Farinelli

'Farinelli' is a film well worth seeing for its memorable visual imagery and its unique soundtrack. Mid-film scenes set against the decadence of 17th-century European court life make for charming costumes and sets. Contrasting visuals of rural Italy provide their own pastoral allure that is no less charming. Moreover, the film rises admirably to the daunting technical and artistic task of reproducing the tone of a castrato voice, considering that the musical world has not seen or heard a castrato singer for more than a century.

'Ah,' you say, 'sounds gorgeous...but what's it about?' Enter Carlo and Riccardo Broschi, Italian brothers who share musical aspirations: Riccardo composes, and Carlo sings what he writes. Carlo is a gifted castrato, but Riccardo is a mediocre composer at best. In time, Carlo becomes the renowned Farinelli while Riccardo struggles with his lack of talent/recognition as well as the troublesome fact that Carlo is his meal ticket.

The simple story line masks rich potential (think 'Amadeus'), but 'Farinelli' is hampered by shallow character development and its inexplicable tendency to substitute all-too-frequent sex scenes for emotional power. Without the full realization of the characters or the ramifications of the plot, the film struggles to keep a viewer engaged, at least in my own case. The beautiful pageantry of 'Farinelli' fails to compensate for its hollow dramatic core.

In short? Not bad, but a better music movie is 'Amadeus'(among others), and a better movie with beautiful Italian visuals is 'A Room With A View' (among others).

This film was great. Even if the singing looked a little fake at times, and there was a bit too much sex than was really necessary, but a great film, with beautiful music. I thought more emphasis would have been put upon the anguish and degradation Farinelli might have felt, and more stress on the love/hate relationship the public had with the castrati, but definitely a film worth seeing.

Visually and sound-wise this is a beautiful film that can be recommended. The flash-backs when Ricardo looks back on childhood are good, showing the tight links between the two brothers. But, one is waiting through the whole film for the continuation of the early scene where Carlo (Farinelli) does not try to prevent the soldiers from taking Ricardo away by force. There is too much focus on the brothers' conquests and maybe too little on the singing. But the songs that we hear are beautiful and when one knows the amount of work that has been put into the reconstruction of Farinelli's unique voice (covering one octave more than any singer alive today) one should probably not complain.

This movie is about Farinelli, one of the famous Castro Singers during the 18th century. He had the voice of an angel when he was a boy and since his family was very poor, an operation of castration was done to him in order to preserve his voice and help his family out in poverty. There were some strange parts during this film such as when he got older he and his brother Riccardo traveled together and never left each other. His brother was there during Farinelli's lovemaking in order to complete and finish the task that his brother could not do since he had been castrated. And then there was the white horses that Farinelli saw every time danger was present or near. This warning was not clearly explained in the film. The acting was very good. I enjoyed the variation of languages of French and Italian with a little bit of English thrown in. The costumes were excilent and the way the actors portrayed the characters during that past time period were done good. One makes you feel sorry for Farinelli because of what he did lack and also makes you feel for him because everybody would make a specticle of him because of his castration and the fact that he could not complete the task of lovemaking (personally..... I do not think that he really needed that, he was good being his own person anyway). Farinelli's popularity had worn down during the middle of his career due to his excessive use of opium in which his brother provided for him in order for him to sleep and get rid of any pain or stress. During the end of the movie we find that it is Riccardo that turned his little brother in because of his ability to sing and thus help his poor familiy. Not much is mentioned of his familiy but in the beginnig of the movie we do know that his family was poor and Farinelli offered himself as well as his voice because his voice was all that he did have in order to stay alive. This movie was a good film and I give it about a 7. There were several parts in the film that were not clearly explained and that was the only flaw.

Famed 18th century (castrato) soprano Ferinelli invites a serious biographical study. This 17-18th c. period was, until recent times, skirted over by musicologists and music history teachers.

The result of this omission has been an unsuspecting awareness of the extent to which male performers dominated all forms of period theater, including opera, oratorio, cantata, ballet, and stage plays. "Ferinneli" had an opportunity to provide substantive information in filling this void.

Unfortunately, what resulted is just another Ken Russell-type production (a la "The Music Lovers," "Lisztomania," "Mahler," etc.). In fact, were Andre Corbiau's name not credited as director of "Ferinelli," one would swear this was a Russell composer biopic.

All Russell trademarks are there: excessive closeups of actors in dramatic distress, swirling activity to cover up script weaknesses, and disjointed highlights instead of sequence continuity.

Director-coscriptor Corbiau has Stefano Dionisi as Ferinneli forever falling down and collapsing both on and offstage for no apparent reason, and using the old device of having him hesitate to sing on cue before a full house to superficially create suspense and anxiety.

In fact, Corbiau, like Russell, is more intent on affecting than expressing: manipulating the viewer than sincerely sharing. As a result, one is held a arm's length of emotional participation throughout.

While no contemporary production can create a truly authentic period setting, there are questions which arise here: George Frederick Handel, one of the world's most prolific and fine composers, is reduced to that of a mere rival theatrical impressario; and Farinelli is forever acting oddly--claiming vocal loss, serious indisposition, and tripping out on opium. Indeed, at times this seems more like a baroque version of sex-drugs-and-rock-'n'roll.

On the brighter side, the staging of the operatic scenes are wonderfully on-target, having been obviously well-researched and meticulously designed. The combination real-and-computer-created vocal work is fascinating in its etherial timbre and in its negotiation of Handelean melismas, embellishments and assorted ornamentation. Likewise, the baroque pit orchestra and period opera house decor is strikingly detailed.

What a pity "Farinelli" fails in its main opportunity: to convey a simple, heart-felt story of one of history's most celebrated singers.