Meeting Venus (1991)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

István Szabó

Writers:

Michael Hirst (writer)
István Szabó (writer)

Release Date:

December 1991 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Plot:

A deliciously biting satire about both the world of Grand Opera and the current 'United Europe'. A Hungarian...

Plot Keywords:

Opera

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Glenn Close	...	Karin Anderson
Niels Arestrup	...	Zoltan Szanto
Kiri Te Kanawa	...	Elisabeth (Tannhäuser highlights performed by) (voice)
René Kollo	...	Tannhäuser (Tannhäuser highlights performed by) (voice)
Håkan Hagegård	...	Wolfram von Eschenbach (Tannhäuser highlights performed by) (voice)
Waltraud Meier	...	Venus (Tannhäuser highlights performed by) (voice)
Renate Spingler	...	A young shepherd (Tannhäuser highlights perfomed by) (voice)
Matthias Hölle	...	The Landgrave (Tannhäuser highlights performed by) (voice)
Kim Begley	...	Walther von der Vogelweide (Tannhäuser highlights performed by) (voice)
Robin Leggate	...	Heinrich der Schreiber (Tannhäuser highlights performed by) (voice)
Rodney Macann	...	Biterolf (Tannhäuser highlights performed by) (voice)
Roderick Earle	...	Reinmar von Zweter (Tannhäuser highlights performed by) (voice)
Marián Labuda	...	Von Schneider
Maïté Nahyr	...	Maria Krawiecki
Victor Poletti	...	Stefano Del Sarto

Runtime:

119 min

Country:

UK | Japan | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:L | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Finland:S | Spain:13 | Sweden:7 | USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Budapest, Hungary

Company:

BSB

Trivia:

The director's name, István Szabó, translates as Stephen Tailor, and one running gag in the film is that several people are called this in different languages: Stefan Schneider, Steve Taylor, Stefano Sarto (three of the singers), and Etienne Tailleur (the stage manager).

Soundtrack:

Tannhäuser

mama, don't let your sons grow up to be musicians

this movie, besides giving the casual viewer a glimpse into the operatic world, also affords the viewer a casual glimpse into the world and the business, of music making, and it ain't pretty. but it's accurate.

as a professional musician in an international setting for more than 25 years, let me assure you that the evils of the music business are all here on display, and they are represented accurately: complaining musicians, managers for whom the word 'know' was replaced by the word 'no' at an early age (perhaps in their infancy), smarmy interfering union reps, and please God, save us all from short conductors with bleeping inferiority complexes.

and then there are the operatic singers. oh my!! (dr. georg szell called opera singers, " 'unmusical beasts', who have to have every note beaten into them by a vocal coach". this is true, by my experience).

the only really weak moment that i noticed was when the conductor left the podium during a rehearsal to knock on the door of the singer. this is absolutely improbable/impossible in my experience. conductors get their 'power' by being on the podium. they do not leave the podium

orchestra conducters get/force sex by more sordid means, not by leaving the podium.

this movie has a lot to recommend it, on many different levels- check it out.

i give it a 9.2.

watch it in a 'Robert Altman' frame of mind, i think that you will see what i mean.

it's not 'terror in tiny town'. and it's not, 'the godfather, part one'. it's somewhere in between. it's really a fine movie.

thanks. alvink