![]() ![]() ![]() The heavily masochistic story is familiar. Despite the creative use of Tunisian locations to replicate early 1900's Japan, the result still feels oddly stage-bound and dramatically inert despite some bravura musical moments. ![]() In the latter camp, this 1995 French-financed film shows director Frédéric Mitterand making a valid attempt toward authenticity, but he misses a key opportunity to open up the visual and sensory possibilities beyond the obvious. On the other end are adaptations that try to cinematize operas with real locations, though most often with some deficiencies, for example, Barbara Willis Sweete's 2002 production of Gounod's "Roméo et Juliette" with Roberto Alagna and Angela Gheorghiu frankly too old to play the young lovers. On one end, there have been superb video recordings of great stage performances, such as the 2005 Salzburg Festival production of Verdi's "La Traviata" with Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazón. Filming an opera, especially one as globally well known as Puccini's, is a daunting challenge because so much of what has been composed and dramatized has been designed specifically for the stage of an opera hall. ![]()
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