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100A rare example of first-rate filmed opera.
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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.
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83Conveys the heaving passion of Puccini's famous love-jealousy-murder-suicide fandango with great cinematic innovation.
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80Using a single set for each act and cutting minimally, Jacquot seems to recognize his limited ability to make the opera cinematic.
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Altogether, this is successful as a film, while at the same time being a most touching reconsideration of the familiar masterpiece.
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80For the most part, it works beautifully as a movie without sacrificing the integrity of the opera.
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75The 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.
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75Watching 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.
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75Glorious moments aplenty despite director who's just in the way.
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70It'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.
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The result is arty but pointless. The sets are unreal looking and so huge the characters drown in their vast spaces.
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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.
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63For 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.
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60The 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.
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60Audiences 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.
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50Purists 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.
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50The 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.
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40This 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.