Arts Movie Reviews

Still, this concert film is a good bridge between Foxworthy's earlier material and the Blue Collar Comedy Tour (which drew heavily on this content). Laughing about the difference between rednecks and sophisticated people replaces his other Redneck material, and we also get musings like what the artist wishes he knew, and the horror of a bikini wax. Parts of this concert feel a little forced - one gets the feeling Foxworthy tore this material off rather quickly to satisfy contractual obligations with HBO - but on the whole it's pretty good.

This concert will appeal primarily to those who are already established fans of Foxworthy and his distinctive sense of humor. Newcomers would be better advised to pick up the "You Might Be a Redneck If..." or "Games Rednecks Play" albums. Still, if you already know you like Jeff Foxworthy, this is a pretty sharp album, and no waste of your funds.

The downsides can be summed up as uneven animation and uneven musicianship, basically. I wish Geoff Dunbar had stuck with the concept of either a moving cartoon or a moving work of art; instead it's a mishmash of the two. Clearly this is a cartoon drawn over some fairly nice-looking paintings as a static background, and it doesn't always work. At times it seems kind of lifeless, other times overly simplistic, sometimes marred by a stuttering frame rate. It certainly pales in comparison with something like Fantasia which is never less than completely, and lushly animated. Occasionally there is a flicker of real beauty, though, and those moments should be prized.

There is a bigger problem with the animation, though: Dunbar fails to draw on the possibilities of the translation of an opera to this medium. Warner Bros. did it better with What's Opera, Doc (Wagner's Tannhauser, of course); Dunbar must have missed that one somehow. In particular, where the right touch could heighten the bright colors inherent in this, one of the most gorgeous scores I've ever had the pleasure of coming into contact with, instead it rather dampens my enthusiasm. It lacks vigor where it could use it most.

Equally unfortunately, the musical performances are mediocre. Most of the vocalists seem to be constrained by the need to make sure the audience can understand everything without subtitles, but the orchestral bits sound quite bland, too. It totally lacks the vivacity of the wonderful Mackerras recording, still has the power to move me to tears. The depth of this great piece is also lost in rather heavy cuts; the story is still highly coherent and the key points are all there, but a half-hour's worth of musical material cannot disappear without removing something crucial.

Enough carping. After all that, this remains a faithful adaptation and it does the emotional and philosophical content of the opera ample justice. Dunbar's approach tends to favor the darker regions of the story, but then, I never appreciated this element of the Vixen, hidden among the brilliance of the more lushly flowered stretches, so as far as I'm concerned, all the better. I'm also happy to report that the story isn't watered down, at all. I was concerned because it isn't exactly child's play. Actually, in one spot I think it's even a bit ruder than the original, and the adult themes of love, death, poaching, animal abuse, and even socialist politics are present, and treated admirably. I would put the cutoff age for viewing at about 10; it's a bit too intense for the younger audience.

Finally, as lackluster as this may be as an adaptation of Cunning Little Vixen, it cannot be denied that on the grand scale, this is truly high-quality entertainment. You won't find anything like the maturity and craft of this storyline on CBS, and greater musical sophistication is hard to come by anywhere. Any effort to bring true masterworks closer to the masses is to be lauded, and compared with most efforts, this one bears practically no compromise in artistic integrity. As a diehard Vixen aficionado, who prizes this work as his own favorite opera, I give this effort my blessing.

Message to Grace: Have somebody collect film and tape from a much, much better time in your band's history. Somewhere around the release of "Volunteers" would be a good place to start. Have them work backwards from there, to the beginning. Then, have a talented director make a documentary out of it, with a small emphasis on interviews and history, and a big, big, big emphasis on the MUSIC. (That means LOTS of concert and studio footage...) Put it on DVD, promote it a little, and sit back and watch it sell, sell, sell. I'll buy one for me, and one for everybody I care about; because you did something really special, really important, really profound and quite beautiful during that time, something you should be proud of. Ditch this 80's BS, and give us something real. Please.

A much better choice is the Salzburg Festival DVD of this opera by TDK. First, the negatives: it's one of those productions by a European director who thinks that Janacek would have done it this way if only he had just been as clever as the director. It's set not on the banks of the Volga, but in the courtyard of a Soviet-era apartment building somewhere in Eastern Europe. There are a few distractors: a non-singing drunk/demented person (take your choice) who is on-stage all the time; a broken fountain that substitutes for the Volga; the Kabanicha's room perpetually open onto the stage, and so on.

However, the positives far outweigh the negatives. Angela Denoke is incandescent as Katya. The entire supporting cast beats the Glyndebourne cast, one-on-one, hands down. Dagmar Peckova (Varvara) and Rainer Trost (Kudryas) elevate their roles through their artistry to primario status. The orchestra(the Czech Philharmonic, Sylvain Cambreling conducting) is clear and powerful, and well-balanced with the singers. Worst case, you can turn off the picture and just listen to it.

I got my copy of this version of KK from the Royal Opera's website (Region 0 encoded). ...

The little bit that I was able to view lacked the production quality (details, camera angles) of more modern products.