La Bohème

I love opera and of all opera, I love La Boheme best. I even named my boat after it and our two cats are named Mimi and Rodolfo (Rudi.) I have about ten videos of La Boheme. I may scrap them all after seeing this one. Zeferelli, Von Karajan and Freni on one tape. It is too much! Freni is the finest Mimi I've ever seen. I watched it alone on a snowy evening here in the northern woods of Ontario --- my wife hates opera --- and when it ended I rose to my feet applauding wildly and shouting Brava! Brava!

It is a superb production! And so what if my wife thinks I'm nuts!

One is tempted to call this the definite rendering on film of perhaps the best opera ever created, as everything in it lives up to the constantly brilliant ingenious and wonderful music, which even Puccini himself would find it hard to ever be able to surpass. Mirella Freni is the perfect Mimí, Gianni Raimondi is quite equal to his character, and so are all the others. The scenery plays an important part, this is Zeffirelli's contribution to the production, all perfectly realistic to bring to life Paris in the 1840s. Adriana Martino as Musetta adds a flamboyant comedienne performance to the show, and Ivo Vinco as the philosopher (bass) adds an important spicy flavour of sombreness to the final act. This is a classical film of a classical opera, and it will go on being watched and loved and admired and enjoyed for all times, with both plenty of laughter and tears and deep afterthought.

It is unique in Puccini's opera production, dealing with poor people having a difficult time in winter in the company of approaching death, and is the first poignant manifestation of Puccini's deep humanity and compassion - the original novel by Henri Murger is much more sardonic and ironic and almost callous in its detachment, while Puccini by the music makes the story and characters and their humanity pierce the heart. He would never again come this close to the heart of the matter of humanity.

This had all the ingredients to be good, Karajan, Freni and Zeffirelli being just a few. This was more than just good, it is outstanding and one of my favourite productions along with the 1988 production with Pavarotti and Freni.

The costumes are lovely without being too fluttery or fancy, and the sets and backdrops are suitably sumptuous. I also loved the photography, which is fluid and skillful. La Boheme is my second favourite Puccini opera after Tosca.

Not just for the amazing music(which has Che Gelida Manina, Ci, mi chiamano mimi, Quando m'en vo, the ensemble at the end of act 3 and In Un Coupe), but for its wonderful characters, heart-rending ending and beautiful story.

La Boheme is quite poignant mostly, but particularly in act 2 there are moments of humour such as the disbelief of the expense of the dinner bill. Karajan's conducting is superb, Zeffirelli does a fine job with the production values, the direction is excellent and the two lead performances from Giani Raimondi and especially Mirella Freni are sublime. And they are supported strongly by Rolando Pennerai and Adriana Martino.

All in all, wonderful. 10/10 Bethany Cox

Before writing these words, I pondered whether to comment on this film 1) as an opera, comparing it with other performances I've seen (and recordings I've heard), or 2) as a film, comparing it to other films I've seen. I am both an opera lover and a film lover.

To make this choice, I first asked myself if this film would appeal mainly to opera buffs, or to a more general (film-going) audience. La Boheme is one of the most `accessible' operas, a good `starter opera,' because of its recognizable music, and its appealing story and characters. If any opera on film might have crossover appeal, this is it.

I concluded that most (non-Italian) viewers not acquainted with opera, and La Boheme in particular, would not fully appreciate La Boheme the film. There are no subtitles, or summaries of the Acts or Scenes. A viewer would either need to know the story, or have a libretto (printed dialogue) to refer to, to understand what is going on.

Nevertheless, the beauty of the music may be enough for many viewers. The cast is uniformly excellent. Mirella Freni is a wonderful Mimi. I looked forward to her every aria and duet.

In looking at this as an opera among other operas, I appreciated some of the choices made by the film's makers. Most importantly, they did nothing to detract or distract from the music. The sets (designed by Franco Zeffirelli, who would later become a famous director; e.g., Romeo and Juliet) are mostly in muted earth tones with occasional splashes of red or yellow. The backdrops are clearly paintings, just like for a staged opera. The cast members use expressive gestures. The lighting is appropriate, and in some cases, an improvement over the limitations of stage lighting. Although the camera is usually set `in the audience,' it sometimes zooms in to highlight facial expressions.

The only shortcomings of any significance could be easily fixed in a re-release (celluloid and/or video). Subtitles should be available. I personally do NOT think they detract from the music, no matter how familiar the opera is. And the mono sound should be enhanced so long as it doesn't degrade the music in any way.

I reviewed this movie as part of a project at the Library of Congress. I've named the project FIFTY: 50 Notable Films Forgotten Within 50 Years. As best I can determine, this film, like the other forty-nine I've identified, has not been on video, telecast, or distributed in the U.S. since its original release. In my opinion, it is worthy of being made available again.