Pavarotti

This year's big doc may be Ron Howard's "Pavarotti," a love letter about the great tenor. More than any opera singer since Enrico Caruso a century before, Pavarotti made opera cool in the latter part of the 20th century. With his larger-than-life personality and crystal-clear voice, he became a worldwide sensation, performing everywhere from rural outposts to massive stadiums to outdoor parks.

Howard manages to piece together decades of film --- often grainy and amateurish - with deeply personal interviews with the Maestro's ex-wives, former mistress, daughters, peers (Placido Domingo, Jose Carreras, and several sopranos), and admirers. He weaves biography with taped performances from the time Pavarotti was a promising young singer through his waning years.

In fact, Howard presents Pavarotti's life as opera. A man of great passion - for opera, for women, for food, for children - Pavarotti lived large. And he died painfully. Howard manages to make the audience feel the highs and the lows of Pavarotti's personal and professional lives.

But the film is long. It proves that even great directors can fall in love with their own films. Howard could have spent less time in the run-up to stardom to get us to the fantastic success of his middle years and the explosive teaming with Domingo and Carreras as The Three Tenors. His death is handled beautifully as is Pavarotti's heartfelt charitable endeavors in concert with Princess Diana, Bono and many others.

Even if you don't love opera, you will enjoy this stunning documentary.

I am not an opera fan (to put it mildly). I have always had respect for Pavarotti, but knew little about him. This movie takes the viewer on a journey, and the more I've been wathcing, the more I got sucked into the world of Pavarotti. It is long, but felt suprisingly short, and I kind of felt sad when it was over....though also felt that i have learnt a lot. It is an inspiring story, perhaps even more so because it is true...and it's not a pink-clouded nostalgic fairytale either: it shows the flaws and exposes the weeknesses of the man too, yet somehow these just made him all more likeable and more...human. I was in awe by the end of film, and was so glad that I've decided to give it a go (not being an opera fan and all): i think that is time very well spent, with lasting impressions and inspiration.

Pavarotti (2019) was directed by Ron Howard. It's a solid biography of the extraordinary tenor, with archival footage and interviews with Pavarotti's colleagues, family, and friends.

No one questions Pavarotti's genius. It's certainly on full display in the film. His personal choices may have been less than exemplary, so it's necessary to separate your thoughts about the artist from your thoughts about the man.

The good news is that, as far as I can tell, director Howard is presenting Pavarotti's story in an honest, unbiased way. At least, that appears to have been his goal. How well he succeeded is something that opera experts will have to tell us.

We saw the movie at Rochester's excellent Little Theatre. It will work well enough on the small screen, although certainly you need to see it with a system that has good sound .

The film has a solid IMDb rating of 7.5, which I think is just about right. Opera lovers won't want to miss it. I think it's worth seeing even if you don't love opera.

My Review- Pavarotti

My rating 8:10

This film directed and produced by Ron Howard is a labour of love and quality documentary making.

Luciano Pavarotti reached millions of different audiences and crossed generation gaps at times slapping the snobby opera cliques in their face with his pop / opera fusion . This happened late in his life after he had attained equal fame to the previous King of Opera Enrico Caruso.

Ron Howard's film celebrates his fame and glorious voice but at the same time reveals his inner demons and insecurities and infidelities.

The most impressive part of the film for me was Pavarotti's sheer joy of life and his generosity to important and needy charitable causes .

There's an iconic image of tenor Luciano Pavarotti and Diana, Princess of Wales: he looking fresh and invigorated after an open-air performance in Hyde Park, she looking absolutely soaked through with rain because she'd been watching said performance.

She looks absolutely charmed, no doubt because the legendary tenor had just dedicated a Puccini aria to her in front of hundreds of thousands of people: They became great friends and he joined her in her charitable quest for the elimination of land mines world wide.

After the war in Bosnia, he financed and established the Pavarotti Music Centre in the southern city of Mostar to offer Bosnia's artists the opportunity to develop their skills. For these contributions, the city of Sarajevo named him an honorary citizen in 2006.

His foundation continues today to contribute millions of dollars and each year in his hometown of Modena Italy he is honoured for supporting refugee causes all over the world.

In 2001, Pavarotti received the Nansen Medal from the UN High Commission for Refugees for his efforts raising money on behalf of refugees worldwide. Through benefit concerts and volunteer work, he has raised more than any other individual.

A great documentary about a great man.

I saw this film in a theater in New York a few days ago and was enchanted by the film and by the subject of the documentary: Luciano Pavarotti. I didn't know much about Pavarotti before having seen the film and I am not an opera fan. However, this touching documentary endeared me to the man and his music. His life is well documented in this film, excellently directed by Ron Howard. Whether or not you like opera, you will likely appreciate the humor & heart which Pavarotti had as well as his obvious vocal talent. A documentary about a person is supposed to capture the essence of the human being or artist and this film succeeds in doing that. It also successfully revealed the notion that a great artist is also a flawed human being who leads an imperfect life, just like everyone else. I left the theater wanting to know more about the man & his music. Bravo to all involved in this production.