Meeting Venus

The Hungarian conductor Zoltan Szanto (Niels Arestrup) is invited to conduct Tannhäuser by Richard Wagner in Paris. Szanto has to face problems with the ego of the artists, strikes and his family since he falls in lover with the diva Karin Anderson (Glenn Close). But in the end, his love for Karin and passion for Wagner bring redemption to him.

One movie that I regret that has not been released on DVD or Blu-Ray in Brazil is "Meeting Vênus", of 1991 from the critically acclaimed Hungarian director István Szabó and with Glenn Close in the top of her career in the role of a problematic diva.

Using the staging of opera "Tannhäuser" by Richard Wagner in Paris as background, this wonderful feature is a satire of the unification of Europe that was happening in that historical moment through the ego of the musicians from different countries in the orchestra where the character of Glenn Close is the lead attraction.

Just as information, Vênus is the mundane woman or goddess that the troubadour Tannhäuser has sex in the medieval legend that the opera is based.

The mime of Glenn Close, dubbed by Kiri Te Kanawa, is perfect and the climax of this movie is the entrance of the artists singing Pilgrims Chant in the opera house and Szanto's stick blossoming. I have seen this scene several times on my VHS that I have seen at least four times. My vote is ten.

Title (Brazil) : "Encontro com Vênus" ("Meeting Venus")

Lord, how I love this movie!

I have been a Wagnerphile for most of my adult life. The entrance music at my wedding (30+ years ago) was from Parsifal. I hum leitmotifs when I'm feeling good. And when I really want an emotional catharsis, I put on "Meeting Venus."

I watched it again, after several years' hiatus, a few nights ago. I laughed out loud time and again and sat with tears streaming down my face during the finale. What a wonderful film!

I recommend this time and again to my music-loving friends. Imagine "Best in Show" and "A Mighty Wind," set in Paris, produced by the BBC, and with an international, stellar cast of both performers and voice talent. (Not to put down the Christopher Guest ensemble, but consider Glenn Close, Kiri Te Kanawa, et. al., - really!)

Raise the curtain!

Spiritus ex Machina

The universe is not only stranger than we imagine, it's stranger than we CAN imagine!

Various musicians and singers of many nationalities led by Hungarian conductor Zoltan Szanto (Niels Arestrup) are gathering in Paris for a new opera performance to celebrate the new Europe. He begins a fling with Karin Anderson (Glenn Close), the star of the show. He has to navigate the jealousy, ambitions, bureaucracy, former communists, national rivalries, and union regulations.

There are some funny bits with the story background. All the chaos has some fun. The romantic plot is a little flat and the drama comes out of nowhere. I didn't realize that he was married. Karin gets hot and cold for unforeseeable reasons. I do like Glenn Close's performance but it can be abrupt. The script should spend a little more time ironing out the drama in the relationship. I don't know much about the music and I don't care that much about it either.

A Hungarian conductor tries to unite a multi-national European opera company preparing for a televised production of Wagner's Tannhauser, with mixed results. The same might be said of the film itself, which represents director Istvan Szabo's bid for a wider slice of international box office. Unfortunately, what begins as a mild but engaging Murphy's Law comedy (complete with labor disputes, political arguments, artistic conflicts and so forth) soon devolves into a phony feel-good melodrama, with all the comic frustrations of the early scenes jettisoned in favor of a predictably stormy off-stage romance between the conductor and his temperamental superstar diva (Glenn Close). A few incidental pleasures and an attractive, charismatic cast (presenting the entire European community in a fascinating microcosm) aren't enough to hide all the obvious shortcomings, including (but not limited to) shoddy lip-synching, unnecessary voice-over commentary, and the assumption that listening to Wagner is like dying and going to heaven.

I've seen this movie many times now. It covers most of the things that is evident in an opera house and productions. Though some of the sceneries, dramatic situations are slightly exaggerated, I still think it is well achieved attempt to recreate typical scenes of an opera production, love stories, conflicts with opera managers, strikes, problems with orchestral musicians and singers, corrupt non-environmental cooperation sponsors, Paris and Budapest cultural milieus.

But there is some small flaws. Erland Josephson who plays Picabia (General Director of Opera Europa) is a great actor but he doesn't do it all well with his Spanish pronunciation and pronounces Karin in with real Swedish accent. Otherwise he's portraying the role of with absolute perfection.

Glenn Close is simply marvelous as the Swedish soprano and Niels Arestrup as Maestro Szanto is very credible in his role as the conductor.

The music from Tannhäuser by Richard Wagner works as a third character in this movie, same function as the other movie Amadeus (1984) by Milos Forman. I would recommend anyone to see this movie, to simply enjoy it over a nice evening!!