Cinefill1 Farinelli is a 1994 Belgian-Italian-French biographical drama film directed by Gérard Corbiau and starring Stefano Dionisi, Enrico Lo Verso, Elsa Zylberstein and Jeroen Krabbé. It centers on the life and career of the 18th-century Italian opera singer Carlo Broschi, known as Farinelli, considered the greatest castrato singer of all time; as well as the relation with his brother, composer Riccardo Broschi. Although based on real-life events, dramatic license was taken to a great extent, and only the basic facts of Farinelli's life are correct, while the plot line is completely fictional and far removed from what is known about real-life Carlo Broschi (1705-1782). For example, the ambiguous relationship between the Broschi brothers, the stormy one with rival composer Handel, and Farinelli's own amorous escapades and over-the-top rock star attitude are totally spurious. Additionally, Farinelli's brother is given much more importance than he actually had in his brother's career, while Porpora's own (and that of other composers of the Neapolitan School as well) is De-emphasized; the movie also offers a different explanation for how Carlo Broschi came to take the stage name Farinelli than what has been historically ascertained. George Frideric Handel, played by Jeroen Krabbé, is made out to be somewhat of a villain, but that is based on the competition between the London theater at which Handel's music was played and the rival theater at which Farinelli sang for a short period It was released in 1994 and won the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film in 1995. It was also nominated for an Academy Award in the same category.

TheLittleSongbird Farinelli may not to me be perfect, the sex scenes do get too much and I didn't find the lip synching to be anywhere near convincing as you can tell that the singing was not coming out of the actor. There are plenty of positives though. I personally did find the drama engrossing, true it isn't faithful from a historical standpoint, then again I can't think of any biopic of a musician or composer that didn't take some kind of liberty with the truth, but Farinelli is an emotionally-charged film and there was plenty of that. That is also true of the writing, which flows well and didn't feel jarring. The film looks spectacular, the costumes and sets are gorgeous to look at and is shot and directed beautifully. I have no faults with the music either, it is so good that my appreciation for early music further grew. The singing is equally wonderful, the scene in the theatre with the long high note was unbelievable. Stefano Dionisi is magnetic in the title role, Enrico Lo Verso brings intensity to the role of the "less talented" brother, Marianne Cellier has a very expressive face and Jereon Knabbe gives one of his best ever performances positively relishing his role as Handel(even if you question whether Handel was really like that). All in all, a very good film, fascinating and a visual and musical feast. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Armand reconstruction of a period. eulogy to an artist. impressive picture. and new film with old ingredients. maybe, not accuracy is its virtue. or the performance who may be admirable. the story - in few extraordinary moments. the art of director - yes, it is OK. but more important is the flavor. the touch of things, the silk of gestures, the cotton of words, the feeling to be part of action and the final impression , after the lost of fairy-tale skin, to discover a parable. this is great director secret - an universal lesson about yourself. instrument - magnificent music and a remarkable cast. a large light circle. and a wonderful science of detail. An Italian word says - Si non e vero, e ben trovato ( even it is not true, it is conceived ). in this case, it is perfect definition.

periola12 Farinelli is an interesting film, definitely worth seeing. There is a strange fascination with the idea of the castrato, so I found myself watching the movie to learn more about castrati. However, the film romanticized Farinelli like a rock star or something. Some scenes were pretty damn embarrassing. But before I go into all that, here's a grossly brief spiel of "castrato history", drawn from M401 music history class at IU and from various websites found from Google, and NOT FROM THE FILM, in order to give some background info: During the 18th century in Rome and some other Italian areas, women were not permitted to sing in church. For this reason, boys between the ages of 7-9 who showed potential as a singer were castrated to preserve their unbroken voice, with their permission. Although castrati were common throughout Italy, the procedure was illegal even then. Opera was the most popular and extravagant genre of music at this time, and castrati were often cast as the lead male role. Audiences found the unnatural voice of the castrati quite hypnotic, combining the range of a woman with the strength and power of a man. Carlo Broschi, called Farinelli, remains the highest esteemed of the castrati. "Tales" include his 3-octave-plus range, and of numerous occasions at the opera house where he would compete with a trumpeter on who could hold a note longer, with Farinelli winning. Physically, castrati were described to be abnormally tall, with a pear-shaped torso (wide hipped). Their voices sounded like a woman's. They had no facial hair, and no male-pattern baldness. And of course, most (though not all) were celibate. Farinelli was like most, I'm pretty sure (don't quote me on that).Now, the film is a bit different from all this. In the film, Farinelli is an Italian Tom Cruise look-alike with a thin waist (like any thin sexy man). He's constantly having sex, sharing his fans with his leech brother. And, I'm no singer, but Mr. Stefano Dionisi did a pretty poor lip-sync job. His posture suggested no diaphragmatic support. Also, he made goofy facial expressions out of place in opera, and he also bared his teeth excessively. The diction and tone that his face suggested would have sounded really bad, for opera standards. Of course, I'm not expecting a MET performance from an actor, but his impersonation of operatic singing looked almost mocking. Also, the whole blending of male and female voice (see goofs above) lacked power. They should have just used a counter-tenor.Also, I am not aware of the relationship between Farinelli and his brother Riccardo, but I'm pretty sure it was not as dysfunctional and psychotic as it was made out to be. And there is no way that Farinelli's castration was such a big deal and an injustice to Farinelli. I'm sure he wanted to be castrated just like everyone else.The portrayal of Handel is a scream. I always thought Handel was a cosmopolitain man, who served the royalty of England and saw far more success than Bach. The movie portrays him as such, granted, but I didn't think he was a bastard! Maybe he was, I don't know, but the relationship and rivalry between Farinelli and Handel, I don't think that ever occurred. First off, Farinelli never performed any of Handel's operas. I doubt he stole his opera score too.Despite the historical inaccuracies, I found the portrayal of 18th century opera society to be really interesting. Typically, American audiences are used to historical movies with British actors, regardless of the ethnicity portrayed. We are used to seeing British people play Frenchmen, Italianmen. However, in this film, the French are played by Frenchmen, and so on. As a result, there seems to be a more realistic portrayal of European society. Also I love how the opera is just this excuse to socialize. It was not like it is today. In this sense, the film was more historically correct.All in all, I recommend seeing the film. Do a google search for pictures of Farinelli, if you're interested.