Arts Movie Reviews

I have little good to say about this DVD of the 2001 Salzburg Festival production of Johann Strauss's 'Die Fledermaus' in Hans Neuenfels's grotesque staging. The production, while sumptuous in some respects, is so tawdry that I could barely force myself to watch it through to the end. I wouldn't have done so if I hadn't decided to write this review to warn people off it.

Neuenfels enjoys, if that's the word, a reputation as an enfant terrible of opera in Europe, although at his age - 60 at the time of this production - he should have grown up by now. His entire style seems to be based on shocking the bourgeoisie, in this case the well-heeled attendees at the Salzburg Festival, one of the most expensive musical venues in the world.

The production is set in roughly 1900. There is entirely new and often scatological spoken dialog by Neuenfels that makes unsubtle references to the hypocrisy and decadence of society, that of Austria in particular. He has made Prince Orlofsky into a cocaine-addict; the part is played by a "jazz musician" of whom I'd never heard, one David Moss, who is tricked out as a Rastafarian in dreadlocks and pajamas. His singing is all over the place, from Tom Waits-like growling to a girlish falsetto. He prances around the stage like someone in a junior high school play. We get to see him snort cocaine and offer it to his guests during the ball scene. Kewl!

The main singers are, in the main, quite good. I would single out particularly Mireille Delunsch (Rosalinde) and Malin Hartelius (Adele). Also, Dale Duesing (Frank) is fine, although he is required to wear a big white cylindrical contraption that makes him look like a walking wedding cake; the symbolism escaped me. Olaf Bär (barely recognizable as Dr. Falke) sings superbly as one expects from him, and his acting as the evil Falke is smarmily repellent. Frosch is taken by a 'comedienne,' Elisabeth Trissenaar, and her humor - cruel, solipsistic, ugly - eluded me entirely. I kept wishing for Jack Gilford in the old Met production! The Salzburg Mozarteum orchestra, led by Marc Minkowski, is fine.

The mise-en-scène is a single set that is varied artfully by the stage lighting. There are extras galore, chorus and dancers, who are required to do very strange and, at times, repulsive things. There are two added characters, the children of the Eisensteins, who look like they wandered in from a second-rate production of "Hänsel und Gretel." It is not clear what they add to the action, although they certainly ham it up a lot. Dr. Blind is actually blind (nyuk, nyuk!). Eisenstein is not only a figure of fun - that is, after all part of the plot - but a figure of cruel fun. There are gratuitous erotic acts (e.g., involving the two Eisenstein children) that are simply embarrassingly inappropriate.

I gave the DVD two stars merely because of the musical performance. And perhaps added a little in empathy for the embarrassment of the cast and musicians who had to perform in this travesty.

At the première of this production there was a near uprising by the audience; one hears booing from the audience during the curtain calls. One attendee reportedly sued to get his ticket money back. And it created a 'ein grosser Skandal' in European opera circles. It is no surprise that Gérard Mortier, the Intendant of Salzburg at the time of this production, is no longer there.

Scott Morrison

I very much enjoyed these same forces in the recently-released DVD of Die Zauberflote, and so was quite excited to see this production. Unfortunately, this is a major disappointment.

First the positive: The production itelf is actually quite wonderful - theatrical and intimate, with charming sets and fantastic acting. The singers (several of the same ones as in the excellent Zauberflote) for the most part, possess light, attractive voices, and throw some much-welcomed gusto into their roles. So I give it two stars for the acting and stage directions alone.

What takes this peformance out of the running, however, is the orchestral playing, and the conducting of Arnold Ostmann. Ostmann flies through the score at breakneck speeds. I have nothing against fast tempos in principal - when done successfully, the "light and fast" approach can be quite exciting in Mozart, as Gardiner and others have shown. However, Ostmann is fast in the extreme, and the orchestra (on 18th century "period" instruments) simply is not up to the task. Ensemble is scrappy throughout, and at several points breaks down altogether. The basic sound of the string section is scrawny, undernourished and out of tune. Balances between strings and winds are all over the place resulting in some important musical lines being inaudible. Often, the orchestra falls grossly out of synch with the singers. In some choice spots, they manage to fall out of synch with the the singers at the same time as they experience a major breakdown in ensemble, resulting in moments of total confusion and cacophony. Such moments actually might have been funny, had I not just paid $$ for this. As things were, I was not amused.

Technically, the DVD itself is also a mess. As in the production of Zauberflote, the picture is grainy and fuzzy with insufficient contrast between light and dark and streaking problems. I can live with that, but the sound presents a major problem as the recording level is extremely low, more so than on Zauberflote. Even when routed through my hi-fi system into two large, full range speakers, I had to turn the volume nob up way past normal, and boost the bass and treble to get anything like a resonable fullness of sound. Even then, I was never able to obtain a satisfying level of sonic impact.

I noticed that this production was recorded in 1981 - towards the beginning of the "historically informed performance" age. I believe that this has a lot to do with the dismal state of the orchestral playing. These same forces recorded Zauberflote 8 years later, in 1989, and the orchestral playing, while not world class, is much more secure than here, and the production is a delight.

In a way, it is a shame, because as I mentioned above, the stage direction and acting is top-notch. If this production had possessed anything close to competant musical execution, it would easily be one of the better Figaros on video. As it is, viewers looking for a good Figaro on DVD would do better with the Lyon Opera production on Kultur, which boasts excellent picture and sound quality, a young, attractive cast with strong singing and acting skills, well-conceived sets and stage-direction, and an alert , full sounding accompaniment from the Lyon Opera Orchestra.

Take a pass on this one...

The film features John Shaw, and some other Mid-south institute trainers teaching a shooting class. The camera is a bystander, and the training is not directed to the camera / viewer, but rather to the class Shaw is instructing. The result of this is that you really don't get proper instructing, but only presentation of the techniques and drills Shaw is using. During the whole instruction, Shaw speaks directly to the camera only once. There are parts of an interview added, where Shaw explains some things that were not covered in the film (they propably were handled in the shooting class, but were left out of the film).

The film is more like a presentation of some shooting drills and techniques, and a commercial of Mid-South institute, rather than a proper training film.

The picture quality is good, exept that sometimes the camera is zooming to a detail, when it should shoot a bigger picture. The sound is mushy on some instances.

In conclusion, this is not a very good film. There are some good points made, but as the instruction is not directed to the camera, from time to time you have a hard time grasping them. And without the hands-on training the shooting class attendees receive, there is not enough detail in the film.

Run time: 40 minutes

My DVD disc included 5 extras, run times ranging from 6 to 9 minutes each, subjects covering issues on gun and calibre selection, and some marksmanship basics. One of the extras was of exellent quality, otherwise they were average. The rating is for the feature film only, with extras the rating would be 3 stars.

An experimental effort at getting into the minds of Oppenheimer and other Manhattan Project participants, "Particular Men" fails almost from the start. First, and most obvious to the viewer, the choppy time-shifting back and forth from event to event wears thin very quickly. This can be a clever effect, but not when it is done in so monotonous a fashion. Second, all of the principal historical figures have been poorly disguised behind made-up names (even Einstein!), further removing us from caring one way or the other. Additionally, there is a bizarre sterility in the play that negates emotion, and before long, the play just becomes tedious.

Are we watching a play about how the characters felt about the Bomb, or about the Red Scare? Neither seems too clear by the end, and the point of the play is... what? The Bomb was bad? Using it was bad? The Red Scare was bad? Oppenheimer was bad? All of these? None of these? Unfortunately, the whole point of the play is rather vague. Through the disjointed narrative structure, the emotional impact is hampered, and the denouement (such as it is), is far too talky and experimental to support itself.

The tragedy is that the cast is excellent. The sets and make-up are extraordinary for the time (1972). The performances are mostly first-class, and even the dialogue sparkles. All of this is wasted through the unfortunate choice to jump around the story's different time periods. The disjointed structure does nothing for the characters or their story, which are both pretty good. Halfway through, you'll start wondering how much longer the play is, and when it will end.

The transfer is fair, but the video elements are clearly dated (the cover image is very blurry, but that is not necessarily indicative of the DVD quality). Keach keeps the play moving, so Stacy Keach fans should check this out. But those interested in the history surrounding the Manhattan Project, the dawn of the Atomic Age, and the Red Scare will be disappointed that the play was done here as "art" instead of in a more straight-forward fashion.

Shakespeare wrote plays that fit into three categories. His comedies, tragedies and histories. KING RICHARD II is one of those histories and is the first in a series of chronological stories. The characters in this small series (from RICHARD II through HENRY VI and culminating with RICHARD III) are pretty consistent as the title chacter in one play will rise or fall based on conflict with the person who will be the title character in the next 'episode'. With that said, RICHARD II focuses on a not-so-grand king who is happy with his throne but, he makes several mistakes. The largest of which involves banishing his own cousin and taking that cousins land. That cousin asks for it back but is refused. So, a battle is destined to happen. But, Richard is unsure and gives up his throne to his cousin who becomes HENRY IV (See Episode 2&3 of this series). I am glad this televised video exists if only for the fact that RICHARD II is not one of the more popular Shakespeare stories and thus does not get performed very often. It also hasn't been adorned with many cinematic appearances. This rendition is of the 'make-it-easy-to-understand-for-high-school-students' school of videomaking. And if truth be said, the performances and language use, understandable and clear, deliver. They did not, however, go through its scenic design in the same 'high-school-student' thought process. Whether, they are in a throne room or out on a battlefield, little is done to differentiate making story geography a challenge. Embarrasingly, many of the scenes are separated by brief music cues that literally must have come out of an old tape recorder as the music unintentionally slows and speeds up like the batteries are having a mini-Shakespeare Tragedy of their own. How is that error even possible? The video quality (And I mean 'video') is pretty low and on occasion carries a very blurry screen. This is unforgivable today as cameras for the past 20+ years have a feature called 'auto-focus'. If you are fan of Shakespeare and have not been able to see this work, this might be the only option for awhile. You will be fulfilled. But, the production is very lacking and should be priced in with the extreme bargain releases.

Don't pick up this DVD expecting to see a classical rendition of this famous tale...you will be sorely disappointed. The Lyon Opera Ballet's "Romeo and Juliet" is a hard-edged, sterile, and chilly retelling of one of the most famous love stories in history. Angelin Preljocal's choreography is described on the box as "startling", and that much certainly applies --- the choreography is decidedly modern, with not a pointe shoe in sight. The problem is, it doesn't seem to fit the music.

Let's look at the "Balcony Scene" as an example. If you've ever seen a production of the original Kenneth MacMillan choreography, you'll remember the soaring lifts and sense of giddy abandonment that accompanies Prokofiev's exquisite score. Don't look for that here. The scene starts as Romeo slits an armed guard's throat on a catwalk. Juliet sheds her oversized white shirt to reveal what looks like bike shorts and an elongated corset with bizarrely accented nipples (?!) as Romeo enters. The music takes flight but our lovers remain obstinately earthbound, groveling, stomping, and flailing in a pas de deux that more often resembles a violent rape than the tender meeting of smitten young lovers. In one repeated motif, Romeo tries to fling Juliet's limp arms around his neck several times, only to have them drop bonelessly down again. The Kirov this is not.

In the interest of full disclosure, I have to say that I've never liked modern dance to begin with, and this production did nothing to change my mind. The dancers aren't BAD, mind you; watch for some stunning feats of agility and strength. In her first entrance, Pascale Doye (Juliet) performs a forward bend into arabesque and rises slowly onto half-toe, then does several passes before moving into an agonizingly slow developpe a la seconde, again rising to half-toe with nary a wobble. (Also, watch for the German shepherd later in the ballet.) It's just that this production is murky and cold, and it's hard to tell what's going on at times. Still, if you enjoy avant-garde choreography you might want to give this one a look. But if you don't, steer clear.

The Girl of the Golden West is almost funny in its use of a Western (as in USA) as an operatic vehicle. The real strength of this production is that looks like a western and the men and Minnie, the important female, look like characters from a western. The sets are excellent. The acting was also good. However with the exception of the male lead, Ramirez (alias Dick Johnson), played by Placido Domingo, the singing is extremely wobbly and, in the case of Minnie, the singing was so inaccurate that I could not even imagine what the musical intent was.
La Fanciulla. . . is a good opera that anyone could enjoy. You should not buy this version when an musically excellent La Scala production is available on both DVD and VHS.

Gorgeous soprano Cathy Malfitano delivers a tour de force performance of Salome which graphically depicts the Hebrew princess's journey from curiosity, through infatuation, and culminating in insanity in her amorous pursuit of the ultimate party pooper John the Baptist. Her Dance of the Seven Veils was sensual, erotic, revealing, and mesmerizing. But, unfortunately, that's not the performance on this DVD. Her stellar performance was with Deutsche Oper Berlin and that is available only on VHS and Laser Disk. This DVD recording of a Covent Garden performance has some artistic merit but just isn't in the same league.

The Dance of the Seven Veils in this London performance is simply called Salome's Dance which was appropriate since we are shortchanged about 5 veils. Cathy spends a great deal of time running on and off the stage reminiscent of the Peter Sellers movie After the Fox in which Sellers directs Britt Ekland and Victor Mature to run aimlessly up and down the beach in a search for the meaning of life. At one point she was writhing on her back like a bug that had just been hit with insecticide. Not content to just watch, King Herod decided to join in and attempt to help her remove a veil. This pointless experiment with modern dance was tepid and lackluster compared with her Berlin performance.

I have no regrets about purchasing this DVD. First, the audio is excellent. Second, Bryl Terfel is superb as John the Baptist. And, I adore the delectable Ms. Malfitano and would gladly purchase a recording of her singing the phone book. The regret is that since this version is on DVD her real gem probably won't make it and it's worth whatever it costs.

If you want to see a first rate Salome on DVD get the one with Maria Ewing. When she drops the seventh veil you will join with King Herod and shout Wundervoil!

I was excited to see this dvd available - I saw the play a couple of times in the late '60's and loved it. Unfortunately this hoked-up film version does the play no justice. Taking the play from its platform/ramp/stairs stage setting and placing it into a 'real' ghost town waters down the suspense of the piece - in fact, more than waters down, obliterates it. The stage convention of using the same actor for the judge of the murder trial and the local hell 'n brimstone preacher doesn't work on film. On film, not only does it not make any point about justice - it is simply confusing. The trial and mystery of who-did-what-to-whom-and-why seems less than important. The actual film itself is poor quality - grainy and grey-ed out.
Good aspects are a terrific performance by Rue McClanahan and the actors portraying the young protagonists. Susan Sarandon does an admirable job for a woman about fifteen years too old for the role. Frances Sternhagen must have a good agent to get billing in this version - she has about five lines...and not even juicy ones.
What a disappointment this film is! I so wish they had just filmed a first rate stage performance instead of trying to turn it into a 'movie'.

i have come across this dvd before in a martial arts webstore. unfortunately there have been no reviews on the product to help me decide whether to purchase it or not. after going through the dvd in a little less than an hour, the only high point of this grainy, black and white dvd is the opportunity to see gichin funakoshi, as well as masatoshi nakayama and other senior karate senseis go through various techniques briefly. it was clearly intended to explain karate to those who do not know what karate is, and not to those who are interested in further instruction. sensei nakayama's dynamic karate, or master funakoshi's karatedo kyohan would be a much more useeful investment. if you already have both and a member of a good dojo, you can pass on this one.