ALARIS' REVIEWS

25th August 2010
Farinelli (1994)

This obscure, Belgian film is unusual viewing for me, but an interview with male soprano, Phillipe Jaroussky, in the Sydney Morning Herald piqued my curiosity.

Farinelli is the story of 18th century, castrato opera superstar, Carlo Broschi, aka Farinelli. Castrated as a boy under dubious circumstances, Carlo goes on to become an operatic celebrity across Europe, complete with hysterical fans. However, while his voice is thrilling kings and crowds, he battles with his own personal and artistic demons.

Rival theatres, stolen operas, brotherly betrayal and thwarted genius – I imagine Baz Luhrmann could have had a field day with this. Unfortunately, Farinelli isn’t that kind of movie.

It’s slow. It’s arty. It’s uncomfortable. Farinelli is the embodiment of those European films I usually find tedious to sit through. It feels like random scenes were taken from a longer narrative, and recombined out of chronological order. The plot is abstractly biographical rather than dramatically driven, and I’m still not entirely sure how all the various supporting characters are related to one another.

However, Farinelli does provide an interesting insight into an unconscionable practice, condoned by a sophisticated culture, for motives which are still very familiar today. There are significant parallels to the modern worship of fame and fortune, in which the best interests of children are sidelined for economic gain, and mutilation is an acceptable price to pay for aesthetic superiority.

The actors in Farinelli are actually fairly good, with Stefano Dionisi (Carlo) doing some impressive miming during several lengthy solos. Renaud du Peloux de Saint Romain is strikingly bright eyed as Benedict, a seriously ill boy who befriends Carlo, and Elsa Zylberstein is pleasantly nuanced for a love interest with little to do.

For me, the most memorable aspect of Farinelli is the brief story thread involving legendary composer, George Frideric Handel (Jeroen Krabbé). While he’s a cranky antagonist in this film, Handel’s struggle between artistic integrity and commercial appeal is almost comically poignant, and his moments of musical inspiration are wonderfully portrayed.

Farinelli is definitely not a popular recommendation, but it’s fair territory for the curious.

Verdict: An uncomfortable, arty, European film, with some impressive operatic solos.