were only beginning to appear, so the established, average-voice one chosen may have seemed reasonable to the film makers. In addition, the breathy, warbly, imprecise approach among most female sopranos (along with their distinctly female timbre) had become engrained and accepted by most listeners since the 19th century, so the makers did not sense that this soprano's voice was inappropriate in their attempt to approximate the castrato voice. If they had been more careful in choosing, they should have insisted that supreme soprano Gundula Janowitz participate in the production. And for the countertenor, they should have chosen Andreas Scholl. Regardless of the fact that he was early in his countertenor carreer, he was known for that as well as his earlier experience as a boy soprano.
The other musical disappointment is, to keep the movie length shorter, the arias were truncated to 2/5 their original length or less. This is understandable from a film-maker's view; however, the viewer misses the intent to the Da Capo aria form where the repeated musical theme provides the singer (who in a sense was a "co-composer") with the opportunity to "show his stuff," i.e., his acrobatic vocal skills, high notes, and his musical understanding. The CD soundtrack does have the complete arias and, therefore, is more informative and satisfying.
Since this 1994 film was made, interest among music lovers in Baroque vocal works has expanded greatly with many new productions of operas, oratorios, etc., from Handel, Hasse, Bononcini, Mozart, etc. The Center for the Study of Farinelli has been established in Bologna. Farinelli's remains were discovered in 2006 and are being studied. A new production approached carefully and seriously, well researched, financed, cast, and directed, would be very welcome.
Movie Review: wonderful view into the Baroque
Summary: 4 Stars
Though this is not on a par with Amadeus, it is an incredibly rich portrait of a period. I was fascinated by it, and my daughter, a serious singing student, saw (non-racy) portions of it in her French school. It is a very European film, paying minute attention to historical (if not biographical) detail. It is also a taut drama between two brother, one a performer of genius (truly a rock star of his age) and the other a hanger-on who uses his brother to advance an otherwise mediocre talent. Hamdel is also fun, but I never appreciated him all that much.
At the core of the drama is a terrible secret, of course. The brothers are very close, sharing lovers and their music, and their love for each other is lost eventually. While this is not biographically anything we can know, it is great drama that never becomes soap opera.
You see popular culture for aristocrats of the time, which is a real treat. They are not portrayed as silly dilettantes (such an easy cheap shot), but as great cultural enthusiasts and patrons, which some of them were.
Recommended warmly. It is worth re-viewing many times and we certainly will.
Movie Review: Fictitious, but still great
Summary: 4 Stars
Corbiau's Farinelli is a great film in many ways. Beautifully done from a visual point of view, as well as the aural. Hearing the scenes of musical performance in the nicely done DTS surround sound was just as nice as listening to a concert performance on dvd!
The only reason I did not give this review the full 5 stars is as a protest to the rather gross distortion of the historical character's personality and the facts of his life. Not much of what goes on the film actually occured. Also, Riccardo Broschi gets a Salieri-a-la-Amadeus treatment. No, he won't be replacing any of the giants of the baroque, but getting to hear some of his music (previously unavailable anywhere else) was one of the most interesting things to me in the film.
On the other hand, Porpora probably WOULD topple the musical world, if it wasn't for the saddening fact that much of his music has been lost...
In conclusion, despite the above, the film is really quite fantastic - I whole heartedly recommend it - only bear in mind that you are not really watching history unfold.
I look forward to more such films from Corbiau.
Movie Review: Magnificent story
Summary: 4 Stars
This movie is exquisitely shot and directed, and the display of baroque opera segments is stunning. There is much validity in the dipiction of late baroque music and performance practice. The opening scenes of a warning to the child Carlo Bruschi by a suicidal castrato sets the tone for the curtained emotions of the hero. Highly recommended and a must-buy for music history fans.