Looking Back at the (French) Opera-Film. Issue 1 (9th October 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Powrie, Phil
• Is Part Of: Open screens. Volume 1:Issue 1(2018)
• Publication Date: 2018-10-09
• Subjects: opera film -- Louise -- Carmen -- Boris Godounov -- Madame Butterfly -- Tosca; Motion pictures -- Periodicals; Television broadcasting -- Periodicals; Motion pictures -- Study and teaching -- Periodicals; Television broadcasting -- Study and teaching -- Periodicals; 791.43
• DOI: 10.16995/os.5
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2516-2888

Abstract

Abstract : Films focusing on music, whether musicals or biographies of singers, have had considerable success in the last decade; and opera has been increasingly incorporated into film soundtracks. But the modern opera film seems destined to be a subgenre associated with the 1980s. The majority of modern opera films from the mid-1970s through to the turn of the millennium were principally French-produced or French co-productions. This article considers the early development of the opera film and focuses on the final few opera films made in France – Boris Godounov (Andrzej Žuławski, 1989 ), Madame Butterfly (Frédéric Mitterrand, 1995 ) and Tosca (Benoît Jacquot, 2001 ) – placing them in the context of the challenges faced by the subgenre.