This "Sunday Night" special from British television follows film director Luchino Visconti and his commitment to the three different art medias (cinema,
theatre and opera), his views on each of those, and behind the scenes of a film ("The Witches"), a play and an opera. Along with interviews with the filmmaker,
we also have moments from collaborators such as maestro Leonard Bernstein, opera singer Maria Callas, director/actor Vittorio de Sica and others.
A curious piece that doesn't fall into a biographical category, it's more about the work and how he approaches each media as master and commander in all of
those. I don't agree with his notion that opera is the most superior or most complete of arts since cinema can encompass all forms of art (as it is the very last, the 7th), and
a film can capture an opera but not the opposite (can you imagine "The Matrix" as an opera set on stage?). It's a difficult endeavor but it's also limited within its
classical proposition and format.
There are fine moments when the topic debated is the movies, like a cinema verité documentary Visconti made about a real crime that happened in Italy and a few clips
are presented, even though he never released the film. Actually, Italian authorities censored it after an exhibition and ever since the whole thing is hidden in
obscurity. And sadly, the special doesn't stick much with his film career, it's mostly focused on operas with countless rehearsals, and since I'm not much versed on the topic
it got a little boring, except for seeing how he works with his singers/performers in a great detail. The theatre work gets some
interesting mentions as he's the man responsible for bringing "Death of a Salesman" to Italy, to great acclaim, and he's also responsible for giving a new life
to Italian stage during the post war, bringing audiences to actually watch plays rather than people just using theatre as a social convention.
A fine project if you're curious in seeing Mr. Visconti views on art, the care and attention he had for cinema, theatre and opera, and being successful
at all of those. 6/10.
