Aria Reviews

• A Most Incredible Experience

  
  By A3TIJC6L8USJ6Q on 2002-02-22
  Aria is 90 minutes of pure wonderment -- I'm not certain what demographic this project was aimed at, but I definitely fall into it. You have to love opera style music yet not be so attached to the operas themselves that the re-presentation of the music offends. You have to enjoy video that your average couch potato won't get, no matter how many mind altering drugs he takes.

  To really enjoy Aria, you have to check your expectations at the door and accept it for what it is -- a set of brilliant visual explorations fueled by some of the most incredible music ever written. With any other attitude, you're far more likely to find this a miserable experience. Too vulgar, too highbrow, too bizarre, too surreal, too whatever.

  Some pieces tell a solid story, ranging from humorous to tragic. Others lack story line and speak to a different level of consciousness. Pathos. Humor. Death. Life. Celebration. Brilliance. Aria cleanses windows of perception, like a good wine between courses of a meal. On the other hand, it's a main course, in and of itself.

  This is not fodder for young children, and most teens won't have the patience for it either. If you thought "Dude, Where's My Car?" was a brilliant movie, perhaps you'd better pass on this one as well. I only wish that more Wagner had been included ... perhaps an Aria II consisting solely of Wagner arias?

  (If you'd like to discuss this movie or review in more depth, click on the "about me" link above and drop me an email. Thanks!)
  
  

• Liz Hurley's first important role in a movie

  
  By A1RJJ56MBJMX87 on 2002-08-07
  This movie provided Liz Hurley with her big break. Soon after this, Dennis Potter snapped her up for the lead role in the BBC adaptation of Christabel Bielenberg's 'The Past is Myself'. She became Hugh Grant's girlfriend and the rest is history. She transformed herself physically during her twenties, which is why some viewers have had problems identifying the occasionally nude actress that appears here as the very slim Liz Hurley they now know.

  For me, 'Aria' was the classical music community's response to the rise of MTV and the pop video. Directors like Ken Russell and Nick Roeg wanted to show us that opera could be equally colourful and sexy, even if you couldn't dance to it. And they proved their case, to my mind.

  But like a pop video, you wouldn't want to watch this too often. There's no substantive connection between each of the videos, so you end up feeling much the same as you would after a 90-minute immersion in MTV.
  
  

• Play this video LOUD

  
  By on 1999-05-07
  Aria is the MTV of Operatic music. Each of the 10 directors chose a aria and made a music video for each. THE MUSIC IS FANTASTIC! I was not a Opera fan before I saw the video, but now I only wish there was a soundtrack. The Music videos range form the surrealistic to comedic. Many well known and new actors and actresses are in the videos including Buck Henery, Elizabeth Hurley and Bridget Fonda. I like to play the video loud and sometimes not pay attention to the video part. Once again I wish there was a Soundtrack. If you liked Brazil, you will like this.
  
  

• A Visual and audial smorgasbord

  
  By on 2001-03-10
  I have loved this movie for years. Granted, it may be for deep film buffs, but it is powerful.

  Each vignette offers a top director's interpretation of a provocative aria. Opera lovers know how emotionally provocative the music can be; and that raw emotion is shown by each director.

  The love story is one of the most romantic and tragic stories I have ever seen--the images are still in my mind 10 years after first seeing it. I had enjoyed a light introduction to opera before this movie, but after feeling the raw emotions this film created in me, I bought a few opera CDs based simply on first hearing the arias in this movie. There is even some VERY funny stuff is one scene.

  So, in summary, the music, images, and emotions from this movies were all so intense, they've stayed with me for years. If you can take the intensity, do not miss out on this powerful movie that can be both sublime and intense at the same time.
  
  

• Even the Men Can Cry

  
  By AF8C86SGYLH81 on 2005-06-20
  There comes a time when you are exposed to a film...to a song...to a photograph...to a piece of history that sends you to a place where you either want to be...or wish to avoid.
  
  I saved the film "ARIA" for Father's Day...because when I began to watch it six months ago I was quickly enveloped in an aura of nostalgia that tugged at my heart.
  
  I don't know how to review such a film as "ARIA". There's never been anything like it, nor will there be again. It is cinematic brilliance...cinematic brilliance...cinematic brilliance. Do you get the point?
  
  It is a visual masterpiece...a musical masterpiece...simply a piece of art!
  
  I'd be remiss if I told you it was for everyone. This one is very much a romantic (sometimes erotic) flick I would highly recommend to the hopeless romantics on this planet. Unfortunately, that eliminates most of the men on Earth...but not me.
  
  I don't remember the last time I cried so much...so hard...so consistently...than with this operatic, eroti,. connectic, endearing...and sometimes tragic epic.
  
  It is filled with love...with pain...with hope...and joy...and sprinkled with passion...with eternal love...with lost dreams...with hopeful fantasies...with ART!
  
  Many films have left me speechless...this one will never find a way to keep my trap shut.
  
  Maybe it's the romance in me that provoked the tears...but this film is one that goes straight to the heart...the soul...the ears and the tears. If you've ever been in love...lost a love...yearned for love...or simply enjoyed the thought of being in love..."ARIA" is for you.
  
  See it with a loving friend. I swear you'll swap tissues...you'll hug...you'll cry out loud...
  
  and that's what makes this film such an epic of the heart. What's wrong with tears? What's wrong with wanting...having...losing...possessing the strength of eternal love and passion? Isn't that what life is all about?
  
  All of this is captured without a script. The soul is orchestrated by operatic classics.
  
  It is profound sound...visual candy that only a cinematic artist could capture on film.
  
  This one was made for PR...for me. It will go down as one of the finest films I have ever seen.
  
  Only one hint...it is a series of vignettes that build in intensity. The star-studded cast includes many classic actors and actresses...but their challenge in this ditty was to capture your heart without a script. Guess what? They do.
  
  Here's the box. Go out...rent or buy this box...along with some Kleenex...a bottle of Chardonnay...and hold the hand of someone you love. I, regretably, was home alone...and when I let Stan (my dog) in the house after the film...he never received a better back rub (scratch behind the ears). I'm still lost in "ARIA". The tranquil mood...the imagery...the beautiful music will live with me forever. Phew! This one was simply awesome!
  
  
• The movie that started me on opera
  By A13VWZI7BZCU09 on 2003-01-17
  I first saw Aria in the theater back in high school (about 3 million years ago) and only because I wanted to impress a girl way more artistic than myself.

  It worked, but not in a way I'd expected. The movie, a series of vignettes, runs the whole emotional spectrum. In my younger days, we were blown away by the Wagner/Roddam piece starring a young Fonda, so loving and jarring at the same time. These days I find all the music beautiful, but one or two of the vignettes boring. The entire movie is beautifully shot and all deserves to be watched at least once.

  After having done that you'll find continual enjoyment watching Sturridge, Beresford, Roddam, Jarman, and Bryden's interpretations.

  Who knows, you might fall in love with opera too.
  
  

• Another Bad Anthology Film
  By A1VMEBPPFUU0J7 on 2000-05-24
  If you don't like opera, "Aria" will not appeal to you. If you love opera, "Aria" will not appeal to you. I had been warned about this anthology film, but wanted to see it for the Robert Altman segment. Out of respect for the great director, I'll just say that his segment is no better or worse than any of the dreck that surrounds it. The movie is pretentious and dull, almost unwatchable save for Franc Roddam's interesting Las Vegas episode.
  
  
• Very different and very interesting
  By A14YRVQ7A9ONV5 on 1999-11-05
  Most enjoyable, and additional screenings become a must because the story lines do not follow the operas that the arias cover. Sub-titles in English to cover the words sung would have been nice, but not required.
  
  
• Great the first time, tends average, not for everyone
  By A3NIEFATY4VZOM on 2002-05-17
  This movie was great the first time, on the big screen. The music and the images shock you, and make you squirm and react to this movie. It's an artistic roller coaster ride.

  I've found since, however, that this shocking quality doesn't preserve especially well. My favorite way of watching this movie these days, is to turn the music on, while I'm doing stuff around the house, occassionally looking at the images.

  It's artistry, it doesn't hold up under critical thinking.

  Who will like this movie? Despite (or perhaps because of) the billing of mature content, I think that this is a good film for teenage viewers with a liking for art films. One must be able to appreciate both the variety and intensity of the images, and be able to forgive the story. Not a problem in an action movie, but for an "art film", it shows it's high concept roots.

  Maybe a gift for an opera lover, or an "art film" buff.
  
  

• This film is not a movie...
  By on 1999-10-13
  but a series of different opera parts with a short film trying to represent each part. Each chapter has nothing to do with the rest, leaving a feeling of total disconnection. The actors try to move their mouths as if they were singing but again the disconnection is totally evident, it seems it was done on purpose, but not sure why. Elizabeth Hurley is not the british model/actress Liz Hurley so don't be confused.
  
  

• Drive-In Cult Classics - 8 Movie Set
• Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
• Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom
• Cashback
• Paradise