TheLittleSongbird
I don't think I can add to what has been said(and so well) already but I will try my best. This is my favourite version of Don Giovanni, both sumptuous and dramatic and does justice to a wonderful, complex opera that is quite possibly Mozart's most complex and dramatic.The music is just wonderful. From the dark and dramatic overture, to the champagne aria to the duet between Giovanni and Donna Elvira and of course the final scene with the Commendatore which here was superbly done, it is a choc-a-block of some of the finest music in opera history.Joseph Losey's direction is well handled and secure and isn't overwhelmed by the complexity of the story. And of course this version is sumptuously filmed, with exquisite costumes, settings and scenery, undoubtedly one of the most gorgeously filmed film operas to be put on film.And the performances are excellent, with a superb Ruggero Raimondi, making Giovanni handsome, graceful and charming, yet sinister, devilish and seductive, and a genuinely imposing John Macurdy as the Commendatore. Jose Van Dam stays true to Mozart's concept of Leporello, Edda Mosser is a lovely Donna Anna, Kiri TeKanawa is a fiery Donna Elvira and Teresa Berganza is an adorable Zerlina.Overall, wonderful, sumptuous, complex and dramatic. 10/10 Bethany Cox
Framescourer
An inspired, if occasionally peculiar production, shot on location with a terrific cast. Raimondi's Don is an extraordinary conflagration of deceit and sexual magnetism, tourettish violence and charm; I watch the film assuming he's going to get away with everything (I once worked with a girl who had learnt the entire libretto in Italin from repeated viewings of this film alone at the age of 8, despite not speaking the language. She was reasonably addicted to the anti-hero).Losey undermines expectations though setting the opera in a (period) rural estate with the principals operating with urbane sensibility. Nothing is quite what it seems and the supernatural forces that begin to take hold are far from unexpected.Far from killing the operatic experience (as films are prone to do), Losey's film manages to set the drama free. Absorbing if not as menacing as its potential. 6/10
johnswhitehead
This is such an outstanding display of cinematic and operatic talent that it should be seen by anyone with any interest in either. It introduced me to opera when it came out so I am eternally grateful.I'm waiting for the DVD and check here regularly for news. I thought that it had finally arrived in Germany, judging from the display on the iMdb page. Alas, that seems to be a different animal altogether, so we're still waiting. I'll try to get them to fix the link.Who does one lobby to get a DVD released?
