The Paris Opera

[lennygoran]

We have "The Opera House" movie I mentioned for the Met and now I see there's this. If you can get to the article there's a trailer of the movie. Regards, Len

Review: With ‘The Paris Opera,’ a Peek Behind the Curtain
The Paris Opera

Directed by Jean-Stéphane Bron Documentary

By BEN KENIGSBERG OCT. 17, 2017


The documentary “The Paris Opera” risks redundancy. After all, Frederick Wiseman, one of nonfiction cinema’s masters, already explored the institution’s ballet company in “La Danse: The Paris Opera Ballet” (2009). “The Paris Opera,” which employs similar observational methods, demonstrates the invisibility of Mr. Wiseman’s technique — his genius for drawing out his themes from long scenes of meetings and performances.

Covering a wider swatch of the institution more swiftly, “The Paris Opera” feels at once sprawling and insufficiently patient. Even so, it spans a pivotal stretch: The filmmaker, Jean-Stéphane Bron, captured the Paris Opera while it adjusted to the leadership of a new director, Stéphane Lissner, who took over in 2014 and is shown presiding over a period that included the November 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris.

The film primarily deals with the institution’s daily challenges, from labor issues to the appropriate cost of a ticket. Mr. Lissner expresses frustration as Benjamin Millepied decides whether to resign as the director of dance after a little more than a year in that position. (Mr. Millepied ultimately left, although the causes of his departure receive superficial treatment.)

At its most fun, “The Paris Opera” functions as a stealth backstage chronicle, notably when the man singing the part of Hans Sachs in Wagner’s “Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg” calls in sick, setting off a scramble to find a last-minute understudy somewhere in Europe. The baritone Michael Kupfer-Radecky assumes the task with humor as bountiful as his voice.
The Paris Opera

Director Jean-Stéphane Bron

Stars Stéphane Lissner, Benjamin Millepied

Running Time 1h 50m

Genre Documentary
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Last updated: Oct 17, 2017



https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/17/movi ... ic-reviews