Farinelli is an interesting film, definitely worth seeing. There is a strange fascination with the idea of the castrato, so I found myself watching the movie to learn more about castrati. However, the film romanticized Farinelli like a rock star or something. Some scenes were pretty damn embarrassing. But before I go into all that, here's a grossly brief spiel of "castrato history", drawn from M401 music history class at IU and from various websites found from Google, and NOT FROM THE FILM, in order to give some background info: During the 18th century in Rome and some other Italian areas, women were not permitted to sing in church. For this reason, boys between the ages of 7-9 who showed potential as a singer were castrated to preserve their unbroken voice, with their permission. Although castrati were common throughout Italy, the procedure was illegal even then. Opera was the most popular and extravagant genre of music at this time, and castrati were often cast as the lead male role. Audiences found the unnatural voice of the castrati quite hypnotic, combining the range of a woman with the strength and power of a man. Carlo Broschi, called Farinelli, remains the highest esteemed of the castrati. "Tales" include his 3-octave-plus range, and of numerous occasions at the opera house where he would compete with a trumpeter on who could hold a note longer, with Farinelli winning. Physically, castrati were described to be abnormally tall, with a pear-shaped torso (wide hipped). Their voices sounded like a woman's. They had no facial hair, and no male-pattern baldness. And of course, most (though not all) were celibate. Farinelli was like most, I'm pretty sure (don't quote me on that).
Now, the film is a bit different from all this. In the film, Farinelli is an Italian Tom Cruise look-alike with a thin waist (like any thin sexy man). He's constantly having sex, sharing his fans with his leech brother. And, I'm no singer, but Mr. Stefano Dionisi did a pretty poor lip-sync job. His posture suggested no diaphragmatic support. Also, he made goofy facial expressions out of place in opera, and he also bared his teeth excessively. The diction and tone that his face suggested would have sounded really bad, for opera standards. Of course, I'm not expecting a MET performance from an actor, but his impersonation of operatic singing looked almost mocking. Also, the whole blending of male and female voice (see goofs above) lacked power. They should have just used a counter-tenor.
Also, I am not aware of the relationship between Farinelli and his brother Riccardo, but I'm pretty sure it was not as dysfunctional and psychotic as it was made out to be. And there is no way that Farinelli's castration was such a big deal and an injustice to Farinelli. I'm sure he wanted to be castrated just like everyone else.
The portrayal of Handel is a scream. I always thought Handel was a cosmopolitain man, who served the royalty of England and saw far more success than Bach. The movie portrays him as such, granted, but I didn't think he was a bastard! Maybe he was, I don't know, but the relationship and rivalry between Farinelli and Handel, I don't think that ever occurred. First off, Farinelli never performed any of Handel's operas. I doubt he stole his opera score too.
Despite the historical inaccuracies, I found the portrayal of 18th century opera society to be really interesting. Typically, American audiences are used to historical movies with British actors, regardless of the ethnicity portrayed. We are used to seeing British people play Frenchmen, Italianmen. However, in this film, the French are played by Frenchmen, and so on. As a result, there seems to be a more realistic portrayal of European society. Also I love how the opera is just this excuse to socialize. It was not like it is today. In this sense, the film was more historically correct.
All in all, I recommend seeing the film. Do a google search for pictures of Farinelli, if you're interested.
Now, the film is a bit different from all this. In the film, Farinelli is an Italian Tom Cruise look-alike with a thin waist (like any thin sexy man). He's constantly having sex, sharing his fans with his leech brother. And, I'm no singer, but Mr. Stefano Dionisi did a pretty poor lip-sync job. His posture suggested no diaphragmatic support. Also, he made goofy facial expressions out of place in opera, and he also bared his teeth excessively. The diction and tone that his face suggested would have sounded really bad, for opera standards. Of course, I'm not expecting a MET performance from an actor, but his impersonation of operatic singing looked almost mocking. Also, the whole blending of male and female voice (see goofs above) lacked power. They should have just used a counter-tenor.
Also, I am not aware of the relationship between Farinelli and his brother Riccardo, but I'm pretty sure it was not as dysfunctional and psychotic as it was made out to be. And there is no way that Farinelli's castration was such a big deal and an injustice to Farinelli. I'm sure he wanted to be castrated just like everyone else.
The portrayal of Handel is a scream. I always thought Handel was a cosmopolitain man, who served the royalty of England and saw far more success than Bach. The movie portrays him as such, granted, but I didn't think he was a bastard! Maybe he was, I don't know, but the relationship and rivalry between Farinelli and Handel, I don't think that ever occurred. First off, Farinelli never performed any of Handel's operas. I doubt he stole his opera score too.
Despite the historical inaccuracies, I found the portrayal of 18th century opera society to be really interesting. Typically, American audiences are used to historical movies with British actors, regardless of the ethnicity portrayed. We are used to seeing British people play Frenchmen, Italianmen. However, in this film, the French are played by Frenchmen, and so on. As a result, there seems to be a more realistic portrayal of European society. Also I love how the opera is just this excuse to socialize. It was not like it is today. In this sense, the film was more historically correct.
All in all, I recommend seeing the film. Do a google search for pictures of Farinelli, if you're interested.