Yes, Giorgio

There's Pavarotti, at the height of his powers and popularity, in glorious voice, and some beautiful photography, and that's about it for this misguided attempt to turn Luciano Pavarotti into the Mario Lanza of the 1980's. The whole thing was totally uninspired by anything except the desire to make a quick buck out of Pavarotti fans. All the critics panned it when it came out, but thought it would succeed on the strength of Pavarotti's (then) huge fan base. They were wrong. Talent or no, the rotund Pavarotti was nobody's idea of a romantic leading man. The fans wanted to hear Pavarotti sing, not see him try to act, and "Yes, Giorgio!" sank like a stone at the box office. Only Eddie Albert managed to rise above the mess with his dignity intact, giving his usual good, understated performance (Was he ever capable of giving a BAD performance?).

In short, if you want to see and hear Pavarotti at his best (roughly 1973-90), watch one of his videos/DVDs, either of his opera performances or his concerts, and avoid this best-forgotten failure.

Always wanted to see this movie since I have heard lots of bad things about it, and as you probably would have guessed, I am also a bad movie fan. Well, while this movie is bad and far from a masterpiece, I liked only a few things of the movie.

YES GIORGIO has some flaws, the main being the writing and the acting, especially from Pavarotti (who was a great opera singer but when it came to acting he leaved a lot to be desired). At the moment I can't even think of a romantic comedy with such wacky and goofy scenes like the food fight scene (and I admit that it was one of the most atrocious scenes in the movie). And Pavarotti's character was very unlikeable, especially since he admits that he is married and his children are at home waiting for him. Hey, a good message kids!

Anyway, why I rated this movie 4? The music was very nice to hear at, and half-way in the movie there is a scene with Pavarotti in a hot-air balloon where the music is very powerful and fits like a glove the movie's pathos. The only good actor in the movie is Eddie Albert, that gives a solid performance as Pavarotti's agent. Although he deserved much better than this!

I hoped to like this movie, but it was bad. Not BABY GENIUSES bad, but still not good. Apart from a good soundtrack and a nice performance by Eddie Albert, it's not a must-see movie.

ONCE UPON A TIME, there were different types of movies. These different movies coexisted even though each one had something different to offer....

This seems obvious at first, but I thought I'd point it out during this review because it seems a few people may have forgotten. This is just a fun movie for Pavarotti fans. That's all it is. It doesn't claim to be anything else or anything grander. People who deride it as something that fell short of a promise aren't seeing the whole picture- literally. After all, Hollywood makes movies all the time that are shameless vehicles for people (Bodyguard or The Preacher's Wife w/Whitney Houston are 2 examples that spring to mind.)

First I'd like to address the movie as a vehicle for Pavarotti. There are worse things in this world-- and worse movies. The singing is fabulous and the selection of arias is fun. The movie starts with Schubert's Ave Maria and then Leoncavallo's Matinatta. Pav sings arias from La Gioconda, Manon Lescaut, and Turandot but also sings popular music such as "I left my heart in San Francisco" and the song that was nominated for an Oscar & Golden Globe, "If we were in Love" w/music by John Williams & lyrics by Alan & Marilyn Bergman- all 3 previous Oscar winners.

The story isn't that bad. It was built for Pavarotti so of course it's not going to be something that's profound or universally applicable to the average movie viewer. It's a story of a famous opera singer who was traumatized by a bad night at the opera years ago. When asked to sing again at the same place, the "MET" in NYC, he loses his voice from fear. Doctor Pamela (or Pah-MAY-lah in Italian:)) played by Kathryn Harrold- gives him a shot to cure his psychosomatic reaction. He offers her the chance to have a fling with him and she reluctantly accepts.

They embark on an affair, she knowing he's married & promising not to fall in love with him and him thinking she will be just another woman. Despite all that, they fall in love (thus the song, "IF we were in love") and with her help, he overcomes his fear & goes back to the MET where he triumphs. I won't tell how it ends, but it's fairly predictable. Which isn't always a bad thing.

The performances in this aren't that bad. Pavarotti (who plays Giorgio Fini) isn't an actor, so if you're expecting a Spencer Tracy or Tom Hanks performance, YOU are deluded, not Pavarotti. He knows he's not a thespian. What he is is cute, charming & charismatic. He is having fun himself, and if you can just let yourself have fun too, it's not so bad. One funny line is when he tells Pamela (Harrold) that she's a "thirsty plant, Fini can water you!" and of course, she says, "I don't want to be watered on by Fini!" Kathryn Harrold is very sweet and does a nice job as a semi-uptight woman who learns from this extravagant man to live a little. One of my favorite lines in the movie is: "Life never has to be life size." And there's Eddie Albert who does his usual good job as Fini's manager. There are several "themselves" cameos by real conductors, singers, etc. and it is filmed on location at the Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center.

If you like opera, if you like Pavarotti, or if you can just let yourself go & enjoy a "little fling" just like he proposes in the movie- then you can enjoy this movie for what it is. I know I do- EVERY time. :)

I don't recall too much of this film, but I do recall going to the free concert in Boston for the climatic sequence for this film. It was a hot muggy East cost afternoon, and the mounted patrol of Boston's police force were out in force, horsies and all :) High above the camera copters were flying getting footage of the gathering crowd. Up front, near the actual ampitheatre, were the hard core opera and classical music aficionados. While behind them were folks who just wanted to get a glimpse of Luciano Pavarotti.

Needless to say Boston park was packed with people. I don't recall too much of the actual concert itself, but I do recall trying to spot myself in the crowd when the film aired on HBO. No, I didn't see myself, and the movie was just so-so, though entertaining all the same on a mediocre level.

I can't recall, but I think it was the same summer when the Red Sox decided to put on a water exhibition show during a rain delay. Who would've thought that I would experience two memorable events in Boston's social history that summer.

The film itself, from what I recall, isn't great cinema. Luciano Pavarotti was all the rage on the opera scene. So much so that he was gaining mainstream attention, and hence the studios took a chance on trying to cash in on his burgeoning popularity in this typical rags to riches tale.

It serves as a mild curiosity, but nothing more. I personally wish Pavarotti had done better mainstream films, but regardless he did some outstanding opera performances, many of which are available on DVD.

I haven't seen the film in over twenty years, but I won't forget my small participation in it.

Hi, Everyone,

I was fortunate enough to work as an extra in this movie. I was a doctor in the background in a hospital scene. The extras who worked with Pavoratti liked him. He was a pleasant, unassuming guy who spent a lot of time at the craft services table (snack table).

There was one scene in the movie that had one quote which made the movie worth seeing from my point of view. In a restaurant setting, Pavoratti's character takes his date into a fancy, expensive dining establishment. He has rented the entire restaurant and they are dining alone in a huge room with musicians playing for them alone.

The girl comments about how odd it is to be dining in such an enormous room without other diners present.

I won't spoil it for you by giving his quote that makes this scene so wonderful. He says something that is one of my all time favorite movie quotes.

He is a charming personality and I would have liked for him to make other film appearances. He could have been like a Burl Ives character who could have made movies that were not musicals as well as operatic films.

Tom Willett