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I think some long periods of Farinelli's life are left out. The film is too focused on his love life, making it definitely a female movie. There were a lot of other aspects to explore. We also get to see the obligatory scenes of audiences being mesmerized by opera, as if they were some island natives and not opera house regulars. Nevertheless, being a high budget movie, it has great costumes and beautiful scenery. Most of all you get the chance to explore the divine music of Haendel.

This movie is about Farinelli, one of the famous Castro Singers during the 18th century. He had the voice of an angel when he was a boy and since his family was very poor, an operation of castration was done to him in order to preserve his voice and help his family out in poverty. There were some strange parts during this film such as when he got older he and his brother Riccardo traveled together and never left each other. His brother was there during Farinelli's lovemaking in order to complete and finish the task that his brother could not do since he had been castrated. And then there was the white horses that Farinelli saw every time danger was present or near. This warning was not clearly explained in the film. The acting was very good. I enjoyed the variation of languages of French and Italian with a little bit of English thrown in. The costumes were excilent and the way the actors portrayed the characters during that past time period were done good. One makes you feel sorry for Farinelli because of what he did lack and also makes you feel for him because everybody would make a specticle of him because of his castration and the fact that he could not complete the task of lovemaking (personally..... I do not think that he really needed that, he was good being his own person anyway). Farinelli's popularity had worn down during the middle of his career due to his excessive use of opium in which his brother provided for him in order for him to sleep and get rid of any pain or stress. During the end of the movie we find that it is Riccardo that turned his little brother in because of his ability to sing and thus help his poor familiy. Not much is mentioned of his familiy but in the beginnig of the movie we do know that his family was poor and Farinelli offered himself as well as his voice because his voice was all that he did have in order to stay alive. This movie was a good film and I give it about a 7. There were several parts in the film that were not clearly explained and that was the only flaw.

Though unable to comment on Ferinelli's historical accuracy in this film, I was intrigued by the beautiful singing voice. Directly after viewing this movie on television on went my computer to research why Ferinelli's voice sounded so feminine. The history my eyes devoured regarding his life astounded me. How sad that not many 'castrati's' did not survive the castration. Additionally, I realized the movie is indeed not very factual and agree that the sexual content was unnecessary. Nonetheless, it is an enchanting movie despite the fiction entwined with some fact. Very soon I will purchase the soundtrack and hear what other IMDb users are raving about. I look forward to being lost in, mesmerized, and hypnotized by the operatic voice (voices). This film is a must see for anyone in love with opera, and the best music ever to first entertain the human ear.

Farinelli is not nearly as awful as I feared it would be. It's similar in many ways to Amadeus. Like Amadeus, it has glorious music beautifully performed. Like Amadeus, it tells a good (if melodramatic) story. Like Amadeus, it has a marvelous period feel. Like Amadeus, the characters in this story have the names and occupations of real people, but their portrayal on the screen is not even caricature: a caricature necessarily starts with something recognizeable.

Farinelli was famous in history not merely for a phenomenal voice and outstanding musicianship and musical connoisseurship, but for poise, dignity, and perfect-pitch judgement of human character; he is portrayed throughout as a hysteric. Handel is shown as a pompous, bullying nervous wreck verging on the psychotic, quite at variance with all reliable accounts of his humor, sturdiness, practicality, and reputation for scrupulous probity toward his musicians and singers.

Handel could not have said, to Farinelli, during the latter's first sensational season with the Opera of the Nobility, that he would never write another opera, and not just because Handel was no faux-Freudian opera queen: Lady History inconveniently discloses that after that 1733-34 season Handel composed and presented Ariodante, Alcina, Atalanta, Giustino, Arminio, Berenice, Faramondo, Serse, and Imeneo; his last opera, Deidamia, went unperformed, but several in that list were significant successes, and some were revived more than once.

The two rival opera companies in London went down the drain more or less simultaneously, notwithstanding the enormous draw of Farinelli for the Nobility company, and notwithstanding the high quality of the music of its principal composers (Porpora, Hasse, undervalued today) and the stupendous quality of Handel's music (also undervalued); rather, the people with the money to afford the (by our standards) enormous ticket prices had simply lost interest.

One commentator here is skeptical about many "period" details. And rightly: for starters, that's not the way boys were castrated, but you don't need to know the truth. Relax, just enjoy the music and the costumes and the actors chewing the scenery.

Farinelli is the artistic name of Carlo Broschi, a young singer in Handel's time. He was castrated in his childhood in order to preserve his voice. During his life he comes to be a very famous opera singer, managed by his mediocre brother Riccardo.

Although this is the story of a real person, it relies very little on facts. Just a few notes: the ambiguous relationship between the Broschi brothers, the stormy one with rival composer Handel, and Farinelli's own amorous escapades and over-the-top "rockstar" attitude are totally spurious. But I don't think this makes the film bad, because it is not intended to be a true story.

It is somewhat hard to believe that this used to be a real practice... the purposeful destruction of a child just to have him sing high notes. Whatever was the point?

This remarkable film remains one of my favourites. The story line at first left me wondering why the director had chosen to make the film in the first place. Luscious scenery, beautiful costumes, sets, extravagant, but historically accurate stagings for the opera scenes, great language and dialogue - but why make a film about an all but forgotten singer from almost three centuries ago? Nothing in the film seemed to give a clue as to why anyone would go to all the bother of reconstructing a marvelous voice so painstakingly, and choose one of the great performers of our time to oversee the performances of the music. Repeated viewings did not seem to throw any light on the vexing question that, despite all the lushness and splendour I was still missing some point to the whole exercise. It was only on the third or fourth viewing that I noticed in the opening credits a small remark - in French - "to the memory of my daughter . . "name"". Suddenly the whole thing made sense. This marvelous and true story of the castrato is, perhaps, the directors attempt to describe his impotence in the face of the loss of his beloved child. Viewed in this light the ending of the film and the sequences in London between Farinelli and Benedict finally begin to have a poignancy and a sadness that is truly stunningly and sensitively achieved whilst adding to the story line. I love this film and cannot possibly recommend it enough. Any lover of Early Music should revel in it, but it has been lifted out of the ordinary and into the universal and sublime by that one small realization. Superlatives cannot do it justice.

The bawdy adventures of Carlo Broschi, the man with the magic voice and no testicles. But his brother Riccardo steps into the role of carrying out the sexual duties, filling women with what Carlo cannot offer! Interesting account of the great opera singer and his life in turmoil.

Famed 18th century (castrato) soprano Ferinelli invites a serious biographical study. This 17-18th c. period was, until recent times, skirted over by musicologists and music history teachers.

The result of this omission has been an unsuspecting awareness of the extent to which male performers dominated all forms of period theater, including opera, oratorio, cantata, ballet, and stage plays. "Ferinneli" had an opportunity to provide substantive information in filling this void.

Unfortunately, what resulted is just another Ken Russell-type production (a la "The Music Lovers," "Lisztomania," "Mahler," etc.). In fact, were Andre Corbiau's name not credited as director of "Ferinelli," one would swear this was a Russell composer biopic.

All Russell trademarks are there: excessive closeups of actors in dramatic distress, swirling activity to cover up script weaknesses, and disjointed highlights instead of sequence continuity.

Director-coscriptor Corbiau has Stefano Dionisi as Ferinneli forever falling down and collapsing both on and offstage for no apparent reason, and using the old device of having him hesitate to sing on cue before a full house to superficially create suspense and anxiety.

In fact, Corbiau, like Russell, is more intent on affecting than expressing: manipulating the viewer than sincerely sharing. As a result, one is held a arm's length of emotional participation throughout.

While no contemporary production can create a truly authentic period setting, there are questions which arise here: George Frederick Handel, one of the world's most prolific and fine composers, is reduced to that of a mere rival theatrical impressario; and Farinelli is forever acting oddly--claiming vocal loss, serious indisposition, and tripping out on opium. Indeed, at times this seems more like a baroque version of sex-drugs-and-rock-'n'roll.

On the brighter side, the staging of the operatic scenes are wonderfully on-target, having been obviously well-researched and meticulously designed. The combination real-and-computer-created vocal work is fascinating in its etherial timbre and in its negotiation of Handelean melismas, embellishments and assorted ornamentation. Likewise, the baroque pit orchestra and period opera house decor is strikingly detailed.

What a pity "Farinelli" fails in its main opportunity: to convey a simple, heart-felt story of one of history's most celebrated singers.

In the 18th century, long before modern music could be canned for mass consumption, there existed a life-style which could only be sculpted from the unfortunate lives of prepubescent boys of Europe. This movie called " Farinelli " is the finest example of what was once deemed a most unique form of Opera. The story is based on the true story of two brothers who's father fettered them to a life of music and composition. Stefano Dionisi plays Carlo Broschi, AKA as Farinelli and his brother Riccardo Broschi (Enrico Lo Verso). Together they travel far and wide seeking not only an Opera loving audience, but also a rich patron who could afford their talent. The time of our story is set during the Baroque heyday of Frideric Handel (Jeroen Krabbe) who's great Classical music became the epitome of royalty and high society alike. The elder Broschi believes he did the right thing by suffering his younger brother to the excruciating pain of being castrated. However, he is then haunted by the fact his tortured brother has nightmares from the incident. Travel as the two boys do throughout the film, the story becomes more a testament of conscience, than one dealing with the audience appreciation of the day. Still, for Opera lovers or for those who enjoy good operatic theater, this movie delivers a cornucopia of both, with great period costumes and superior acting. Indeed, Stefano Dionisi and Jeroen Krabbé are superb as their lives play against each another. ****

Carlo Broschi, known as Farinelli, was one of the most notable opera singers of his time, the golden age of baroque opera. He became the highest paid artist in the world. This film explores his life, his artistic career, the difficult relationship he maintained with the composers of the operas he sang (particularly Handel) and his problematic relationship with his brother, the composer Ricardo Broschi.

Well, what can we say? The film is good, but there are problems here. It has a good story, full of drama and moral and ethical issues of various kinds, but it is not captivating nor does it tie us to the film, and much of what is told is invention. For us today, the simple idea of men being castrated to sing in choirs and operas is controversial and the film explores this by showing the sexual difficulties of the protagonist, who shares his lovers with his manly brother. There are still dubious moments: who was that man who, early in the film, committed suicide naked? How, when and by whom was young Carlo castrated (the film suggests a theory but honestly I felt that even the script did not give it credit)?

The actors do a satisfactory job, but far from brilliant. Stefano Dionisi is a convincing Farinelli and had a good relationship with Enrico Lo Verso, who gave life to his brother Ricardo. The fights between them are some of the most dramatic and intense scenes in the film. Jereon Knabbe also shone like Handel, and I enjoyed hearing him speak the various languages that the great composer probably dominated (Italian, French, English, German).

Technically, the film satisfies. It is visually magnificent thanks to the pompous and exaggerated Baroque style. The sets and costumes are historically rigorous and pleasant to look at. The soundtrack is loaded with very famous Baroque tunes like "Lascia ch'io Pianga", from Handel's opera "Rinaldo" and many others, and that was a safe and sure bet by Gerard Corbiau. A single mistake: in more than a moment, the bad synchrony of sound and video made it evident that the songs were not from the main character but from a recording.

Something seems strangely amiss with what could have been a fascinating historical glimpse into the world of the castrati (castrated male opera singers) in 18th-century Europe. This 1994 Belgian film is an opulent production full of stunning costumes and set decorations, but director Gerard Corbiau is far more focused on the co-dependency between two real-life brothers, Carlo Broschi, the swoon-worthy castrato known to the world as Farinelli, and his marginally talented composer brother Riccardo. Although there are glimpses of the castration that occurred when Carlo was ten, the narrative deals very little with the psychological anguish of this act, instead showing extravagantly vainglorious scenes of Farinelli's impact on audiences at the time. It's as if the story structure of the Baroque operas written at that time took over the sensibility of the screenplay and trivialized the human complexities into exaggerated melodrama.

Despite a valiant effort by Stefano Dionisi in the title role, Farinelli is portrayed as a moody, self-centered egotist rather than a misunderstood artist. Compounding the problem is the fact that his masculine speaking voice is at odds with his ethereal singing voice (obviously a creative decision so as not to alienate the general audience from the character's plight). Moreover, the computerized melding of countertenor Derek Lee Ragin and soprano Ewa Mallas Godlewska into Farinelli's voice simply does not sync up well with Dionisi's lip and throat movements. In other words, you simply don't believe it's Dionisi's voice coming out of him. When the film finally takes flight in the last third of the film, it's because the focus has shifted to the competitive, intense relationship between Farinelli and the great composer of the age, Handel. Jeroen Krabbe - familiar to American audiences for his nasty turn as Barbra Streisand's condescending husband in "The Prince of Tides" - plays Handel with such passionate fury that I wish the film was more about his character. This sequence climaxes with the film's musical highlight, a trio of wonderful, truly classic arias from Handel's "Rinaldo".

Unfortunately, the remaining musical performances are not nearly as absorbing and rather repetitive. The film again flails toward the end when we are given a rather silly scene involving a solar eclipse and gratuitous nudity with a ménage a trois among Farinelli, Riccardo and Alexandra, the woman who is - quite literally - between them. The remaining performances are fine with Enrico LoVerso conveying his Salieri-like inferiority with appropriate fervor, Elsa Zylberstein beguiling as Alexandra and Caroline Cellier doing a fine Jeanne Moreau impersonation as the jaded Margareth Hunter. Overall it's still a relatively disappointing movie saved by Handel's musical genius. Except for a few trailers, there are no extras with the DVD. For those interested in the world of the castrati in more penetrating detail, I suggest reading Anne Rice's 1982 novel, "Cry to Heaven", and the "Rinaldo" arias are better served by countertenor David Daniels and mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli on their 2002 cast recording conducted by Christopher Hogwood.

I know I'm being sort of anal by mentioning this, but this movie, as beautiful and enchanting as it is, has many inaccuracies.

Farinelli, in addition to his handsome features and heavenly voice, was also a very humble person and hardly displayed the raucous behavior of a "rock star" as depicted in the film.

Second, the singer was known as disinterested in sex, thus I have no idea why the sex scenes in the film were included. True, there WERE castrati who did engage in pleasures of the flesh, but Farinelli was NOT one of them, or at least there are no historical records suggesting so.

All that aside, this movie was a lavishly done production and a must-see!

I have always been fascinated by the idea of castrati - painful though the thought of the practice might be. Baroque music generally is beautiful and fascinating. Add to that mix one of the most famous singers ever to have lived and the mystique is complete. We can hear (albeit scratchy remasters) of Carouso, but we can only imagine what Farinelli must have sounded like.

The drama around his life is beautifully depicted in this movie. Of course it tends to melodrama in parts. Of course the notion of the two-brother pact for everything, including conquests, is red top material in a broadsheet movie.

Basically, we were transfixed for best part for two hours and commend this movie to anyone who likes drama, history and/or music in their movies.

I had never heard of Farinelli before the movie got released. I only now got around to seeing it. On the one hand, you gotta admire the sheer passion that they put into the movie: the performances, the music, and the sumptuous production design. On the other hand, it sounds as though the movie took a number of creative liberties, as much of Farinelli's personal life remains a mystery.

Either way, I do recommend "Farinelli" as a look at the world of 18th-century opera. Not any sort of masterpiece, but impressive nonetheless.

Farinelli is a wonderful rendition of 18th century European art life where sounds of music spelled passions in the hearts of all music lovers. Farinelli's voice is a justification of his existence. The film remains faithful to ancient times. Broschi brothers shared everything equally. It is this tendency which has helped them to remain strong and intact. The film's brilliance is a result of mellifluous music, accurate set design, costumes etc all of which lend it an air of perfectionism. It is unusual that Gérard Corbiau has chosen this film after "L'année de l'éveil" although his new film "Le Roi Danse" is also believed to be in the same vein. Whatever might be the truth, it can rightly be said that the historical inaccuracies have been subdued by elaborate set design and costumes. After the critically acclaimed "Le Maître de Musique" Corbiau has sensibly dealt with music. He has proved that inspiration cannot be replaced with virtuosity. One must try to find real emotions in music.

The first time I watched this film the subtitles didn´t work, but I was

still hooked on its beauty and emotion. After a proper viewing I

went straight out and bought the soundtrack - and I´m totally not

into opera. The scene where Farinelli sings Händel sent such

huge shivers down my spine and tears down my face.

The story itself may not be entirely historically correct (when was

ever filmmaking all about facts and figures?), but the tale about

Farinelli is captivating to say the least. The castrato singers were

both worshipped and shunned by society, loved for their heavenly

voices and scorned for their lost manhood.

Michael Jackson is the obvious modern day comparison, but I´d

say that´s not fair to Farinelli. Check out this film, enjoy the music,

and learn that extreme celebrity is not a new thing!

The sets and costumes are magnificent and give a 21st century viewer a glimpse of what life must have been like for the fortunate wealthy in the days of the baroque composers, but the story is confusing and there was far too much gratuitous sex. It was as if the filmmakers did not think that the beautiful music and sumptuous settings could carry the film. I don't know if something was lost in the subtitling, or whether too much film was left on he cutting room floor, but I was baffled by a number of the characters. Who was Benjamin and why did he wear a body brace? Who were Alexandra and Margareth? The characters simply seemed to be a device to move the story along to the bizarre and unnecessary sex scenes.

My biggest problem was with the poor lip synching, which was so obvious that it distracted and spoiled the flow of the film. It was not just that the facial mannerisms did not match the voice, but that the volume actually dropped to the extent that the voice seemed to be coming from off stage. Nowhere was this worse than the trumpet scene at the beginning. The castrati had very powerful voices, but Farinelli's voice sounds like a far-off squeak. Synching has been done very successfully in the past, most notably by Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady and Ava Gardner is Show Boat, and most famously by Edmund Purdom in the Student Prince, so it should not be beyond the capability of film makers 40 or more years later. I felt that the film would have been more convincing if Farinelli had been played by a soprano doing her own singing, and had concentrated more on the relationship with the brother who was riding on Farinelli's coat tails. How often have we seen a partnership where one half is nothing without the other, and knows it.

As for the comparison with the decadent rock star life style, that is how the castrati stars allegedly lived in the hedonistic 18th-century. I am not sure either that the castrati strutted around the stage like drag queens as they were supposed to be playing the women's parts as women. Given Ken Russell’s record of appallingly bad taste portrayals of musicians, it is surprising that he never attempted this one. It was right up his street.

Opera lovers would be better served by listening to recordings of Handels operas.

Wow, What a magnificent movie Farinelli is. Don't miss it. It's really a piece of art. I was amazed by the dazzling scenes of this film. Beauty is all this movie is about. It's full of great, amazing and magnificent scenes including a great love making scene which in my opinion is one of the great sex scenes in movie history. It's absolutely great. If you love movies and haven't seen it yet don't hesitate.

'Farinelli' is a film well worth seeing for its memorable visual imagery and its unique soundtrack. Mid-film scenes set against the decadence of 17th-century European court life make for charming costumes and sets. Contrasting visuals of rural Italy provide their own pastoral allure that is no less charming. Moreover, the film rises admirably to the daunting technical and artistic task of reproducing the tone of a castrato voice, considering that the musical world has not seen or heard a castrato singer for more than a century.

'Ah,' you say, 'sounds gorgeous...but what's it about?' Enter Carlo and Riccardo Broschi, Italian brothers who share musical aspirations: Riccardo composes, and Carlo sings what he writes. Carlo is a gifted castrato, but Riccardo is a mediocre composer at best. In time, Carlo becomes the renowned Farinelli while Riccardo struggles with his lack of talent/recognition as well as the troublesome fact that Carlo is his meal ticket.

The simple story line masks rich potential (think 'Amadeus'), but 'Farinelli' is hampered by shallow character development and its inexplicable tendency to substitute all-too-frequent sex scenes for emotional power. Without the full realization of the characters or the ramifications of the plot, the film struggles to keep a viewer engaged, at least in my own case. The beautiful pageantry of 'Farinelli' fails to compensate for its hollow dramatic core.

In short? Not bad, but a better music movie is 'Amadeus'(among others), and a better movie with beautiful Italian visuals is 'A Room With A View' (among others).

See the movie for the music, the costumes and the set designs. I first heard of this movie through a classical music station and I was hooked immediately. Bought the soundtrack and fell in love with the strength of the voice. A voice with a three and a half octave range! Buy the CD to read about how the voice was created for the movie. Just incredible.

This film was really well done, as a whole. I think it did have more nudity and sex than really required by the story. Certainly well worth seeing.