An awesome and ridiculous film that leaves you thrilled beyond the point of your natural endurance
2012
Theatre
The show has suddenly become quite wonderful, and the galvanising factor is the terrific stage debut of Melanie C
Blood Brothers
Music
The British pop music industry may be eating itself but if Muse are the pick of what it can offer the world in 2010 then British music is in rude health indeed
Muse
I was smitten by both Gilberts enormous luxuriant moustache and the intelligence and nuance of this highly entertaining play
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Always been a fan but never seen them live. I was ecstatic to be part of this epic event. WOW!
London,
Charlotte O'Sullivan's rating
Reader rating
Dir: Kenneth Branagh.
Cast: Joseph Kaiser, Amy Carson, Rene Pape, Lyubov Petrova
Description: Mozart's classic opera with a newly adapted, English language libretto by Stephen Fry, set against the spectacular backdrop of the first global war. Nervous recruits Tamino and Papageno are sent on a deadly mission by a trio of field nurses. The two men must rescue Pamina, daughter of the Queen of the Night, from her captor, the dark Lord Sarastro. As the soldiers edge closer to affecting Pamina's escape, a visually arresting musical adventure unfolds around them.
Country: UK/FR. 2006. 138mins
Transporting the flute to Flanders: Branagh's take on the opera has special effects
It's fitting that a man who looks so like a teacher seems to view cinema-goers as impressionable kids. After all those Shakespeare adaptations, Kenneth Branagh now presents us with a Mozart opera. He's determined to improve us, even if it causes more than a few cheeky monkeys to bunk off.
Actually, during the whole 133 minutes, I only felt like flicking pellets once.
Branagh and his librettist Stephen Fry have set the weird story - involving a boy, a girl, her mad mum and much-maligned dad - against the backdrop of the First World War. The horrors of Flanders provide a strange but satisfying glue. For the first time ever, the plot made sense to me.
The numerous CGI effects, meanwhile, create a suitably trippy, hyper-surreal aesthetic. The world inhabited by lovers Pamina (Amy Carson) and Tamino (Joseph Kaiser) doesn't look real - it's not meant to - yet it's far from one-dimensional.
Occasionally, things get too busy. The Queen of the Night's Vengeance Aria, performed on top of a castle, is so like an Eighties pop video, I kept wondering if Bonnie Tyler was going to show up. The supermodel-pretty Carson displays an opera diva's acting skills but still, like the rest of her colleagues, she's a wondrous singer.
A week is a long time in cinema. Last Friday saw Branagh being all but written off thanks to the ludicrous Sleuth. This week, he's hitting the high notes.
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
Afternoon:
15°c
