Aria

Rating:
Summary: Liz Hurley's first important role in a movie
Review: This movie provided Liz Hurley with her big break. Soon after this, Dennis Potter snapped her up for the lead role in the BBC adaptation of Christabel Bielenberg's 'The Past is Myself'. She became Hugh Grant's girlfriend and the rest is history. She transformed herself physically during her twenties, which is why some viewers have had problems identifying the occasionally nude actress that appears here as the very slim Liz Hurley they now know.

For me, 'Aria' was the classical music community's response to the rise of MTV and the pop video. Directors like Ken Russell and Nick Roeg wanted to show us that opera could be equally colourful and sexy, even if you couldn't dance to it. And they proved their case, to my mind.

But like a pop video, you wouldn't want to watch this too often. There's no substantive connection between each of the videos, so you end up feeling much the same as you would after a 90-minute immersion in MTV.

Rating:
Summary: Great the first time, tends average, not for everyone
Review: This movie was great the first time, on the big screen. The music and the images shock you, and make you squirm and react to this movie. It's an artistic roller coaster ride.

I've found since, however, that this shocking quality doesn't preserve especially well. My favorite way of watching this movie these days, is to turn the music on, while I'm doing stuff around the house, occassionally looking at the images.

It's artistry, it doesn't hold up under critical thinking.

Who will like this movie? Despite (or perhaps because of) the billing of mature content, I think that this is a good film for teenage viewers with a liking for art films. One must be able to appreciate both the variety and intensity of the images, and be able to forgive the story. Not a problem in an action movie, but for an "art film", it shows it's high concept roots.

Maybe a gift for an opera lover, or an "art film" buff.

Rating:
Summary: Great the first time, tends average, not for everyone
Review: This movie was great the first time, on the big screen. The music and the images shock you, and make you squirm and react to this movie. It's an artistic roller coaster ride.

I've found since, however, that this shocking quality doesn't preserve especially well. My favorite way of watching this movie these days, is to turn the music on, while I'm doing stuff around the house, occassionally looking at the images.

It's artistry, it doesn't hold up under critical thinking.

Who will like this movie? Despite (or perhaps because of) the billing of mature content, I think that this is a good film for teenage viewers with a liking for art films. One must be able to appreciate both the variety and intensity of the images, and be able to forgive the story. Not a problem in an action movie, but for an "art film", it shows it's high concept roots.

Maybe a gift for an opera lover, or an "art film" buff.

Rating:
Summary: You Win Some, You Lose Some.
Review: This must have seemed like a great idea on paper. Take 10 well known opera arias then ask 10 established or up and coming directors to interpret them visually in any manner they choose. To add a little extra spice (and box office clout), get some well known performers like John Hurt, Theresa Russell, and Buck Henry to appear in it. What you get is a film/video that ranges from the sublime to the ridiculous. Each person must judge as to which segments work for them. My favorite episodes were made by Ken Russell, Bruce Beresford, Franc Roddam, and Derek Jarman. My favorite arias were by Korngold, Verdi, Lully, and Leoncavallo. In only one instance does the video match up with the audio. As a passionate devotee of silent movies, I am always drawn to films that attempt to tell their stories visually. Just as music is a key element in silents so it is with ARIA. How well it succeeds can be summed up in the old saying "You win some, you lose some". The film is definitely not for opera purists and the MTV crowd to whom the film was marketed will not likely care for it either. ARIA is visually ravishing and the music is superb. You'll either love it or hate it but one thing is certain, once you've seen it you'll be hard pressed to forget it.