The Art of Amália (2000)

User Rating:

8.3/10   

Director:

Bruno de Almeida

Writers:

Frank Coelho (writer)
Vítor Pavão dos Santos (writer)
(more)

Genre:

Documentary | Biography

Tagline:

The Diva. The Legend. The Voice.

Plot:

Documentary about the life and art of legendary singer Amália Rodrigues (1920-1999). |

Plot Keywords:

Suicide | Newsreel | 1970s | 1940s | Show

Cast

Amália Rodrigues	...	Herself - Singer (also archive footage)
John Ventimiglia	...	Narrator (English version)
Joaquim de Almeida	...	Narrator (Portuguese Version)
Maria de Medeiros	...	Narrator (French version) / Récitante
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
David Byrne	...	Introduction (English version)
Eddie Fisher	...	Himself - Singer (archive footage)
Alain Oulman	...	Himself - Composer (archive footage)

Directed by
Bruno de Almeida

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Frank Coelho		writer
Bruno de Almeida		writer
Vítor Pavão dos Santos		writer
Artur Ribeiro		writer

Produced by
Manuel Falcão	....	producer

Original Music by
Raul Ferrão
Alberto Janes
Alfredo Marceneiro
Alain Oulman
Frederico Valério

Cinematography by
Mustapha Barat		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
João Ascencio

Camera and Electrical Department
Mustapha Barat	....	camera operator

Production Companies

• Arco Films
• EMI Música Portugal (EMI)
• Valentim de Carvalho Televisão

Distributors

• Avatar Films (2000) (USA)
• Toshiba EMI (Japan) (video)
• Valentim de Carvalho Televisão (Portugal) (video)

Also Known As:

A Arte de Amália (Portugal)

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

Portugal | USA

Language:

English | Portuguese | Spanish | French | Italian | Neapolitan

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Portugal:M/6 (DVD rating)

Filming Locations:

Brejão da Samouqueira, Odemira, Beja, Alentejo, Portugal

Company:

Arco Films

Trivia:

Amália Rodrigues passed away a week before the completion of this documentary about her life.

Movie Connections:

Features Les amants du Tage (1955)

Soundtrack:

SOUND

Is It Too Late For An Amalia Appreciation Society In the U.S.?

With the fairly recent release of Carlos Saura's 'Fados' in the United States (albiet a limited art house only release),it's high time for a re-release of this fine documentary on Amalia Rodrigues. This film is a treasure chest of vintage film clips of Amalia on Portugese & American television,as well as various other film clips,including one of her & her Mother that could easily reduce the most macho man to tears. I first saw this fine documentary a few years back,when it received the unjustified "art house" release (it deserved far better). Fortunately, various recordings exist of Amalia's best recordings on various "budget line" recordings (which are generally available in places such as K-Mart,or Best Buy),or if you do a little searching,one can fine some of the original releases,either on E-Bay,or one of those distribution services that specializes in pricey European imported CD's. There are at least two versions of this documentary in circulation (the original Portugese version,with no English subtitles, and the U.S. version,except the European version cannot be played on most U.S.DVD players,due to the PAL colour line system). Not rated by the MPAA,but contains nothing to offend.