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Tosca
Avatar Films


8.3

based on 18 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 3 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

FILM:

MPAA RATING: Not Rated

Starring Angela Gheorghiu, Roberto Alagna, Ruggero Raimondi, David Cangelosi, Sorin Coliban, Enrico Fissore, Maurizio Muraro, and Gwynne Howell

One of Giacomo Puccini's greatest operas has been magically transposed to film in this stirring and wonderfully performed production featuring Angela Gheorghiu and Roberto Alagna as the star-crossed lovers. (Avatar Films)

GENRE(S):	Musical
WRITTEN BY:	Giuseppe Giacosa (libretto) Luigi Illica (libretto) Victorien Sardou (play La Tosca)
DIRECTED BY:	Benoît Jacquot
RELEASE DATE:	Theatrical: July 12, 2002
RUNNING TIME:	117 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	France / Germany / Italy / UK
LANGUAGE(S):	Italian (with English subtitles)

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

New York Magazine Peter Rainer

A rare example of first-rate filmed opera.

Village Voice Elizabeth Zimmer

Two hours fly by -- opera's a pleasure when you don't have to endure intermissions -- and even a novice to the form comes away exhilarated.

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

Conveys the heaving passion of Puccini's famous love-jealousy-murder-suicide fandango with great cinematic innovation.

Los Angeles Times Daniel Cariaga

Altogether, this is successful as a film, while at the same time being a most touching reconsideration of the familiar masterpiece.

The New York Times Dana Stevens

For the most part, it works beautifully as a movie without sacrificing the integrity of the opera.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Keith Phipps

Using a single set for each act and cutting minimally, Jacquot seems to recognize his limited ability to make the opera cinematic.

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

The result is a fine production with splendid singing by Angela Gheorghiu, Ruggero Raimondi, and Roberto Alagna. It joins the very short list of first-rate opera films.

Miami Herald Marta Barber

Watching a film about an opera can never be as moving as watching the real thing in a great opera house. Musical purists may object to certain details, and film buffs may find the concept unappealing. Yet, for this film and opera lover, Jacquot's Tosca is a treat.

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

Glorious moments aplenty despite director who's just in the way.

Slate David Edelstein

It's so exciting to have a perfectly sung and acted Tosca (Avatar) on film that I'm prepared to forgive the new movie, directed by Benoit Jacquot, almost everything. But I sure wish Jacquot hadn't bungled the look and feel.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer R. M. Campbell

The result is arty but pointless. The sets are unreal looking and so huge the characters drown in their vast spaces.

Chicago Tribune John von Rhein

You would be better off investing in the worthy EMI recording that serves as the soundtrack, or the home video of the 1992 Malfitano-Domingo production.

New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman

For the broader audience, this seems both suffocating and confusing -- True opera buffs, however, are more likely to feel thrilled, as if they're privy to a private production of the highest caliber.

New Times (L.A.) Gregory Weinkauf

Audiences are advised to sit near the back and squint to avoid noticing some truly egregious lip-non-synching, but otherwise the production is suitably elegant, a fine retreat from summer cinema overkill.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

The performance sequences are in color, while the recording sequences are in B&W. Jacquot's strategy allows his cast the benefit of being able to give full performances (Raimondi is a particularly good film actor) while demonstrating vividly that the beauty and power of the opera reside primarily in the music itself.

Chicago Reader Ted Shen

The sets are like islands floating in a void, juxtaposed with sepia shots of Rome and extraneous video clips of the singers and orchestra in a recording studio; the technique purposely draws attention to the movie's artifice, but the performances pull us into the story's elemental emotions.

New York Post Megan Lehmann

Purists will probably have a conniption at the mere idea of messing with the form, but the worst thing about Jacquot's post-modern treatment is that its incongruity wrenches you out of the story.

LA Weekly

This filmed Tosca -- not the first, by the way -- is a pretty good job, if it's filmed Tosca that you want. I'll stay with the stage versions, however, which bite cleaner, and deeper.

The average user rating for this movie is 8.3 (out of 10) based on 3 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Pat C. gave it a 6:
I don't really like opera. A lot of people hate it. I can see that those who have acquired a taste for it would like this film. I watched it all. Honest I did. Followed the plot and everything. I didn't sing along or flail my arms back, knocking my fine venetian crystal out of my mahogany china cabinet or anything like that. But I paid attention. I hate to appear unsophisticated, but those subtitles were a godsend. Did you know that at the end of an opera lovers are united and life is reaffirmed? I didn't know what I was missing. I still don't. But it wasn't that hard to follow - that's got to be worth some points.

Chris M. gave it a 10:
A marvelous experience that I want to share with as many people as I can convince to go see it. So far it's twice for me and going to be a third time.

Sam J. gave it a 9:
First-rate opera film, one to compete with Mitterand's Madame Butterfly among modern-day Puccini adaptations.....Beautifully sung and staged, with some creative directorial innovation. A superb presentation of Puccini on film.

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Tosca Avatar Films

Tosca
Avatar Films