MPAA: N/A
Runtime: 165 min
Released: 30 Mar 2017
Storyline: Madama Butterfly is a very moving, if sometimes implausible, opera and contains some of the most beautiful music that Puccini ever wrote the Act 1 love duet, the Humming Chorus, Un Bel Di Vedremo and the final scene particularly It is blessed with a strong recording competition, and on DVD the only one not really worth bothering with is the visually ugly and distasteful Daniela Dessi production, which was like Madama Butterfly goes to insect land This is an utterly amazing, unforgettable production of Madama Butterfly, the best Madama Butterfly that has been seen by me in quite some time and actually one of my favourites ever not sure how popular this view will be Of the Royal OperaBallet Live Cinema simulcasts, this Madama Butterfly is one of the best This, The Nutcracker 2016, The Sleeping Beauty 2017 and Le Nozze Di Figaro 2015 are examples of productions done with taste and being musically and performance wise outstanding while having enough fresh touches to set them apart Not all the simulcasts worked for me though, if you dislike ugly, swamp drama visuals, irrelevance, strangeness, distaste and variable musical values Guillaume Tell 2015, Norma 2016 and Il Trovatore 2017 are notable examples but were seen as an operaballet fan and for completest sake Visually, this Madama Butterfly keeps things simple but the production values are also evocative and sumptuous It was all elegant in its simplicity and wisely doesnt go for the cheap modernism, drabness or overblown symbolism that would have had potential to have distracted from the drama and the meaning of the opera itself, instead letting the drama and music speak for themselves It is riveting in the staging as well No irrelevance, weird distractions, nothing being over directed or static or distaste, just compelling character interaction especially between Cio Cio San and Suzuki, a good thing because its the most interesting and important relationship in Madama Butterfly, plausible drama overcoming any potential implausibility and genuine pathos It was wonderful to see the Act 1 love duet, Un Bel Di Vedremo and The Humming Chorus performed in their proper context, very different from when theyre heard on record, but the highlight was the final scene which was so emotionally devastating that it made me leave the cinema with tears running down my face Cant fault it on a musical level The orchestral playing is rich and warmly beautiful in tone, while the tenderness, lyrical sweep, dramatic tension, passion and nuances all come through The chorus sing ravishingly, with great musicality, phrasing and diction and there are no obvious balance issues Their stage manner is very involved and hardly static Antonio Pappanos conducting has a lot to thank, full of feeling, detail and the ability to let the emotion breathe but not letting the momentum slip Ermonela Jahos Cio Cio San is a emotional roller coaster performance of a lifetime Vocally, its a very beautifully sung, musical and nuanced account with an ideal balance of the girlish and mature Does she look like a teenager Perhaps not, but thats true of many sopranos singing the role Marcelo Puente effectively gives Pinkerton charm, ardour and likability, a hard feat with one of the most dislikeable tenor roles in opera along with Normas Pollione, and he sounds glorious throughout The love between them makes the heart melt, which makes the final scene even more devastating Scott Hendricks is as sympathetic and nuanced a Sharpless as one can fine today, not quite Dwayne Croft or Juan Pons but very close He has a lovely voice, not large but used with a lot of intelligence Elizabeth DeShongs Suzuki is very heartfelt and richly sung, her reactions and chemistry to Jaho are firm and deeply affecting Jeremy White looms ominously but authoritatively as Bonze and Carlo Bosi manages to be terrifyingly serpentine but also fully dimensional Yuriy Yurchuk fares strongly as Yamadori The little boy also wrenches the heart Overall, amazing production that left me emotionally shell shocked 1010 Bethany Cox
Daredevil Droopy (1951)
Daredevil Droopy 1951 Similar in tone to The Chump Champ 1950, but this time Droopy and Spike are in competition for a circus acrobats job
Black Rat (2010)
Black Rat 2010 Six classmates receive an e mail from Asuka who supposedly committed suicide Later that night they all get together in a classroom and are surprised by a person wearing a bloody rat mask The costumed Rat quickly begins attacking them while screaming this is revenge for Asukas death
Puff, Puff, Pass 2006
Tired of being on the wagon, two stoners get voluntarily mixed up in the plot to rip off a shady figure known as Mr. Big.
Rispet (2023)
Rispet 2023 The villagers of a mountain hamlet swear to be one big family, careful and protective of each other But when the rules of rispet are broken, theres no choice for them but to fight, love or leave
Reversion (2015)
Reversion (2015) The daughter of a billionaire tech mogul questions her own memories about her mothers death after being kidnapped by a stranger.
Wish Upon (2017)
Wish Upon (2017) A teen girl discovers a magical box that will grant her seven wishes. As she uses her wishes for personal gain, bad things begin to happen to those around her. She discovers an evil entity lives inside the box and may be behind the gruesome deaths.
Adventure Force 5 (2019)
Adventure Force 5 (2019) When their quiet beach town is invaded by a mysterious threat, five kids - a gamer, comic book geek, inventor, skater and martial artist - must band together and use an arsenal of homemade gadgets to fight back.
Spirit (2010)
Spirit (2010) Due to years of bad luck and broken dreams, the Strega family has now embraced their negativity... except for youngest daughter Noel. Noel tries desperately to keep together her torn family but when an evil spirit attacks everything she believes is called into question. Can one person'
Ray Harryhausen: Special Effects Titan (2011)
Ray Harryhausen: Special Effects Titan (2011) This is the definitive documentary about Ray Harryhausen. Aside from interviews with the great man himself, shot over five years, there are also interviews and tributes from Vanessa Harryhausen, Tony Dalton, Randy Cook, Peter Jackson, Nick Park, Phil Tip
Blackadder Back Forth (1999)
Blackadder Back Forth 1999 New Years Eve, 1999, Blackadder Hall While entertaining his dinner party guests Archbishop Melchett, Archdeacon Darling, Major George Bufton Tufton and Lady Elizabeth cunning as a fox Lord Edmund Blackadder suggests a wager To prove that he can travel through time with his
Psycho Nurse (2019)
Psycho Nurse (2019) A young couple Mira (Abbie Cobb) and Todd (Sean Faris) hire a live-in nurse (Lyndon Smith) to be the caregiver for their sick son, only to discover that she is an "angel of death" intent on replacing Mira through any means necessary.
Shipwrecked (1990)
Shipwrecked 1990 Haakon Haakonsen didnt want to go to sea so young, but when his father, a Norwegian sailor, comes home with a badly wounded foot in the 1850s, the Haakonsen family finances require him to enlist as ship boy aboard a British ship under Royal Navy authority After some hazing he buckle
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (2006)
In August, 1939, a worker goes into labor while working in a slaughterhouse and dies after a complicated labor, though the deformed child survives. The possibly orphaned baby is dumped in a garbage container and found by a beggar later, who brings him home. Along the years, the mentally retarded and
Hollywood Ending (2002)
Hollywood Ending (2002) Val Waxman is a film director who was once big in the 1970's and 1980's, but has now has been reduced to directing TV commercials. Finally, he gets an offer to make a big film. But, disaster strikes, when Val goes temporarily blind, due to paranoia. So, he and a few friends,
Luciano Mellera: Infantiloide (2018)
Luciano Mellera: Infantiloide (2018) Argentina's Luciano Mellera emphasizes the humorous and fantastical aspects of childhood through comedic impersonations and insights on daily life.
Mad Mission 3: Our Man from Bond Street (1984)
Mad Mission 3: Our Man from Bond Street (1984) King Kong (Samuel Hui), while vacationing in Paris, is kidnapped by a British agent called James (Jean Mersant), who wants to recover one of the stolen crown jewels, the Star of Fortune, supposedly at the request of the Queen of England. The jewel is hi
A Matter of Faith (2014)
A Matter of Faith (2014) A Christian girl goes off to college for her freshman year and begins to be influenced by her popular Biology professor who teaches that evolution is the answer to the origins of life. When her father suspects something happening, he begins to examine the situation and what