Aria (film)

Infobox Film
name = Aria


image_size =
caption = Theatrical release poster
director = Robert Altman
Bruce Beresford
Bill Bryden
Jean-Luc Godard
Derek Jarman
Franc Roddam
Nicolas Roeg
Ken Russell
Charles Sturridge
Julien Temple
producer = Don Boyd
writer = Robert Altman
Bruce Beresford
Don Boyd
Bill Bryden
Louis de Cahusac
Derek Jarman
Philippe Quinault
Franc Roddam
Nicolas Roeg
Ken Russell
Charles Sturridge
Julien Temple
narrator =
starring = Theresa Russell
Beverly D'Angelo
Elizabeth Hurley
Bridget Fonda
Tilda Swinton
music = Giuseppe Verdi
Gustave Charpentier
Giacomo Puccini
Erich Wolfgang Korngold
cinematography = Christopher Hughes
editing = Neil Abrahamson
distributor = Miramax Films
released = September 15, 1987
runtime = 90 min
country = UK
language = Italian
French
German
budget =
gross =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website =
amg_id =
imdb_id = 0092580

"Aria" is a 1987 British film produced by Don Boyd from Virgin Group's visual section consisting of ten short films by a variety of directors.

Each segment features its director's visual accompaniment to arias and scenes from operas. Each film has minimal dialogue (some none at all), with most of the spoken content being the operas' lyrics (libretto) in Italian, French, or German.

The music archive source was RCA Records (which at the time included Erato Records, but later that label went to Warner Music; RCA is now a part of Sony BMG, so this film's music rights are complicated).

The ten segments of the film

"Un ballo in maschera"

The narrative chronicles the attempted assassination of Albania's King Zog in 1931.
*Music composed by Giuseppe Verdi
*Directed by Nicolas Roeg
*Starring Theresa Russell

"La Vergine Degli Angeli" from "La Forza del Destino"

Three London teenagers skip school, steal a car and die in a traffic accident.
*Music composed by Giuseppe Verdi
*Directed by Charles Sturridge

="Armide"=

A look at French bodybuilders.
*Music composed by Jean-Baptiste Lully
*Libretto by Philippe Quinault
*Conducted by Philippe Herreweghe
*Directed by Jean-Luc Godard
*Starring Valérie Allain

"Rigoletto"

At San Luis Obispo's famous Madonna Inn, a movie producer cheats on his wife unaware that she, too, is there with a clandestine lover of her own. Finally, both philanderers are revealed to each other via security-camera footage.
*Music by Giuseppe Verdi
*Directed by Julien Temple
*Starring Buck Henry and Beverly D'Angelo

"Die Tote Stadt"

A look at the seemingly-dead city of Bruges, Belgium. A beautiful virgin is stripped naked by her lover and, after she expresses her affection for him, she loses her virginity to him.
*Music composed by Erich Wolfgang Korngold
*Sung by Carol Neblett and René Kollo
*Directed by Bruce Beresford
*Starring Elizabeth Hurley

"Abaris ou les Boréades"

A re-creation of opening night at Paris's Ranelagh Theater, in 1734. The audience is filled with a raffish (and, perhaps, diseased) assortment of lowlifes and the decadent.
*Music composed by Jean-Philippe Rameau
*Libretto by Louis de Cahusac
*Conducted by John Eliot Gardiner
*Directed by Robert Altman
*Starring Julie Hagerty, Geneviève Page, Sandrine Dumas, Chris Campion

"Liebestod" from "Tristan und Isolde"

Two young lovers arrive in Las Vegas. After driving down Glitter Gulch, they check into a cheap hotel room. There they make love and, after that, commit suicide.
*Music composed by Richard Wagner
*Sung by Birgit Nilsson
*Directed by Franc Roddam
*Starring Bridget Fonda, in her first "credited" film role.

"Nessun dorma" from "Turandot"

A lovely young girl imagines her body is being adorned by jewels until she wakes up in an operating room, where she is receiving emergency care after a car crash.
*Music composed by Giacomo Puccini
*Sung by Jussi Björling
*Directed by Ken Russell
*Starring Linzi Drew

="Depuis le Jour" from "Louise"=

A veteran opera singer gives her final performance, intercut by 8mm home movies of an early love affair.
*Music composed by Gustave Charpentier
*Sung by Leontyne Price
*Directed by Derek Jarman
*Starring Tilda Swinton

"Vesti la Giubba" from "I Pagliacci"

A has-been virtuoso remembers his happier days while arriving at an opera house, visiting the dressing room, and performing the aria for his audience of one. (This story provides a framework for the rest of the movie.)
*Music composed by Ruggero Leoncavallo
*Directed by Bill Bryden
*Written by Don Boyd
*Starring John Hurt and Sophie Ward

External links

*imdb title|id=0092580|title=Aria