Saturday, March 11, 2017
Review: THE PARIS OPERA in RENDEZ-VOUS WITH FRENCH CINEMA 2017
THE PARIS OPERA
L’OPERA DE PARIS
Thursday, March 2, 4:00pm
Saturday, March 11, 3:30pm
THE 22nd RENDEZ-VOUS WITH FRENCH CINEMA
MARCH 1-12, 2017
Tickets & more at
Full Preview at
The Paris Opera / L'Opèra de Paris
Jean-Stéphane
Bron, France, 2017, 110m
French with
English subtitles
This
all-access documentary goes behind the scenes of the Paris Opera, following the
array of personnel—management, performers, costumers, cleaning crew—who work to
bring breathtaking spectacle to audiences night after night. Over the course of
a season, director Jean-Stéphane Bron nimbly juggles a dizzying number of
storylines, from labor disputes to procuring a live bull for Schoenberg’s Moses
und Aron to a PR crisis involving the head of the company’s ballet. Sweeping in
scope yet full of intimate human moments, The Paris Opera offers a candid look
at everything that goes into operating one of the world’s foremost performing
arts institutions. U.S. Premiere.
Thursday,
March 2, 4:00pm
Saturday,
March 11, 3:30pm
REVIEW
This is a
terrific film that celebrates opera, music, and dance. It provides a backstage
look at their preparations, management, celebrations and crises that are part
of a year at the opera.
This documentary
follows in the style of Frederick Wiseman (but with more love for the
institution and its cultural products than Wiseman, with his often ascetic aesthetic
often reveals). There is no narration, or external information provided, beyond
what is said and shown in the film. While this provides a unity of experience,
it also leaves many questions about who is who, and what their role is.
It has
long been my belief that every documentary should have a companion
(transmedia!) informational website that adds (for example) the full text of
interviews excerpted in the film, the names and dates and bios of people who
appear in the film, links to relevant information, and other important
information that does not fit in a single 2 hour film.
(In fact, In
2009, Frederick Wiseman, himself, made a documentary about dance at the Paris
Opera -- the link is below).
The film has
a loose structure. It is roughly
chronological, and it follows two people in particular: Stéphane Lissner, a new
Director of the Opera, and Mikhail Timosheko, a young singer with a beautiful
bass-baritone voice, through a season of opera. (And they chose well: Timoshenko now, a few
years after the film was shot, seems to have a blossoming career.)
This film is
a gift for all music, opera, and dance lovers… and an invitation to everyone
else!
CAST AND CREW
Director:
Jean-Stéphane Bron
Appearances
include:
Stéphane Lissner - Director of the
Paris Opera.
Mikhail Timosheko - a young
Bass-Baritone
LINKS
THE PARIS
OPERA - IMDB
JEAN-STEPHANE
BRON - IMDB
STEPHANE
LISSNER
MIKHAIL
TIMOSHENKO
THE PARIS
OPERA - WIKIPEDIA
THE PARIS
OPERA BALLET - WIKIPEDIA
WISEMAN’S LA DANSE - IMDB
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1500496
FREDERICK
WISEMAN - WIKIPEDIA
Labels: Jean-Stéphane Bron, L'Opèra de Paris, Mikhail Timosheko, Rendez-Vous with French Cinema, Stéphane Lissner, The Film Society of Lincoln Center, The Paris Opera
