Based on the life of Mohandas K. Gandhi.Based on the life of Mohandas K. Gandhi.Based on the life of Mohandas K. Gandhi.
Photos
Philip Eddolls
- Skills Ensemble
- (as Phil Eddolls)
- Director
- Barbara Willis Sweete(directed for live cinema by)
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Featured review
Till death us do part
Philip Glass's Satyagraha presents a past, present and future of the civil rights movement with the three acts being presided over by Leo Tolstoy, Rabindranath Tagore and Martin Luther King Jr respectively. I say presided over because they play no part in the action, which purports to tell the story of Mahatma Gandhi's time in South Africa in the early years of the 20th Century.
The story is as minimalist as the music consisting predominantly of Gandhi walking slowly and deliberately around the stage, sometimes accompanied by various friends and co-workers. The set is a semicircle of corrugated iron and the stage is lined with newspaper. The effects use mainly bits of newspaper to create monsters and gods. Some of these effects are quite amusing and interesting in a Blue Peter sort of way.
A large section of Act III consists of people walking across the stage trailing rolls of sellotape until the entire stage is criss-crossed with tape. I was wondering how they were going to remove all this tape but, fortunately, a sellotape fairy flies out and gathers it all together. There is also a magic wardrobe scene. The entire cast is standing on stage and, every time someone takes his jacket off, a coathanger descends from the sky to receive it. I wish I had one of those in my bedroom.
There is no narrative in the scenes depicted. The characters sing selections from the Bhagavad Gita, in Sanskrit of course. There are some surtitles giving a limited translation of what is being sung but, mainly, I think Glass and his librettist Constance DeJong do not want you to think about the words too much. In fact, there is one long passage where I am convinced that the male chorus were singing "Ba, ba, ba, ba " while the female chorus sang "Ah, ah, ah "
The music itself is simple, tuneful and very, very repetitive. After three hours it overstays its welcome. The string section, in particular, must be suffering from RSI. I have to admit that it took me three attempts to get through the entire performance. I was left with the impression that the project would make a much better ballet than an opera, particularly if about 2 ½ hours were cut off the running time. The singers do their best. I particularly liked tenor Richard Croft's Gandhi. He is a little bit podgy for the role. With a bald head, little round spectacles, white droopy moustache and a white sheet wrapped round him he reminded me not so much of Gandhi but of Alf Garnett stepping out of the bath.
The story is as minimalist as the music consisting predominantly of Gandhi walking slowly and deliberately around the stage, sometimes accompanied by various friends and co-workers. The set is a semicircle of corrugated iron and the stage is lined with newspaper. The effects use mainly bits of newspaper to create monsters and gods. Some of these effects are quite amusing and interesting in a Blue Peter sort of way.
A large section of Act III consists of people walking across the stage trailing rolls of sellotape until the entire stage is criss-crossed with tape. I was wondering how they were going to remove all this tape but, fortunately, a sellotape fairy flies out and gathers it all together. There is also a magic wardrobe scene. The entire cast is standing on stage and, every time someone takes his jacket off, a coathanger descends from the sky to receive it. I wish I had one of those in my bedroom.
There is no narrative in the scenes depicted. The characters sing selections from the Bhagavad Gita, in Sanskrit of course. There are some surtitles giving a limited translation of what is being sung but, mainly, I think Glass and his librettist Constance DeJong do not want you to think about the words too much. In fact, there is one long passage where I am convinced that the male chorus were singing "Ba, ba, ba, ba " while the female chorus sang "Ah, ah, ah "
The music itself is simple, tuneful and very, very repetitive. After three hours it overstays its welcome. The string section, in particular, must be suffering from RSI. I have to admit that it took me three attempts to get through the entire performance. I was left with the impression that the project would make a much better ballet than an opera, particularly if about 2 ½ hours were cut off the running time. The singers do their best. I particularly liked tenor Richard Croft's Gandhi. He is a little bit podgy for the role. With a bald head, little round spectacles, white droopy moustache and a white sheet wrapped round him he reminded me not so much of Gandhi but of Alf Garnett stepping out of the bath.
helpful•22
- Gyran
- Mar 9, 2013
Details
- Runtime3 hours 52 minutes
- Aspect ratio
- 16:9 HD
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