Rosi, Francesco

The Truce

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Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: R
Release Date: 5-APR-2005
Media Type: DVD

Bizet - Carmen / Maazel, Migenes, Domingo

This is the most popular opera production so far on DVD, surpassing even Franco Zeffirelli's lavish, symbol-laden La Traviata. It is an exciting Carmen, with a young-looking Placido Domingo in top form for a role he has sung hundreds of times. For Julia Migenes, it was her first performance in a role she would have trouble performing in an opera house. Her voice does not fit easily into Carmen's range, and she spent months training it, very successfully, before singing the role in a recording studio where the soundtrack was taped before the film was shot. Casting her in the role was a gamble, but it worked; she is a convincing actress--even better than Maria Ewing in the competing DVD edition from Covent Garden, though Ewing acts very well and has a more appropriate voice.

This movie version was filmed on location, conveying a kind of atmosphere, a sense of space, movement, and presence hard to achieve in a staged performance shot for television. It takes the action out of doors for many scenes. The opening titles are superimposed on the bloody conclusion of a bullfight. The changing of the guard in the opening scene, with the boys' chorus playing soldier, the crowd scenes, the dance number that opens Act II, the panoramic scenery of the smugglers' mountain hideout, all benefit from the freedom granted by movie cameras. But the music is, on the whole, more effectively performed in the Covent Garden production, which also handles close-up shots better, perhaps because it was directed with a small screen in mind. The opera house atmosphere will make hard-core opera fans feel more at home. The movie version uses the opera's original opera comique form with some spoken dialogue rather than recitatives. --Joe McLellan

All the passion and spectacle of Bizet's Carmen comes to life in this dazzling screen opera starring Placido Domingo and Julia Migenes-Johnson. In 19th century Seville, the lusty, tempestuous Carmen (Migenes-Johnson) seduces a naive Army corporal, Don Jose (Domingo), newly assigned to the village fortress. Jose abandons his career, his fiancée and even his dying mother for the love of this sultry gypsy. But soon she spurns him in favor of a toreador, Escamillo (Ruggero Raimondi). Crazed with jealousy, Jose begs Carmen to return to him, but her taunting declaration of independence results in tragedy. Shot entirely on location in Andalusian Spain, Bizet's Carmen has been hailed as the definitive version of this classic opera. 155 minutes.

Christ Stopped at Eboli

In CHRIST STOPPED AT EBOLI, director Francesco Rosi's stunning adaptation of Carlo Levi's novel, Gian Maria Volonte (FISTFUL OF DOLLARS; FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE) stars as Levi, one of many intellectuals exiled by the Fascist government during World War II. Banished to Gagliano, an ancient mountain village in southern Italy, Volonte discovers the stark beauty of the landscape as well as the resilience of the peasants, who have lived there for generations. The legendary Irene Papas (ERENDIRA; Z; CAPTAIN CORELLI'S MANDOLIN) costars as the earthy Giulia, a housekeeper who teaches the sophisticated writer about the dignity of people who live close to the land. Francesco Rosi (THREE BROTHERS; SALVATORE GIULIANO) offers an authentic but moving story against a historical backdrop, stunningly photographed in rich detail.

Salvatore Giuliano - Criterion Collection

Who murdered Salvatore Giuliano? July 5, 1950-the infamous bandit's bullet-riddled corpse is found facedown in a courtyard in Castelvetrano, Sicily, a handgun and rifle by his side. At the age of twenty-seven, Giuliano (Frank Wolff) was then both Italy's most wanted criminal and most celebrated hero of his day. In this groundbreaking work of investigative filmmaking, director Francesco Rosi harnesses the facts and myths surrounding the true story of Giuliano's death, creating a searching and startling exposé of Sicily and the web of relations between her citizens, the Mafia, the military, and government officials.

Three Brothers

A moving portrait of three brothers of modern Italy and of faith and hope. The brothers who have been separated by work and life return home to their small village following the death of their mother. "A film of quiet reflection and strengthening resolve...Rosi's deep-focus camera work spins a vivid lyrical drama of regret and rebirth abstract ethics and pinpoint sensuality" (Dave Kehr Chicago Reader). With Philippe Noiret Vittorio Mezzogiorno Michele Placido and Charles Vanel. In Italian with English subtitles.System Requirements:Running Time: 113 mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: FOREIGN/LATIN UPC: 736899040321 Manufacturer No: DV67515

Hands Over the City - Criterion Collection

Anchored by a ferocious lead performance from Rod Steiger as a scheming land developer, Francesco Rosi's Hands Over the City moves breathlessly from a cataclysmic building collapse to the backroom negotiations of civic leaders vying for power in the City Council election. Plunging headfirst into the politically driven real-estate speculation that has devastated Naples' civilian landscape, Hands Over the City, which was awarded the Golden Lion at the 1963 Venice Film Festival, remains a blistering work of social realism.

Carmen [Region 2]

This is the most popular opera production so far on DVD, surpassing even Franco Zeffirelli's lavish, symbol-laden La Traviata. It is an exciting Carmen, with a young-looking Placido Domingo in top form for a role he has sung hundreds of times. For Julia Migenes, it was her first performance in a role she would have trouble performing in an opera house. Her voice does not fit easily into Carmen's range, and she spent months training it, very successfully, before singing the role in a recording studio where the soundtrack was taped before the film was shot. Casting her in the role was a gamble, but it worked; she is a convincing actress--even better than Maria Ewing in the competing DVD edition from Covent Garden, though Ewing acts very well and has a more appropriate voice.

This movie version was filmed on location, conveying a kind of atmosphere, a sense of space, movement, and presence hard to achieve in a staged performance shot for television. It takes the action out of doors for many scenes. The opening titles are superimposed on the bloody conclusion of a bullfight. The changing of the guard in the opening scene, with the boys' chorus playing soldier, the crowd scenes, the dance number that opens Act II, the panoramic scenery of the smugglers' mountain hideout, all benefit from the freedom granted by movie cameras. But the music is, on the whole, more effectively performed in the Covent Garden production, which also handles close-up shots better, perhaps because it was directed with a small screen in mind. The opera house atmosphere will make hard-core opera fans feel more at home. The movie version uses the opera's original opera comique form with some spoken dialogue rather than recitatives. --Joe McLellan

Carmen [Region 2]

This is the most popular opera production so far on DVD, surpassing even Franco Zeffirelli's lavish, symbol-laden La Traviata. It is an exciting Carmen, with a young-looking Placido Domingo in top form for a role he has sung hundreds of times. For Julia Migenes, it was her first performance in a role she would have trouble performing in an opera house. Her voice does not fit easily into Carmen's range, and she spent months training it, very successfully, before singing the role in a recording studio where the soundtrack was taped before the film was shot. Casting her in the role was a gamble, but it worked; she is a convincing actress--even better than Maria Ewing in the competing DVD edition from Covent Garden, though Ewing acts very well and has a more appropriate voice.

This movie version was filmed on location, conveying a kind of atmosphere, a sense of space, movement, and presence hard to achieve in a staged performance shot for television. It takes the action out of doors for many scenes. The opening titles are superimposed on the bloody conclusion of a bullfight. The changing of the guard in the opening scene, with the boys' chorus playing soldier, the crowd scenes, the dance number that opens Act II, the panoramic scenery of the smugglers' mountain hideout, all benefit from the freedom granted by movie cameras. But the music is, on the whole, more effectively performed in the Covent Garden production, which also handles close-up shots better, perhaps because it was directed with a small screen in mind. The opera house atmosphere will make hard-core opera fans feel more at home. The movie version uses the opera's original opera comique form with some spoken dialogue rather than recitatives. --Joe McLellan

Carmen [Region 2]

This is the most popular opera production so far on DVD, surpassing even Franco Zeffirelli's lavish, symbol-laden La Traviata. It is an exciting Carmen, with a young-looking Placido Domingo in top form for a role he has sung hundreds of times. For Julia Migenes, it was her first performance in a role she would have trouble performing in an opera house. Her voice does not fit easily into Carmen's range, and she spent months training it, very successfully, before singing the role in a recording studio where the soundtrack was taped before the film was shot. Casting her in the role was a gamble, but it worked; she is a convincing actress--even better than Maria Ewing in the competing DVD edition from Covent Garden, though Ewing acts very well and has a more appropriate voice.

This movie version was filmed on location, conveying a kind of atmosphere, a sense of space, movement, and presence hard to achieve in a staged performance shot for television. It takes the action out of doors for many scenes. The opening titles are superimposed on the bloody conclusion of a bullfight. The changing of the guard in the opening scene, with the boys' chorus playing soldier, the crowd scenes, the dance number that opens Act II, the panoramic scenery of the smugglers' mountain hideout, all benefit from the freedom granted by movie cameras. But the music is, on the whole, more effectively performed in the Covent Garden production, which also handles close-up shots better, perhaps because it was directed with a small screen in mind. The opera house atmosphere will make hard-core opera fans feel more at home. The movie version uses the opera's original opera comique form with some spoken dialogue rather than recitatives. --Joe McLellan