| View Larger Image | The Turandot Project | Video On DemandStarring: Carlo Allemano, Lando Bartolini, Giovanna Casolla, Barbara Frittoli, Cristina Gallardo Domas
Directed By: Allan Miller
Also With: Sonoko Aoyagi Bowers (Producer), Barbara Robinson (Producer), Walter Scheuer (Producer), Margaret Smilov (Producer), Zeitgeist Films (Producer)
| 1 New starting at: | $2.99 |
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| | Binding: | Video On Demand | | Run Time: | 85 minutes | | Studio: | Zeitgeist Films | | Release Date: | August 12, 2009 | | Genre: | Art House | | Synopsis: | In May of 1997, Zubin Mehta conducts and Zhang Yimou directs Puccini's "Turandot" in Florence. A year later, they stage nine performances in Beijing. This documentary focuses on the China production: a huge and elaborate set, hundreds of extras, three sets of principles, props and costumes matching the Ming Dynasty. Mehta, with his Indian roots and European training, revels in bringing disparate cultures together. Zhang wants the music to come through and anticipates the demands (and habits) of the Chinese audience. Rehearsals; production work; rain; talks with singers, crew, and local officials -- can it all come together? When the chorus is in full volume, no one sleeps. | | Sales Rank: | 33,904rd |
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CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.0 based on 10 reviews)
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Opera Planning by Frank J. DeFelice (San Jose, CA)  4 Stars
December 24, 2008
Turandot is not one of my favorite operas, it being not as well known as Madam Butterfly. But I enjoyed this film because it illustrates how cross cultures can work together to create a beautiful production. Chinese opera itself is incredible, but in this film, a movie director is put in charge of the production. There is a big difference between stage lighting and film lighting. This film depicts resolving differences between crews. Not too much here about the singers, or the orchestra. Meta has a role, but it's basically about making this thing work. I especially enjoyed the army troops being used as extras.
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Impossibly Fascinating! by David Elliott (Sacramento, CA) 4 Stars
May 27, 2008
It's difficult to do opera even poorly, and nearly impossible to do it well. The art form is staggeringly collaborative, and --- unlike cinema --- is utterly dependent on all factors combining in the right way at each unrepeatable, uneditable moment. So... take Puccini's swan song, TURANDOT, his grandest, if not his greatest, opera; now, present it in a city that has never produced western opera but that is the fictional/historical setting for its plot; make certain that your thousands of collaborators and artistic leadership do not speak the same language; and finally, add the less-than-creative tension of a totalitarian government determined that the entire enterprise should reflect well on both current leaders and the ancient culture. No wonder this film is so fascinating! Reviewers will understandably wish to see such a vast canvas painted from different perspectives than the ones chosen, but that serves to indicate how engaging this subject truly is. Alan Miller does an amazing job of capturing international overtones, aesthetic divergences, and personal obstacles and perseverance. Extraordinary commitment to detail and one particular coup-de-theatre: the creation of an exquisitely-danced character representing the court executioner. The focus (as is frequently the case with TURANDOT), is less on fineness of nuance than on the scale of achievement. You'll come away from viewing this documentary fully as inspired by the artists' commitment and flexibility as by the production itself. Unique!
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Turandot and China: A Win-Win Situation by Rosie O'Grady (Portland, OR USA)  5 Stars
September 23, 2007
Formidable talent on all sides; formidable
difficulties in translating the entire
production of this opera into a version
acceptable in China. The nuances of lighting
decisions were, for just one example, as
fascinating to follow as anything in the plot
of Turandot. A wonder-full thing to watch and
listen to.
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I LIKE THIS MOVIE by KILL BILL (NEW YORK,NY,USA) 5 Stars
March 07, 2004
I LOVE IT , I LIKE IT ,AS SAME AS MY GIRLFRIEND.
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I DO NOT BELIEVE,THAT MOVIE HE MADE by chen shi yang (NEW YORK,NY,USA) 5 Stars
March 06, 2004
ZHANG YIMOU ONE OF THE BEST DIRECTOR IN THE WORLD,I WERE VERY SUPERISE FROM HIM.THIS MOVIE YOU MUST TO SEE.
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