Teyss
Filmed opera can be shot either on stage (one lead example is "The Magic Flute" by Ingmar Bergman, but there are many others), either on site as in a fiction movie. (Rarely, it combines both elements, for instance "The Tales of Hoffmann" by Powell and Pressburger.) "Don Giovanni" is a masterpiece of the latter kind.Granted, the film is not the first opera off-stage: among others, we must mention at least the memorable "Tosca" by De Bosio (1976), shot in the actual Roman locations where the action is supposed to take place. However "Tosca" was a TV movie, while "Don Giovanni" was a full-scale cinema movie with live recordings. As such, it has set high standards and a trend that was imitated later on: "La Traviata" by Zeffirelli (1982), "Carmen" by Rosi (1984), "Madame Butterfly" by Mitterrand (1995). Unfortunately, these films are rare because of costs (settings, singers mobilised for a long period, important crew, dedicated orchestra, etc.). Hence stage filming is more common because it is cheaper to produce: apart from royalties, there are few additional costs than stage production.Even if you are not an opera amateur, you will probably like this movie: it is loaded with action and drama, settings are impressive, costumes are gorgeous. And the music, ah the music, anybody would love it. Mozart is eternal.Where to start with such a masterpiece? Since it is an opera, with the most obvious: the singers are top class. Ruggero Raimondi is a fabulous lead role. He conveys an intense aura throughout the movie, he gives everything to the character, he strips figuratively and literally; he does not play Don Giovanni, he IS Don Giovanni. We knew he was a great singer, we now know he is a great actor. José Van Dam is a colourful, stylish, smart Leporello. It is a bright idea to attribute this role (that was then frequently considered secondary) to such a talented singer: the character and plot gain depth. Teresa Berganza is a prodigious Zerlina: although she was more than 40 when the movie was shot, we believe she is a young peasant. Despite her small role, she is the most convincing of the female singers. Most other performers are remarkable, but these three break the house down in terms of singing and acting.The orchestra, directed by Lorin Maazel, is a firm support to these great artists. To be honest, it is not the best interpretation but does the job for the purpose of the movie, with its dynamic tone and sharp texture. (For information, the reference recordings are by Giulini, which has my preference, and Krips. I would also recommend Jacobs, an elaborate version, or Gardiner, a red-blooded account). At the time, the acoustic was somewhat flawed, which raised criticisms, but has been corrected since.Settings and costumes do more than illustrate the plot: they give it an altogether new dimension. Note the movie does not aim for historical accuracy (as the above-mentioned "Tosca"): it was shot in Veneto, Italy, while the action is supposed to take place in Sevilla, Spain. Losey aims here for maximal aesthetic effect. On the one hand, details enhance the feeling of reality: peasants working, eating, sleeping; a lively wedding; a lush party. On the other hand, remote surroundings, elaborate costumes and mysterious masks create a timeless and abstract atmosphere. This gives the movie its universal dimension, which makes me believe it will never be surpassed.In such an environment, the fabulous arias rise to artistic stratosphere. "Madamina, il catalogo è questo" is illustrated by Leporello unwinding a huge manuscript down stairs and a hill: we can barely believe what is happening, we are bewildered like Donna Elvira. This brilliant idea has since been imitated numerous times on stage, in different forms. "Là ci darem la mano" is sung in a beautiful, sunny house, surrounded by friendly folks: we believe, as Zerlina, that Don Giovanni will love her for ever. "Dalla sua pace" is sung by Don Ottavio in a boat floating among marshes: the calm and surrealist surroundings increase the character's loneliness and melancholy. Likewise later on with "Il mio tesoro", where he wanders alone in deserted gardens.The overture, where there is no action, always is a tricky part: what to film as the music plays? Losey imagines a splendid and clever scene: Don Giovanni visits a glass fabric. We see him behind a fire, an illustration of his devilish character and an anticipation of the fact he will be devoured by the flames of hell. Losey even manages to beautify the epilogue (after Don Giovanni dies), clearly not Mozart's best piece of music. The duel, the wedding, the love scenes, the party, the cemetery, Don Giovanni's death, etcetera, etcetera: all scenes are impressive and flawless. The movie is a long string of perfect pearls.Enhanced by this artistic vision, the opera's themes are better than illustrated: they are transcended. Desire, love, ambiguity, humour, social constraints, domination, money, destiny, fate: it is rare to see a movie that is at the same time so enjoyable and so profound. Regardless if you are a connoisseur or not, "Don Giovanni" will change your vision of filmed opera, opera in general, classical music, music in general and even cinema. Already outstanding at the time, it has now become a must-see classic.
Rosabel
A fascinating film that seems to be operating on several levels at once. It was hard for me sometimes to just listen to it as an opera, because I felt that there were so many messages being imparted through the sets, landscape and especially the extras who continually move about the scene as the main characters sing and act their stories. Others have observed that the common people are present everywhere, and yet just ignored by Don Giovanni; he even conducts his attempted seduction of Zerlina with half a village standing on the steps and watching. As an aristocrat, he doesn't even acknowledge the existence of these underlings, and can do what he wants without worrying about their opinion or their interference. Nor is this just the behavior of a bad man; Don Ottavio is much the same during one of his arias (I think it is 'Il mio tesoro') when he is walking about declaiming as peasants dot the lawn, taking their afternoon siesta. Perhaps the point is not so much to accuse anyone of being deliberately cruel, as to underline how absolutely divided the aristocracy is from the common people. Not only do the aristocrats ignore the commoners, the commoners seem to be pretty oblivious to the aristocrats, too. No matter what Don Giovanni gets up to, the work of the peasants just goes on - he may wander down to the kitchen once in a while to give a little speech and pinch a serving wench, but it makes very little difference to anyone if he's present or not. The whole of this society seems as artificial and fragile as Don Giovanni's lace sleeves; this is a world that is almost at the limit of its ability to hold together under the weight of its contradictions.Ruggero Raimondi is a terrific Don Giovanni - handsome, graceful and charming, but with a hardness in the line of his mouth and his eyes that creates a very disturbing feeling of danger. Zerlina, though attracted, seems to sense that there is something wrong about him, though she isn't quite sure where to attribute the feeling of fear he inspires in her. Teresa Berganza was my favorite of the 3 main ladies; Edda Moser seemed very grim after her opening scene, and Kiri Te Kanawa reminded me irresistibly of Madeleine Kahn in "Young Frankenstein", especially with that tall silver-powdered hairdo. The silent servant played by Eric Adjani was another one of the puzzles that I felt this movie kept posing me. He seems to be a younger version of Don Giovanni, and one who is present almost as Don Giovanni's spirit, when the actual man is not there. During moments of crisis, he almost always watches Don Giovanni, not the action that is taking place outside him, and only Don Giovanni seems to really look at him. In the finale, he is almost like Banquo's ghost, sitting in Don Giovanni's chair until the master confronts him, and when the Commendatore's statue appears, Don Giovanni almost seems to bid him goodbye as he passes. I think the servant is Don Giovanni's conscience, the age when Don Giovanni, as a young man, cast him off and turned to evil. Now he follows him like a ghost of himself, observing but unable to influence.
