Farinelli

Rating:
Summary: One of the most haunting movies I've ever seen!
Review: Admittedly, I did not know a lot about opera or Farinelli before seeing this movie, so whatever historical inaccuracies it might contain were not noticeable or distracting to me. With this disclaimer made, let me say that when the movie was over, I was immediately moved to learn more about this legendary singer and the opera he performed.

This move is gorgeously shot, beautifully acted and never slow. For those reviewers who complain that Farinelli is portrayed as being ashamed of his castration, I would argue that an early scene in the film, when Farinelli sees another castrato being made fun of in front of an audience and gets up on stage to defend him and show off his own beautiful voice, is proof that the castration itself is not a source of shame for Farinelli. He is certainly proud of his talent. I think the movie is more concerned with Farinelli's ambivalence toward his brother and his strong desire to be a father. He is not ashamed of his catsration, but rather feels pained that he cannot start a family of his own, and that he must be so dependent on his brother.

As another reviewer mentions, the real tension of the movie is between the brothers, who both help and constrain one another terribly, with Farinelli being especially held back by Riccardo.

This tension simmers throughout the movie and finally explodes in various climactic scenes. You will be enthralled to see how the relationship between these two men develops, changes and eventually disintegrates.

The actor who plays Farinelli is perfectly androgynous as a true castrato would be, and though he has some trouble with the lip-synching, he puts so much emotion into his part that it doesn't distract too much. Also, I did not find the sex scenes to be over-the-top as others have suggested. Remember, this is a European movie about a young, stirring European man, and the attitude toward sex in Europe is far less prude than ours tends to be in the U.S. This is definitely an erotic and passionate film, so be prepared for that.

This is a deep, complicated, beautiful movie about relationships, dependency, art, and music. It won the Golden Globe in '94 for best foreign film and was nominated for the Oscar in the same category. Enjoy.

Rating:
Summary: I knew nothing of this movie till I happened upon it 1 night
Review: and the memory of it still lingers in my mind in a way thats hard for me to explain to myself much less another. After reading everyone else review I better understand that sense of wonder at the whole concept. Why a castrato? A man has much stronger and larger lungs than a female and can project a note with much more force. Think of your favorate female singer with more power. A must see!

Rating:
Summary: In a few words, a fantastic movie.
Review: Anyone who loves romance would love this movie. Anyone who loves opera, or even music for that matter, will love this film. Not only is the music marvelous, but the writting, acting, and costumes are sublime. I have not seen this in a translated version, so I can not comment other than that the original is one of the greatest films I have ever seen, a must see for those who prefer a small budget foreign film over the multi-million dollar garbage that filters out of Hollywood.

Rating:
Summary: A very worthwhile movie, especially if you like baroque
Review: As a female, I wept buckets when watching this movie. The melodrama was, perhaps, a bit exaggerated but not to the point of losing emotional poignancy. The acting was, generally, quite good, including the singing scenes. Yes, the lip-synching was noticeable, but people who complain should try caraoke-ing the simplest coloratura piece in front of a mirror to see how well they would do! They'd notice that they were lucky just to stay within the tempo. From the standpoint of history, the movie is inaccurate. Handel's Rinaldo was composed and staged well before Farinelli ever got to England, while the movie implies that the score stolen by Farinelli's paramour was new. Likewise, I doubt that Handel ever promised Farinelli to never compose another opera ever again, because Handel continued composing afterwards. From the musical standpoint, the movie is also inaccurate. For example, Farinelli is shown singing both "Cara sposa," Rinaldo's aria, and then "Lascia ch'io pianga," the "sposa's" aria, in the same performance. Obviously, no single performer would sing both lead roles on stage at the same time. But this is really not important. The music was there to give flesh to Farinelli's sacrifice for the sake of art. Thus, "Lascia ch'io pianga" (Let me cry over my cruel fate) was there as a symbolic expression of Farinelli's pain, and not simply as a musical vignette. Pity, that it wasn't translated in the subtitles for the ones who don't know much about baroque opera. As a final point, although the soundtrack was pretty impressive, I know of a couple of countertenors who (without any electronic morphing) could do better justice to the legend of Farinelli. Dominique Visse would be my first choice.

Rating:
Summary: fabulous movie, fantastic scenery, music, and energy
Review: Beautiful rendition of Farinelli, the 18th century castrato, probably best remembered for his gorgeous voice. This movie hits the spot. Good acting, gorgeous costumes, beautiful music. If you are interested in history or musical history, you should definitely see it.

Rating:
Summary: Fictitious, but still great
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: A Second Review Of A Great Film
Review: Director Gerard Corbiau's Farinelli won Best Picture of 1995. The foreign film, mixed Italian and French, retells the story of the famous and greatest castrato singer Carlo Broschi. The film is exotic, intensely emotional and loaded with beautiful music of the Baroque Era (1600-1750). With all the good things about this movie, comes some things that might be rather disturbing or inappropriate for a younger audience. This is assuredly an adult film. There are two explicit sex scenes at the beginning and end of the film. This is a movie for an adult who is interested in the period, in the life of the castrati and in opera at this time. The opening introduces Carlo Broschi as a little boy singing in the church choir. Another young lad has been castrated to preserve his voice and is so mortified he leaps to his death. Eventually Carlo's brother Riccardo is obligated to do the same to his brother. We don't learn until later in the film that it was Riccardo and not Carlos' brother that conducted the castration. Here, Farinelli is usually quite ill and is forced to take opium as medicine. Farinelli does not seem to think highly of his brother's operas, which are written exclusively for his voice. Instead, he believes the greatest composer of this time is George Frederic Handel, played convincingly by Jerome Krabbe. In a dinner party, in which the Nobles insult Handel, Farinelli is outraged and declares that Handel will long be remembered and not the Nobles and their operas. This ends up being true since Handel is considered one of the greatest composers of this period togeter with Johann Sebastian Bach.

The movie has some inaccuracies and are not historically true. Naturally, this being a costume drama, there are some elements which were entirely fictional created for the sake of sensationalism. Although it is true Riccardo Broschi did compose operas for his brother Farinelli, there is no real evidence they "shared" the women they bedded. In the movie, a Countess is so enamored with Farinelli that she jumps into bed with him only to discover he's castrated. Thus, Riccardo plants the seed and Farinelli only lures the women into bed and seduces them. This is fabricated material to "sex up" the movie. In real life, Farinelli I'm inclined to believe was chaste. He sung many times for religious services and was a devout Catholic. He may not have been at all bitter for his castration since he lived like a king all his life, surrounded in luxury. He was well acquainted with European royalty, all of Europe loved him and he died after years of singing in the chambers of King Phillip of Spain. The rivalry between the Nobles Theatre Opera and Handel's opera company is true. In fact, it remains the only true thing about this movie. The English in London disliked the German foreigner Handel and his prominence in London. He was so beloved that even King George and Queen Anne protected him. The Nobles schemed endlessly to get rid of Handel. The portrayal of Handel as a musical genius, a man of stubborn, perfectionist character is all true. I think the most moving scenes are those with Handel, such as the scene in which Farinelli is overhearing him play the organ in the church and is moved by the music and the scene of Farinelli singing "Lascio Chio Pianga" from Rinaldo which ultimately moves Handel to tears. All the scenes of opera and Farinelli singing in his majestic costumes in this movie are stunningly beautiful. Finally, this movie's soundtrack is incredible. It contains the combined voices of tenor Derek Rogin and soprano Ewa Mallas as the singing voice of Farinelli. The arias sung here are taken from Riccardo Broschi's operas Idaspe and Artaserse and from Handel's Julius Caesar and Rinaldo. A superb film and a must see for fans of Baroque opera.

Rating:
Summary: Tremenda pelicula
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Farinelli
Review: Extraordinarily haunting. Beautiful and vibrant, Farinelli leaves it's audience breathless. The only unfortunate incident in this film is when the credits begin to roll, and the realization that it is actually over dawns.

Rating:
Summary: Nice symbology, incredible costumes, a few annoying tics
Review: First, let me say I admire Stefano Dionisi for taking on a part many male actors wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole--and doing a fine job by it, mostly. (Though in places, I wonder if the director didn't interfere with Dionisi a little too much, resulting in a strained performance. I've seen him, elsewhere, do better.)

In any case, the scenery is sumptious, the music is...interesting, the historical research (or lack thereof) is, at times, appalling--although there are nice, little-known touches: e.g., the white horses, for instance, which seem otherwise inexplicable in the Spain sequence. Farinelli introduced a new breed to Spain during his time as eminence grise to Philip V.

But the whole tie between the brothers is really rather overemphasized, since the real Farinelli, while certainly performing his brother's work, also performed a variety of *other* work. While I understand the emotional set-up Corbiau is trying for, I knew a little too much to buy it. Also, the view of opera is inaccurate, as it's made to seem that there is only one singer. The sex scenes were also a bit distracting; sometimes I thought I was watching a movie about the notorious Cafarelli, not Farinelli (who was, reputedly, rather fastidious). It seems to be a classic case of using sex to titilate. The final sex scene is sweet, but the first could have been handled more allusively while still getting across the general idea of the "brotherly pact."

Despite all that, it's a fun film, but probably more fun if the viewer knows a little less about opera. ;> (And despite complaints about Dionisi's lip-sincing, he did a good job for a non-musician asked to mime extremely difficult pieces.)