Don Movie Reviews

The "movie" (by which I mean the integrated thirty-two vignettes) is an exploration of Glenn Gould (Pearl Harbour, Colm Feore, Storm of the Century), the Canadian-born musician who is considered to be one of the world's greatest pianists, an eccentric genius whose performance of Bach's Goldberg Variations was recorded and included onboard the Voyager space probes.

By no means a conventional biography, the film's episodes rarely attempt to pin down exact events or particular dates in his life. Exceptions include his interviews, radio broadcasts, and his final concert appearance. Rather, the film shows us phases and stages of his life, from his childhood to his career as a concert performer, his hobbies - the stock market, humour, travel, and experimental radio broadcasts - and his last days, when he complained to friends and relatives of his apprehension of death.

The aesthetic of the film is self-consciously arty, deliberately bizarre, and exceedingly concerned with crisp, polished sound - exactly like Glenn Gould.

It runs for 100 minutes or so, which means each vignette should have an average of 3 minutes. In reality some of them are 1 minute long, and other more key sequences (like one where Gould is at a truck stop) are of 5-6 minutes duration.

Very worthy purchase if you are familiar with or interested in the quirky but brilliant musician.

If I could give it 0 stars I would.

I love this opera, but would pick the Karajan (salzburg, live) on Sony. Not perfect, but at least watchable and listenable.

The singers are excellent: Kiri Te Kanawa as Donna Elvira, and Edda Moser as Donna Anna really shine above all, both so lovely and graceful, and vocally wonderful. Moser especially manages to be emotionally expressive. Ruggero Raimondi is a fine Don Giovanni, Jose Van Dam a rather elegent Leporello, with John Macurdy as Il Commendatore, Kenneth Riegel as Ottavio, Teresa Berganza as Zerlina, and Malcolm King as Masetto rounding out the cast well.

The sound: The volume fluctuates depending on where the singer is placed in the scene, fading out as they walk away for instance, which is dramatically appropriate, but a musical disaster. There is a quartet that is bizarre in its balance, since two of the singers are in the background. Lorin Maazel conducts the Paris Opera, which in this, and other recordings I have heard, does not have the richest and fullest sound in the world, and may be adding to the problems.
The Don's demise however, starting with the Commendatore's "Don Giovanni a cenar teco" is marvelous, and despite the camera inexplicably lingering on the servant boy instead of the action at times, it is a riveting scene, with some of the most superb music ever written.
Though well worth viewing, I would put this film into the "rent not buy" category, unless one is an inveterate opera collector.

As with Eagles performances, "Live: Inside Job" is an extremely good display of top quality musicianship. Henley gives impassioned and nearly flawless renditions of the best of his solo career, some Eagles material (including a twist on the classic "Hotel California") and some good new material. He is well backed up by an excellent band and choir.

This is an excellently produced DVD. None of the material seems out of place, it is visually pleasing but most importantly with anything that Henley does the sound is rich and enveloping. All in all this is a fantastic listening experience for Henley fans but also for anyone who can appreciate good musicianship.

One thing I notice with my DVD (which I'm not sure if it's a defect or what) is that, on either the DTS or DD version, the rear surround speakers seem to become more noticeable half way in the middle of the flute solo at the beginning of Lilah. You can actually hear the flute sound move from the front to the rear speakers (hummm!?!). Before that point, there is not much going on in the rear speakers, but after that point, the surround experience is greater with more instrumentation and background vocals coming from the rear. Is it just me?!? I'll probably return the DVD for another copy to hear if it acts the same way.

None the less, the sound quality is very clean and this DVD is a keeper!

In "Checkmate," the Prisoner is inspired to gather other people who still have their individuality after watching a chess game in which people act as the pawns in the game and are told to move by the chess player. The question asked in this episode is whether or not we are pawns in life. This harks back to the pilot episode "Arrival," when the retired admiral tells a woman that "we're all pawns."

In "The Chimes of Big Ben," a russian agent (?) is brought to The Village and is in the same exact position that the Prisoner's in. He decides to cooperate in the arts & crafts show so that she'll not get hurt... but of course, he still is defiant towards Number 2. One of my favorites in the series, he is hesitant on whether or not he should trust this beautiful russian prisoner.

In "A,B, and C," the Prisoner is sedated and captured in a laboratory. The new Number 2 uses untested drugs to probe through his dreams to find out why he resigned. An interesting plot point at the end keeps this from being average, as we find out that the Prisoner did not intend to sell out.

In "The General," the same Number 2 returns, this time utilizing a "speed learning" program (run by the Professor, sort of...) in which everyone learns something in merely 15 seconds. What Number 6 soon realizes is that one merely memorizes the information as opposed to learning it. This one's hard to analyze, but I think McGoohan tried to convey the message that technology is getting the better of us, and the technology is interfering with the growth of knowledge (either that, or we are misusing the technology to that effect.).

The Butler never speaks. He always serves his master faithfully and unconditionally. In the "Prisoner Companion" that came with the DVD set (or if you get the "Fall Out" volume), it is stated that the Butler represents all the little people in the world who blindly follow the strongest leader just so they'll be alright. I agree with that. What's up with the Bicycle? We see it on the number badges, the signs, and practically everywhere else in the Village. Could it mean that technology is getting the better of us (as supposedly stated in "The General"), or could it mean that we should slow the growth of technology? I agree with the latter, although the first possibility could be a true statement.

"Questions are a burden to others."
"Answers are a prison for oneself."
Two phrases used prominently throughout the Village. These two are probably individuality at its most basic. Without questions, you cannot build on friendships or even just simply gain knowledge! Without answers, one simply doesn't know and is forever confined in secrecy. This leads someone to think for themselves and form opinions. Naturally, opinions are not allowed in the Village.

A great series with messages in each episode. Preferably, I give every episode 5 stars, but I highly recommend getting the megaset and watching the series all the way through as opposed to the individual volumes.

In "Checkmate", No. 6 witnesses the manipulation of a human pawn in a giant, outdoor chess game. No. 6 attempts to determine who is a true "villager" like himself and who is a planted guard on the island. Through the relationship with the pawn, No. 6 thinks he's found himself an ally in escape. But has he?

"The Chimes of Big Ben", arguably one of the best of the series, allows No. 6 to meet a beautiful woman prisoner who has already been foiled by Rover (you know, that giant bubble thing). No. 6 agrees to help No. 8 escape and he does so by entering in a village sponsored arts and crafts exhibition. This is fun to watch. Be sure to pay close attention as it all unfolds at the end and No. 6 realizes some crucial details he had overlooked before.

A great episode, "A, B, and C", has No. 2, played well by Colin Gordon, using drugs to get at No. 2's past. Hardly possible in real life but definitely fun and intriguing on the screen.

Finally, "The General" is the weakest of these four episodes but it should be said that there's no such thing as a bad episode from this show. No. 2 has decided that mind control through something called "speed learn" and operated by a giant computer called "The General" will eventually cause No. 6 to reveal that information that they so desperately want ("Why did you resign?!"). Enjoy these episodes and watch them in order along with the others in the series. This is TV at its best.

IS IT POSSIBLE TO BUY THESE MOVIES IN EUROPEAN VHS FORMAT?

THANKS

Now back to the MOVIE! I really enjoyed this movie! I have other favorites as a kid as well but this is one of the top ten! :)

Give us a widescreen format DVD and I will change my 3 stars to a 5! :)

All I can say is, this is one movie you don't really want a little kid to see, alone. Plus, it gets into gang life, or what'll happen if you were to get into a gang and you were to do something to one of the members.

Another thing I will say, I will recommend that you should buy/rent it just to see for yourself. Reviews from movie watchers are better then those from movie critics.