I know most readers won't find my comments useful, but here goes anyway. I saw this movie a long long time ago but recently went looking for it on IMDb (not sure why), probably to look up snippets about Richard Harris. What I remember most about the movie was 1) the incredible cinematography - no denying that African countryside is gorgeous, and 2) the one long extended scene between James Earl Jones and Richard Harris. I don't even remember most of the dialogue, only that these two great classically-trained actors almost literally chewed the scenery. I remember that the scene was calmly played, yet both actors simmered with just-perceptible passion.
I once performed in the Kurt Weill opera of the same name. I'm accustomed to having music propel me through the story, but I didn't miss it in this movie. One casting note - probably because of recent trends in NTC (non-traditional casting), most stage shows refer to the racial divide in the opera as "whites" and "coloreds," which, under apartheid, included all non-whites. Whether or not this was intentionally done by the librettist, it gives opera companies the freedom to hire Asian-Americans, African-Americans, and Hispanic-Americans (or Europeans) as the "colored" cast. In the movie, it was starkly white and black. Nevertheless, if you lack any other reason for seeing the movie, see it for the wonderful performances of Jones and Harris.
I once performed in the Kurt Weill opera of the same name. I'm accustomed to having music propel me through the story, but I didn't miss it in this movie. One casting note - probably because of recent trends in NTC (non-traditional casting), most stage shows refer to the racial divide in the opera as "whites" and "coloreds," which, under apartheid, included all non-whites. Whether or not this was intentionally done by the librettist, it gives opera companies the freedom to hire Asian-Americans, African-Americans, and Hispanic-Americans (or Europeans) as the "colored" cast. In the movie, it was starkly white and black. Nevertheless, if you lack any other reason for seeing the movie, see it for the wonderful performances of Jones and Harris.