Lady_Schwartz

I'm going to go against the grain here. Now, I really love the work of Stephen Sondheim. Since my first experience with Sweeney Todd, his art has continued to surprise me. However, this play was possible his worst and I can see why it failed to find popular audience.

In my opinion, this play sent out a terrible message to the audience. From personal experience, I realize how dangerous obsessive love can be. There is nothing romantic or passionate about obsession and the behavior Fosca presents. The entire romance is just plain frightening and creepy. Fosca would have been more sympathetic if she had suffered from unrequited love alone rather than obsession.

Marin Mazzie (Clara) gives the strongest performance in this, and is the only thing I enjoyed about the play. Some of the music is nice, but definitely not Sondheim's best. The sets and costumes are rather boring as well. If you're looking from some good old Sondheim than I would suggest watching Sweeney Todd, Into the Woods, West Side Story, and Sunday in the Park with George. The music, appeal, and overall production is so much greater in those plays.

When I first came across this musical, I assumed that it would be about a weepy ingénue type empress and her love problems. This includes a love triangle between Franz Joseph and Death. Queue in really sappy music about how much Elisabeth and Franz love each other while Death sings melodramatic solos about how lonely he is (you know, sort of like Phantom and Les Misérables, but this time it's an empress, an emperor, and death).

Oh how wrong I was! Elisabeth is different from any other musical. The main character Elisabeth, also known as Sissi, is a very intriguing character. Unlike many other female leads, Elisabeth searches for freedom as opposed to fairy tale love. During her younger years Elisabeth is very tomboyish and free spirited, but once she becomes empress others try to hold her down. When Elisabeth refuses, her life begins to spin out of control.

There is a love story between Elisabeth and Death. It's actually quite unique compared to most theatre romance. Their chemistry is very fiery and passionate. Elisabeth confused whether or not she loves death. Sometimes she welcomes him and other times she fights against him.

All together, I thought this was an interesting DVD. Though I much prefer other leads in the roles, I think that this cast put on a great show. I'd recommend it to anyone who enjoys musical theatre.

I saw this film in my writing class. Before I continue, I'd like to state that I'm undecided on assisted suicide, my review is not a bigoted review made to attack the movie for its message.

The reason I dislike this film is that it is very smug especially the ending of the film. I felt that it was made to belittle others who disagree with assisted suicide. A film with a strong political message needs sympathetic characters on both sides. Ramon, the main character, is not very sympathetic in my opinion. I found that he was very snotty and ungrateful for other people (Rosa, his brother). If he really wants to be respected for his opinion, the least he could do is to respect the opinions of other people.

I feel that the film forces the main character on the viewers instead of allowing him to prove himself alone. Yes, it's great to have a likable main character, but this movie just overdoes it. Ramon is never wrong and Ramon never pays for his rude behavior. In fact, it seems as if everyone is apologizing to him for his rude comments.

The film was a good idea, but it just didn't work for me.