ThiefHott Too much of everything

Cathardincu Surprisingly incoherent and boring

TaryBiggBall It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

Derrick Gibbons An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Red-125 Pagliacci (1982) (TV) was directed by the great Franco Zeffirelli. It's not a filmed stage performance. It's a movie based on the verismo opera composed and written by Ruggero Leoncavallo in 1892.For those of you who don't know the plot, I'll summarize it. (If you know the opera, just skip this paragraph.) Canio (Plácido Domingo) is the leader of a group of traveling players. He plays the clown, Pagliacco. His much younger wife, Nedda (Teresa Stratas) is in love with Silvio (Alberto Rinaldi). Tonio (Juan Pons) is a coarse and misshapen member of the company. He lusts after Nedda, but she laughs and humiliates him. The tragic plot unfolds based on these basic elements.Although Leoncavallo set the story in 1865 - 1870, Zeffirelli has moved the period to what appears to be the 1920's or early 1930's. Unlike Cavalleria Rusticana, which was filmed in a Sicilian village, this movie was clearly filmed on a movie set. There's no real attempt at scenic realism. (However, in fairness, this opera has a closed, very intimate feel. "Opening it up" would probably be a mistake.)Teresa Stratas was one of the finest lyric sopranos of the 20th Century, and Nedda was one of her greatest roles. In 1982, Stratas was 44, which is much older than the role written for Nedda. However, Stratas was very beautiful and youthful in a slender, ethereal way, and she looks right for the part. Musically, she is perfection.Domingo was surely one of the greatest tenors in opera history. At 41, he was younger than Canio is supposed to be, but with makeup he fit the role. And, of course, his vocal abilities defy description.Although the opera has many fine arias and duets, when you think of Pagliacci, you think of the great tenor aria "Vesti la giubba" ("Put on the costume"). This is the classic story of a clown with a painted smile, whose heart is breaking. Even if you think you don't enjoy operatic music, you will still be moved by this aria.The movie works well on a small screen. We saw it on DVD, and it was wonderful. It's packaged with another one-act opera—Cavalleria rusticana. These two operas are typically shown together in opera houses as well. Opera lovers call them "Cav and Pag." Usually they are shown with Cavalleria first, followed by Pagliacci. That's the order I would suggest if you watch them on DVD.

Marcin Kukuczka Ruggero Leoncavallo's dramatic libretto, PAGLIACCI, has been brought to screen several times. The sad story of Canio, a traveling entertainer betrayed by his wife, Nedda, has touched the audiences for years. Let us mention the famous Enrico Caruso and the significant role of this opera in his career. Yet, nowadays, when you want to find a good operatic direction, particularly its form on screen, look for Franco Zeffirelli's works. While seeing his works, you can expect nothing less than a masterwork. The talented Italian-international director Zeffirelli, in case of opera, is probably most known for his ultimate masterpiece, the screen adaptation of Giusseppe Verdi's LA TRAVIATA (1981). What crowds there are who say that they began to love opera thanks to this one! Nevertheless, PAGLIACCI is equally worth attention, not only for opera fans and not only due to the fact that the same classical pair are cast (Teresa Stratas and Placido Domingo).The entire story, perhaps quite over-dramatic for these days, is treated with a perfect reference to today's needs. There are no long moments, events take place in a natural pace (though the text is sung) and the viewer's curiosity is kept. We see the story of Canio, Nedda and her lover, Silvio, as directly linked to audience and their reactions since Zeffirelli retained one significant factor: it is a performance, a performance that is supposed not to deal with real life and yet, finally, it occurs to do so...The music and voices are perfect. I think that it is enough to say there are Placido Domingo as Canio and Teresa Stratas as Nedda. Thanks to them, the music does not occur to be less sublime than the original. Placido is equally great as Caruso must have been. Stratas is a terrific soprano as Nedda. In this case, there is no difference between TRAVIATA and PAGLIACCI. In both of them, the couple are magnificent! The moment Placido sings "Laugh, Pagliaccio, laugh" is really unforgettable! Except for these two, it is worth considering Juan Pons as lustful Tonio. The way he shows a mean-spirited, down-to-earth desire to Nedda is very well portrayed. His character is contrasted to Silvio (Alberto Rinaldi), Nedda's gentle friend and lover whose name remained secret for long.PAGLIACCI is a highly recommended classical piece. It constitutes three most important aspects of a classic: art (seen in performances, music and sets), universal story (so that it can be seen by many generations), and emotions (so that it can be experienced). You don't have to be an opera fan to love PAGLIACCI. As a matter of fact, I also hadn't been...until I saw this.Watch, PAGLIACCI, watch, ladies and gentlemen; watch and adore the classic tragedy of all time; Since we all have some part in the ambiguous performance that life occurs to be;Watch and adore...bravo, bravo, bravissimo!

FloatingOpera7 In the early 80's, Italian film director Zefferelli (Romeo And Juliet, Taming Of The Shrew, Hamlet) decided he'd transform opera into film, hoping to garner as much success as he had acquired adapting Shakespeare into film. His first project was Leoncavllo's Pagliacci, a turn of the century opera which dealt (at the time) with "realistic subject matter" in a genre of the arts known as verisimo. The dark tale concerns a group of traveling bohemian entertainers. Canio, the principal clown, is blissfully unaware that his girlfriend and fellow performer Nedda has betrayed him with another man. The result: he is crazed with anger and jealousy and kills Nedda during a live performance. The Prologue is well-sung by a bass who connects with the audience in a direct way and who recounts the tragic tale of Canio. Placido Domingo's Canio is by far the most realistic interpretation. Zefferelli championed Domingo as he was a fan of his art and he contracted him and soprano Teresa Stratas to sing La Traviata the following year. Domingo would also appear in Zefferelli's Cavalleria Rusticana and Otello. The unfaithful Nedda is sung by the brilliant Canadian soprano Teresa Stratas. Stratas' Nedda is exquisitely sung, without any melodramatic mannerisms. She plays the role as realistically as possible. It is she who cheats in this opera, but we seem to understand why she would do such a thing. Silvio, her lover, is another moving performance. The Tonio of Juan Pons is appropriately lusty and nasty. The excessive make-up everyone has, the carnival atmosphere of the traveling circus is dizzying, encompassing the theme of madness and killer passions. During the final moments, when Canio kills Nedda on stage, we are indeed shocked to find out it was not staged but real! It is however, Domingo and Stratas' performances that move us. Cinematically, this Pagliacci is a lesser light than Cavalleria, but it's still breathtaking. I enjoyed such moments as when Nedda is singing to the group of children. This is also a very short film and is a perfect "fist" opera experience for anyone who is taking an interest in Italian opera.

Guy33134 The king of opera staging, Franco Zeffirelli, never disappoints. Not when it comes to bringing opera to the screen, in any case. Here, as in LA TRAVIATA, the fantastic pairing of Placido Domingo and the sublime Teresa Stratas is once again triumphant. I PAGLIACCI is a short, one act opera, usually paired with CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA. If viewing I PAGLIACCI alone leaves you hungry for more. Ms. Stratas is perhaps as gifted an actress as she is as a soprano. This is one of the few opportunities to see and hear this now retired soprano, one of the greatest of our time.