Reviewed by Neil Davey
Stars Lubov Petrova, Rene Papa, Tom Randle, Joseph Kaiser,
Amy Carson, Ben Davis, Silvia Moi, Ben Uttley, Tuta Koco
Written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,
with a new libretto by Stephen Fry
Certification UK tbc | US tbc
Runtime 130 minutes
Directed by Kenneth Branagh
Looks like I drew all the synopsis-proof films this week then. As even Stephen Fry, who's adapted the libretto for Kenneth Branagh's new take on The Magic Flute, admits, the story makes no sense whatsoever. Essentially it's the search for love and peace in a world full of death and darkness.
Branagh has shifted the action – reasonably successfully as it happens — to the First World War. After a glorious opening shot through the trenches, the main story unfolds. This sees Tamino (Kaiser) and his fellow recruits waiting to go into battle. As the fighting starts, Tamino is transported to a strange parallel world, trapped between the light and the dark, and despatched, alongside Papageno (Davis), to rescue Pamina (Carson). The daughter of the Queen of the Night (Petrova), Pamina's been kidnapped by Sarastro (Papa), the dark lord. And then it gets really weird but at least it gets weird to some of the greatest music ever written.
Performances are... well, much the same as in any opera film. Opera does seem to work better at a slight distance so there is a sense of overacting here but vocally, things are pretty good, particularly from Kaiser and Carson as the young lovers. Branagh's direction is bold and ambitious, Fry's libretto is as witty as you'd expect and, while it's unlikely to be the film to turn a new audience onto opera, but for those already converted, it's a charming experience.