Farinelli (1994)

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 becomes to be a very ... See full summary »

Director:

Gérard Corbiau

Writers:

Andrée Corbiau (original scenario), Gérard Corbiau (original scenario)

Stars:

Stefano Dionisi, Enrico Lo Verso, Elsa Zylberstein

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 6 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Stefano Dionisi	...	Carlo Broschi (Farinelli)
Enrico Lo Verso	...	Riccardo Broschi
Elsa Zylberstein	...	Alexandra
Caroline Cellier	...	Margareth Hunter
Marianne Basler	...	Countess Mauer
Jacques Boudet	...	Felipe V
Graham Valentine	...	Prince of Wales
Pier Paolo Capponi	...	Broschi
Renaud du Peloux de Saint Romain	...	Benedict Hunter
Delphine Zentout	...	Young admirer
Omero Antonutti	...	Nicola Porpora
Jeroen Krabbé	...	Georg Friedrich Händel
Richard Reeves
Jonathan Fox
Jo Betzing	...	(as Josef Betzing)

Storyline

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 becomes to be a very famous opera singer, managed by his mediocre brother (Riccardo).

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Plot Keywords:

bare chested male | male protagonist | secret | brother castrates brother | italy | 

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Taglines:

The bawdy adventures of Carlo Broschi.

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | Music

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for depiction of adult themes and sexuality

Details

Official Sites:

Sony Pictures Classics

Country:

France Italy Belgium

Language:

French Italian

Release Date:

17 March 1995 (USA)

Also Known As:

Farinelli (Il castrato)

Filming Locations:

Bayreuth, Bavaria, Germany

Box Office

Gross USA:

$2,122,948

Company Credits

Production Co:

Stéphan Films,MG,Italian International Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Both male and female voices were combined to create the sound of Farinelli's singing voice. The male voice was Derek Lee Ragin, a British countertenor and the female Ewa Małas-Godlewska, a Polish mezzo-soprano.

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Goofs

LIGHTING. In scenes that show stage lights and chandeliers, the focus on them is softened, but it can still be seen that the "lamps" and "candles" are in fact far too steady, and too smokeless, to be or to contain live flame. Gaslight was not brought into theatres until just after 1800 (in England), and limelight -- with real quicklime -- around 1820. Also, some outdoor lighting -- outside palaces, etc. -- is obviously too bright, blue- or green-shaded, smokeless, and sharp-edged to come from a bonfire.

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Quotes

Carlo Broschi: [on Riccardo's opera "Orpheo"] You'll never finish it!

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Connections

Referenced in The 67th Annual Academy Awards (1995)

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Soundtracks

Alto Giove, è Tua Grazia
[Acis Solo: Act III, Scene V, from Opera "Polifemo"]
Libretto by Paolo Antonio Rolli (London, 1735)
Composed by Nicola Porpora
Vocals performed by Ewa Malas-Godlewska (Soprano) and Derek Lee Ragin (Countertenor)

User Reviews

Wonderful movie but has many inaccuracies

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!