Bengtsson/Futral/Maltman/Petrenko/Concerto Copenhagen/Mortensen
(Axiom Films)
Released on DVD under the opera's original title, this is actually Kasper Holten's film Juan, aimed at the European and Us arthouse circuit, though UK showings have been rare. Based on Don Giovanni rather than interpreting it, it's a striking, piece of work. It's not for purists: insisting on cinematic cogency, Holten cuts and reorders the score in ways no one would find acceptable in the theatre. Transforming the opera into an erotic thriller, the film was shot in Budapest, with the performers singing live on set rather than lip-synching to a pre-recorded soundtrack. There are acknowledged debts to the Bourne trilogy and Steven Soderbergh's Traffic. But hooded figures lurking in doorways remind us of Don't Look Now, and there are inevitable, if unintentional, parallels with Shame.
Holten offers variants on Mozart's narrative. Juan/Giovanni (Christopher Maltman) is an artist-pornographer,...
(Axiom Films)
Released on DVD under the opera's original title, this is actually Kasper Holten's film Juan, aimed at the European and Us arthouse circuit, though UK showings have been rare. Based on Don Giovanni rather than interpreting it, it's a striking, piece of work. It's not for purists: insisting on cinematic cogency, Holten cuts and reorders the score in ways no one would find acceptable in the theatre. Transforming the opera into an erotic thriller, the film was shot in Budapest, with the performers singing live on set rather than lip-synching to a pre-recorded soundtrack. There are acknowledged debts to the Bourne trilogy and Steven Soderbergh's Traffic. But hooded figures lurking in doorways remind us of Don't Look Now, and there are inevitable, if unintentional, parallels with Shame.
Holten offers variants on Mozart's narrative. Juan/Giovanni (Christopher Maltman) is an artist-pornographer,...
- 12/12/2012
- by Tim Ashley
- The Guardian - Film News
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