Farinelli (1994)

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General		Extras
Category	Drama	Featurette-Nostalgia for a Lost Voice Trailer-Madman Propaganda x 4
Rating
Year Of Production	1994
Running Time	106:09
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Gérard Corbiau
Studio Distributor	Madman Entertainment	Starring	Stefano Dionisi Enrico Lo Verso Elsa Zylberstein Jeroen Krabbé Caroline Cellier Renaud du Peloux de Saint Romain Omero Antonutti Marianne Basler Pier Paolo Capponi Graham Valentine
Case	Amaray-Transparent
RPI	?	Music	None Given

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	French Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.85:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     Carlo Broschi (1705 – 1782) was born in the Kingdom of Naples and as a young boy was castrated to preserve his pure singing voice, becoming a castrato. Known as Farinelli, he was the movie or rock megastar of his day, singing exclusively to music composed by his older brother Riccardo. His voice caused women to swoon and to offer themselves to him; in London he was patronised by the Prince of Wales and his triumphant performances on stage caused the rival theatre of the maestro Handel to be deserted. Leaving London he became the Court singer for King Philip V of Spain.

     Farinelli: Il Castrato, directed by Gerard Corbiau, is the story of the relationships between Carlo (Stefano Dionisi), his composer brother Riccardo (Enrico Lo Verso) and George Frideric Handel (Jeroen Krabbe). Carlo and Riccardo shared everything, even women; Carlo’s voice would get them into his bed and Riccardo would take over and finish the act that Carlo was incapable of performing. Handel had first heard Carlo sing when he was 17 and offered to take him to England. But Carlo refused, staying loyal to his brother and singing his compositions exclusively although, as Handel realised quickly, Riccardo was at best a mediocre composer and it was Carlo’s voice that made Riccardo, whereas Riccardo’s lack of genuine talent limited Carlo. In London, with Carlo triumphant, he became disillusioned and was acutely aware of his brother’s limits; as Alexandra (Elsa Zylberstein), the woman who was loved by both brothers, puts it he “hungers for music worthy of his voice”.

     That worthy music was by Handel, their rival in the world of theatre. But to acknowledge and sing Handel would be to betray Riccardo and Carlo remained torn until the beauty of Handel’s music makes his choice and he sings Handel’s Rinaldo to huge acclaim before deserting London for Spain.

     As a biopic Farinelli: Il Castrato tells us very little about the man and concentrates upon the spectacle and the music. Both, however, are stunning. This is an opulent film in every way; the sets are lush, the reconstruction of the stage performances, utilising the Bayreuth Theatre in Germany, resplendent with colour and spectacle. The costumes are simply beautiful with some unbelievable headdresses that would fit perfectly into a scene from Priscilla, Queen of the Desert! No current singer has the octave range possessed by the castrato, so for the film the male voice of countertenor Derek Lee Ragin was electronically blended with the female voice of mezzo-soprano Ewa Males-Godlewska (there is an excellent extra on this DVD that shows how this was done); I don’t pretend to understand if they succeeded in capturing the range of Farinelli, but the voice, combined at least with the music of Handel, put up the hairs on the back of my neck.

     When Farinelli: Il Castrato is on stage with the music and the pure voice of Farinelli it is spectacular and moving, but when the film leaves the environs of the theatre it is less successful. Many of the characters are underdeveloped, such as Margareth Hunter (Caroline Cellier), who with Nicola Porpora (Omero Antonutti), Carlo’s first music teacher, ran the theatre that brought Carlo and Riccardo to London, and even the motivation and character of Alexandra seems lacking. Stefano Dionisi also does not really give us the man behind the costume, although it must be said that Jeroen Krabbe as Handel is very good in a role that at least evinces some character development.

     The costumes, set design, colours and music of Farinelli are stunning and opulent although as a biopic the film tells us very little about the man and his times. The spectacle and the music however are wonderful.

Video

     Farinelli is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1, the original theatrical ratio, and is 16x9 enhanced.

     While close-up detail is very sharp, some of the background detail in the film is less so. However, the compensation is the colours which are deep, lush and vibrant, showing off the stage costumes to full effect. Off stage, in the drawing rooms of the period, the set design and depth of colour is exceptional, and when the film ventures outside into snowy landscapes the colours here are also excellent. Blacks and shadow detail is fine, brightness and contrast consistent. Skin tones are natural.

     There is pleasing grain, and except for occasional ghosting with movement in front of mottled surfaces, I saw no film or film to video artefacts.

     The English subtitles are in a clear yellow font in English English and are easy to read. I noticed no spelling or grammatical errors, however the subtitles do disappear in one short scene at 64:10 – 34 when Handel is facing a crowd.

     An excellent print, doing full justice to the stunning costumes and visuals.

Video Ratings Summary

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Audio

     Audio is a French Dolby Digital 5.1 track at 448 Kbps.

     Dialogue was centred, clear and easy to hear, the voice of Farinelli crystal clear. The surrounds and rears were quite active, especially during stage performances when the music reverberated around the sound stage. At other times the surrounds were used for audience noise as well as horses’ hooves. The sub-woofer added bass to horses’ hooves and the music. The score was predominantly classical music by Riccardo Broschi and Handel which sounded wonderful in the mix.

     Lip synchronisation was occasionally slightly out but was never distracting.

     A great enveloping audio track with wonderful music.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
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Nostalgia for a Lost Voice (50:11)

     Both a documentary about Carlo Broschi and a making of the film Farinelli, this is a fascinating documentary in its own right. The principal focus is how the filmmakers blended the male voice of Derek Lee Ragin with the female voice of Ewa Males-Godlewska to create the range Farinelli was able to achieve, something no current singer is capable of.

Madman Propaganda

     Trailers for other films from Madman: A Royal Affair (2:03), The Source (2:19), Romantics Anonymous (1:56) and I, Don Giovanni (1:56).

     There are various releases of Farinelli – Il Castrato in Region 2 including in Italy and Germany, but none have our excellent extra, and some are in an 1.33:1 aspect ratio and not 16x9 enhanced. An older Region 1 US release dating from 2000 is also 1.33:1.

     A clear win to Region 4 in this instance.

     Farinelli was the movie or rock megastar of his day whose voice took European society by storm and caused women to swoon. The costumes, set design, colours and music of Farinelli: Il Castrato are stunning and opulent although as a biopic the film really tells us little about the man and his times.

     The DVD has excellent video and audio. The one extra is genuine and interesting. A good DVD package.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall