Director: Philippe Béziat.
Starring: Charles Castronovo, Natalie Dessay, Jean-François Sivadier.
Running Time: 120 minutes.
Certificate: PG.
Synopsis: Philippe Béziat goes behind the scenes of an open-air production of Verdi’s La Traviata from planning to general rehearsals. The new production of La Traviata is directed by the slightly eccentric but utterly passionate Jean-François Sivadier.
BECOMING TRAVIATA is clearly aimed to be told in an artistic and smooth way to reflect the style of La Traviata. There is no inference or interaction from Béziat and the documentary is turned into a behind the scenes recording with very little juice. Understandably drama and friction is not something which is expected, but there has been no attempt whatsoever to create an intriguing situation. Reminiscent of any generic, televised behind the scenes report, BECOMING TRAVIATA is difficult to invest in for any non-opera or theatre lovers. Objective audiences will either be mesmerised by the tremendous power in the performers’ voices, or struggle to understand and appreciate the amount of blood, sweat and tears put into the production.
The most compelling scenes involve the brilliant Natalie Dessay, both struggling and thriving in her role as Violetta. She possesses such an immense passion and knowledge for her performance and the production, and her commitment is incredibly admirable and exciting to watch. She outshines everyone on stage, in the film and at any table reading. Dessay and the director speak a magical language consisting of nothing but grunts, hand gestures, nods and the occasional tear shedding.
The cuts between different stages of rehearsal show very little development, but indicate the time put into the rehearsals to perfect a legendary piece. Although the most hilarious moments of the film consist of laughing along with the British orchestra as they giggle over Jean-François Sivadier’s poor English, the film is highly uplifting and consists of a positive energy and tone throughout.
BECOMING TRAVIATA will throw you straight into the production without any introductions or hidden agenda. Clearly Béziat is too in love with the opera world to care for where he is going with the documentary and wishes to share the footage and experience with fellow opera enthusiasts. Despite its humour and peek into the fascinating world of opera and stage production, BECOMING TRAVIATA remains a film for a specialist and small audience who seek out slow-paced behind the scenes documentaries.
BECOMING TRAVIATA is showing at LFF on the 10th, 11th and 16th of October. Read the rest of our LFF coverage here.
