Dirs: Davide Livermore, Paolo Gap Cucco | Cast: Valentino Buzza, Mariam Battistelli, Vincent Cassel, Fanny Ardant, Caterina Murino, Rossi De Palma, Angela Finocchiaro | Italy 106′
Fans of opera will adore this cinematic hybrid opera imagination of Orpheus et Eurydice. The film is inspired by the Greek tragedy with music originally created by the bohemian composer Gluck. A high-profile cast fused the world of film and opera: Vincent Cassel, Caterina Murino, Fannie Ardant, Rossy de Palma and award-winning Italian soprano Mariam Battistelli.
This new creation from stage director Davide Livermore and creative director Paolo Gep Cucco, also contains instantly recognisable arias from Verdi, Puccini, Rossini, Mozart, Vivaldi, Band with pop classics such as Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s The Power Of Love thrown in for new audiences.
Premiering at this year’s Rome Film Festival the film really dazzles as a piece of entertainment, even if you’re not keen on opera. Cucco created the recent production of Aida, the first opera in the world exclusively made up of video scenes, that played at the Sydney Opera House.
This film was shot in Prodea Led Studios in Turin and is one of the first on-set virtual production. LED panels are used as a backdrop for a set on which video or computer-generated imagery can be displayed. It’s a new departure for filmed entertainment and certainly works well for this kind of production offering audiences the chance to experience the colour, vibrancy and musical clout of opera without the exorbitant prices.
The Opera! Is also one of the acclaimed fashion house collaborations. Dolce&Gabbana created the costumes: Fanny ardent looks resplendent in a white suit, with a black moon glowing against a burnished copper background. Other fashion collaborations include Bad Lurhmann’s Romeo and Juliette: the Montegues were kitted out in Prada and the Capulets in D&G for the respective houses. Almodovar’s recent Strange Way of Life was costumed by Anthony Vaccarello for Saint Laurent. Not forgetting, of course, Giorgio Armani’s slick suits in Paul Schrader’s 1980 classic American Gigolo. @MeredithTaylor
THE OPERA! World premiered at the recent ROME FILM FESTIVAL 2024