Change Your Image
ballo_j
Reviews
Madame Butterfly (1915)
Amazing historical record
This, of course, is the silent film version of David Belasco's Madame Butterfly, made shortly before this into the opera by Puccini. I saw it many years ago on late night TV in New York in the 60's I think. The stage play, and the opera were based upon the novella by Luther Long. The entire text of this is on the web and is most interesting in that Cio- Cio San does NOT commit hara-kiri at the end. Rather she tries to and screws it up and she, Sasuki and her little boy leave the night Pinkerton comes to deliver the bad news.
I find it impossible to give any sort of objective judgment of this film; firstly because standards of production have changed so drastically over the century since it was made, and secondly, because the opera's music and mise en scene so dominate our thinking. Nevertheless I found it fascinating. I cannot believe that I am the only person in the country that has seen it and stumbled onto this site!!!
Porgy and Bess (1959)
All very well but the movie is NOT Porgy and Bess
What is the matter with you folks. The reason that the estate has pulled the film , is that this movie is simply NOT Porgy and Bess as Gershwin conceived and wrote it. Not even close. The music has been changed beyond recognition. With the exception of the white speaking parts there is no spoken dialogue in the opera. And they (the white parts) are spoken because Gershwin wants to create an aural space differentiating between blacks and whites. The black aural space is sung and the aural white space is spoken. With this exception it is all sung (through composed) and to eliminate the music occurring between the 'tunes' not only cuts about eighty percent of what Gershwin wrote but distorts the little bits and pieces (what Shaw called 'bleeding chunks' when he was referring to the practise of excepting Wagner) left. If you want to hear Porgy and Bess get the recordings by the Houston Opera or another recent recording. It's an opera and if you don't like it go see Cats or some other such garbage.