Farinelli - Il Castrato Reviews

A bit superficial

A reasonable insight into the lives of the castrati, although the sexual side is rather over-emphasised. The main interest about the Castrati is the fact that they shaped opera composition for 150 years. There is evidence that they were revered in much the same way as pop stars are now, and that they were often persued by women, but this is all incidental to the effect they had on Baroque period music. This film as far as I know is the first to deal with the castrato, but the sexual side takes over too much. The notion that the Farinelli brothers shared lovers is absurd and has no grounding in historical fact. This is a pity because the same kind of false notoriety was built up around the poor Salieri when Amadeus was released. I suppose sex sells movies, but I would rather see something that is more true to fact.

awful

why can't I give zero stars?

Unusual, watchable, enigmatic

I enjoyed this movie, although I was struggling to see through the plot into the angle on art and perhaps gay politics.

Very worth it, though, for the great sets, unusual story line and weird main character. In fact all the characters were fairly weird...

[Highly rated reviewer]

History? Maybe

Actually I confess to watching this one mainly because I was impressed by Stefano Dionisi’s performance in Gloomy Sunday, where he is a totally different sort of musician, a moody 1930s piano player, but this film was a lot better than I expected. Dionisi’s performance as the famous castrato singer was very good, even to the point of looking as though he was singing the arias; the actor who played his somewhat manipulative brother, Enrico lo Verso, was also good. I haven’t seen him in any other films, but he’s worth looking out for.

Jeroen Krabbe as Handel was also believable, and very nasty. The music itself and the stage sets were magnificent, I can well believe that Farinelli was one of the pop stars of his day – just waiting for somebody to emulate him on the X Factor.

That said, the plot was in places quite bizarre, and I did find myself wondering how much of it was true. I'd much rather Gloomy Sunday, or for that matter Amadeus, but this is still a reasonably interesting film

Spellbinding

Not everyone's cup of tea - this is definitely an art rather than hollywood movie. But for anyone who appreciates early 18th century opera, this movie offers a real treat. Much digital effort has gone into blending soprano and counter-tenor voices to try to emulate the three octave range of castrati. Whilst admittedly not a perfect recreation of this lost sound, it provides a stunning new insight into what it might have been like to hear an accomplished castrato perform, and serves as a powerful reminder that many of the period's finest works were deliberately written for castrati like Senesino. Despite some historical licence taken, I found the story compelling and moving, and agree the message that robbing a human of the possibility of progeny and a fulfilling sex life can never be justified, not even to achieve this unique art form. I thought the acting was superb and the sex scenes didn't bother me - I thought these were in keeping with the mores of the time and the fact that this is a continental european (not anglo-saxon) movie. Music so sublime, I purchased the sound-track. But you don't need to be a music buff to enjoy the soaring melodies of Handel, Pergolesi, Hasse and Porpora, or to imagine the loneliness and rejection felt by castrati after the curtain fell and the theatre emptied.

Enlightening

Worrying to think what they did all those years ago to keep their voices. Good film though, kept me watching.

A masterpiece!

Castrated for art, Farinelli became the most famous singer of his time. Very good actors, way of filming and the story leaves you on the edge of your seat!

Farinelli will leave any rock star envious (....sex, drugs & classical)

A MASTERPIECE!!!

Castrated for art, Farinelli became the most famous singer of his time. Very good actors, way of filming and the story leaves you on the edge of your seat!

Farinelli will leave any rockstar envious (....sex, drugs & classical)

A classic

We were introduced to this film by our continental family/friends where the film was a huge succes. The first time we saw this movie we were left in silence. It introduced us to a whole new world of classical music.

Beautiful masterpiece

A wonderful atmospheric film with excellent period detail. It could have done without the sex scenes as they were unnecessary with such a well crafted and brilliant script..the words and music said it all. It is not often that Handel is portrayed in such a natural and convincing way as in this film. Artistically perfect and a must for anyone who loves eighteenth century music.