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With his flamboyant androgyny and wide-ranging soprano voice, the eponymous hero of Farinelli comes off as the 18th-century equivalent of a glam rock star. Gerard Corbiau wrote and directed this French/Italian 1994 coproduction, and Stefano Dionisi stars as the famous real-life castrato (a.k.a. Carlo Broschi) who rose to pop-star fame in Europe singing the music of his composer brother, Riccardo (Enrico Lo Verso). Legend has it that women fainted while listening to Farinelli hit the high notes (one woman even claims Farinelli gave her her first "musical orgasm.") Modern viewers will find plenty to swoon at in the film's beautiful baroque score. The musical numbers are performed in lavish theaters before well-costumed audiences, with Farinelli himself decked out in a variety of gargantuan feather headdresses. Glamour aside, the film is ultimately about the sacrifices that are made for art and about the unusual relationship between the two brothers, who had a "pact" whereby they shared everything -- even sexual conquests -- providing scenes of intriguingly decadent eroticism. Gregory Baird

All Movie Guide

The performer known as Farinelli, born Carlo Broschi (and played in this film by Stefano Dionisi), was famous in the 18th century as the world's greatest castrato, a male singer whose testicles were removed in childhood so that he would retain the high, clear voice of a child while gaining the control and power of an adult vocalist. A strikingly gifted singer with a range of more than three octaves, Farinelli was given little choice but to sacrifice his manhood in exchange for his art, and as his career was founded on the surgery that would dramatically restrict his off-stage life, his art was in turn hemmed in by his family. Carlo's father declared early on that he should only sing the songs of his brother Riccardo (Enrico LoVerso), and while Farinelli's fame gives Riccardo's career a needed boost, the mediocrity of Riccardo's compositions holds Farinelli back. When the singer is given the opportunity to work with the great composer Handel (Jeroen Krabbe), his brother's jealously and Farinelli's own poorly chosen career alliances stand in his way. The brothers' often contentious partnership also extends to the bedroom; while Farinelli's performances set women on fire, he's physically incapable of satisfying them sexually, so he provides the foreplay in a bizarre game of seduction and then turns his conquests over to his brother. Farinelli il Castrato received a Golden Globe award as Best Foreign Language Film of 1994 and an Academy Award nomination in the same category. Mark Deming

Product Details

• UPC: 043396106291
• Source: SONY PICTURES
• Region Code: 1
• Aspect Ratio: Theatre Wide-Screen (1.85.1)
• Presentation: Wide Screen
• Sound: stereo
• Language: Français, Italiano
• Subtitles: English, Español, Français
• Time: 1:50:00
• Sales Rank: 11,015

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