Aria (1987)

Voti degli utenti:

5.6/10   

Directors:

Robert Altman
Bruce Beresford
(ancora)

Writers:

Robert Altman (segment)
Bruce Beresford (segment)
(ancora)

Data di uscita:

luglio 1988 (USA)

Genere:

Comedy | Drama | Music

Slogan:

Ten great directors. One unforgettable film. The most sensual experience you'll ever have in a movie theater.

Plot:

Ten short pieces directed by ten different directors, including Ken Russell, Jean-Luc Godard, Robert Altman...

Plot Keywords:

Beautiful Woman | Female Nudity | Bath | Erotica | Opera

Premi:

1 nomination

Recensioni degli utenti:

Some of it is extraordinary, some of it is awful

Cast

Theresa Russell	...	King Zog (segment "Un ballo in maschera")
Stephanie Lane	...	Baroness (segment "Un ballo in maschera")
Roy Hyatt	...	Chauffeur (segment "Un ballo in maschera")
Sevilla Delofski	...	Maid (segment "Un ballo in maschera")
Ruth Halliday	...	Companion (segment "Un ballo in maschera")
Arthur Cox	...	Major (segment "Un ballo in maschera")
Dennis Holmes	...	Colonel (segment "Un ballo in maschera")
Paul Brightwell	...	Assassin (segment "Un ballo in maschera")
Frank Baker	...	Assassin (segment "Un ballo in maschera")
Chris Hunter	...	Assassin (segment "Un ballo in maschera")
Nicola Swain	...	Marie (segment "La virgine degli angeli")
Jackson Kyle	...	Travis (segment "La virgine degli angeli")
Marianne McLoughlin	...	Kate (segment "La virgine degli angeli")
Marion Peterson	...	Les Jeunes Filles (segment "Armide")
Valérie Allain	...	Les Jeunes Filles (segment "Armide")
Jacques Neuville	...	Bodybuilder (segment "Armide")
Luke Corre	...	Bodybuilder (segment "Armide")
Christiam Cauchon	...	Bodybuilder (segment "Armide")
Philippe Pellant	...	Bodybuilder (segment "Armide")
Patrice Linguet	...	Bodybuilder (segment "Armide")
Lionel Sorin	...	Bodybuilder (segment "Armide")
Jean Coffinet	...	Bodybuilder (segment "Armide")
Alexandre Des Granges	...	Bodybuilder (segment "Armide")
Gérard Vives	...	Bodybuilder (segment "Armide")
Frederick Brosse	...	Bodybuilder (segment "Armide")
Pascal Bermont	...	Bodybuilder (segment "Armide")
Jean Luc Corre	...	Bodybuilder (segment "Armide")
Bernard Gaudray	...	Bodybuilder (segment "Armide")
Dominique Mano	...	Bodybuilder (segment "Armide")
Patrice Tridian	...	Bodybuilder (segment "Armide")
Buck Henry	...	Preston (segment "Rigoletto")
Beverly D'Angelo	...	Gilda (segment "Rigoletto")
Gary Kasper	...	Jake (segment "Rigoletto") (as Garry Kasper)
Anita Morris	...	Phoebe ("Rigoletto")
John Hostetter	...	Elvis Impersonator (segment "Rigoletto")
Albie Selznick	...	Bell Boy (segment "Rigoletto")
Stan Mazin	...	Dancer (segment "Rigoletto")
Dominic Salinero	...	Dancer (segment "Rigoletto")
Jeff Calhoun	...	Dancer (segment "Rigoletto")
Elizabeth Hurley	...	Marietta (segment "Die tote Stadt")
Peter Birch	...	Paul (segment "Die tote Stadt")
Bridget Fonda	...	Lover (segment "Liebestod")
James Mathers	...	Lover (segment "Liebestod")
Angie Tetamontie	...	Las Vegas Lady (segment "Liebestod")
Esther Buchanan	...	Las Vegas Lady (segment "Liebestod")
Lorraine Cote	...	Las Vegas Lady (segment "Liebestod")
Renee Korn	...	Las Vegas Lady (segment "Liebestod")
Bertha Weiss	...	Lady with Glove (segment "Liebestod")
Dyanne Thorne	...	Bride (segment "Liebestod") (as Diane Thorne)
Howard Maurer	...	Groom (segment "Liebestod") (as Howie Maurer)
Derick Coleman	...	Indian Boy (segment "Liebestod")
Quentin Brown	...	Indian Boy (segment "Liebestod")
Linzi Drew	...	Girl (segment "Nessun dorma")
Andreas Wisniewski	...	(segment "Nessun dorma")
Kwabena Manso	...	(segment "Nessun dorma")
Bella Enahoro	...	(segment "Nessun dorma")
Bunty Mathias	...	(segment "Nessun dorma")
Angela Walker	...	(segment "Nessun dorma")
Amy Johnson	...	Old Lady (segment "Depuis le jour")
Tilda Swinton	...	Young Girl (segment "Depuis le jour")
Spencer Leigh	...	Young Man (segment "Depuis le jour")
John Hurt	...	The Actor (segment "I pagliacci")
Sophie Ward	...	The Young Girl (segment "I pagliacci")
Paul Collard	...	Valet (segment "Un ballo in maschera")
George Ellis Jones	...	Chauffeur (segment "Un ballo in maschera")
Danny Fitzgerald	...	Mercedes Man (segment "Un ballo in maschera")
Johnny Doyle	...	Blind Balloon Man (segment "Un ballo in maschera")
David Ross	...	Doorman (segment "Un ballo in maschera")
Lucy Olivier	...	Woman in Background (segment "Un ballo in maschera")
Gordon Winter	...	Man in Background (segment "Un ballo in maschera")
Derek Farmer	...	Motorbike Man (segment "Un ballo in maschera")
Michelle Read	...	Nanny (segment "Un ballo in maschera")
Maximillian Roeg	...	Child (segment "Un ballo in maschera")
resto del cast in ordine alfabetico:
Bernie Bonvoisin	...	(segment "Les Boréades") (uncredited)
Cris Campion	...	(segment "Les Boréades") (uncredited)
Anne Canovas	...	(segment "Les Boréades") (uncredited)
Sandrine Dumas	...	(segment "Les Boréades") (uncredited)
Jody Guelb	...	(segment "Les Boréades") (uncredited)
Julie Hagerty	...	(segment "Les Boréades") (uncredited)
Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu	...	(segment "Les Boréades") (uncredited)
Bénédicte Loyen	...	(segment "Les Boréades") (uncredited)
Geneviève Page	...	(segment "Les Boréades") (uncredited)
Delphine Rich	...	(segment "Les Boréades") (uncredited)
Louis-Marie Taillefer	...	(segment "Les Boréades") (uncredited)

Regia di
Robert Altman		(segment "Les Boréades")
Bruce Beresford		(segment "Die tote Stadt")
Bill Bryden		(segment "I pagliacci")
Jean-Luc Godard		(segment "Armide")
Derek Jarman		(segment "Depuis le jour")
Franc Roddam		(segment "Liebestod")
Nicolas Roeg		(segment "Un ballo in maschera")
Ken Russell		(segment "Nessun dorma")
Charles Sturridge		(segment "La virgine degli angeli")
Julien Temple		(segment "Rigoletto")

Scritto da (in ordine alfabetico)
Robert Altman		segment "Les Boréades"
Bruce Beresford		segment "Die tote Stadt"
Don Boyd		segment "I pagliacci"
Bill Bryden		segment "I pagliacci"
Louis de Cahusac		libretto "Les Boréades"
Derek Jarman		segment "Depuis le jour"
Philippe Quinault		libretto "Armide"
Franc Roddam		segment "Liebestod"
Nicolas Roeg		segment "Un ballo in maschera"
Ken Russell		segment "Nessun dorma"
Charles Sturridge		segment "La virgine degli angeli"
Julien Temple		segment "Rigoletto"

Prodotto da
David Barber	....	coordinating associate producer
Richard Bell	....	associate producer (segment "Un Balo in Maschera")
Don Boyd	....	producer
Scott Bushnell	....	associate producer (segment "Lieux desoles")
Al Clark	....	co-producer
Michael Hamlyn	....	coordinating associate producer
Tom Kuhn	....	executive producer
James Mackay	....	co-producer (segment "Depuis de jour")
Jim Mervis	....	executive producer
Charles Mitchell	....	executive producer
Kevan Pegley	....	associate producer
Luc Roeg	....	associate producer (segment "Un Balo in Maschera")
Sigurjon Sighvatsson	....	associate producer (segment "Liebestod")
Paul Spencer	....	associate producer (segment "La vergine degli Angeli")
Amanda Temple	....	associate producer (segment "La Donna e Mobile")

Fotografia di
Gabriel Beristain		(segments, "Turnadot", "I pagliacci" and linking scenes)
Caroline Champetier		(segment "Armide")
Frederick Elmes		(segment "Liebestod")
Harvey Harrison		(segment "Un ballo in Maschera")
Christopher Hughes
Pierre Mignot		(segment "Les Boréades")
Mike Southon		(segment "Depuis le jour")
Dante Spinotti		(segment "Die tote stadt")
Oliver Stapleton		(segment "Rigoletto")
Gale Tattersall		(segment "La virginie degli angeli")

Montaggio di
Neil Abrahamson		(segment "Rigoletto")
Robert Altman		(segment "Lieux desoles")
Jennifer Augé		(segment "Les Boréades")
Marie-Thérèse Boiché		(segments "Die tote Stadt"/"I pagliacci")
Michael Bradsell		(segment "Nessun dorma")
Peter Cartwright		(segment "Depuis le jour")
Angus Cook		(segment "Depuis le jour")
Mike Cragg		(segment "Vesti La Giubba")
Stephen P. Dunn		(segment "Lieux desoles")
Rick Elgood		(segment "Liebestod")
Jean-Luc Godard		(segment "Enfin il est en ma puissance")
Tony Lawson		(segment "Un ballo in maschera")
Matthew Longfellow		(segment "La virgine degli angeli")
Paul Naisbitt		(segment "Vesti La Giubba")

Responsabile casting
Jackie Baskow		(segment "Liebestod")
Ellen Chenoweth
Susie Figgis
Jeff Gerrard		(segment "Liebestod")
Crystal Lujan		(segment "La Donna e Mobile")

Scenografie di
Scott Bushnell
Paul Dufficey
John Hay
Christopher Hobbs
Matthew C. Jacobs
Diana Johnstone
Andrew McAlpine
Piers Plowden

Architetto-scenografo
Stephen Altman		(segment "Lieux desoles")
Paul Dufficey		(segment "Nessun dorma")
Christopher Hobbs		(segment "Depuis le jour")
Matthew C. Jacobs		(segment "Liebestod")
Diana Johnstone		(segment "Vesti la giubba")
Andrew McAlpine		(segments "La vergine degli angeli" and "Gluck, das mir Verblieb")
Piers Plowden		(segment "La donna e mobile")

Arredatore
Arnaud de Moleron
Deborah Evans
Rossella Scanagatta

Costumi di
Alison Chitty
Jane Hamilton
Shuna Harwood
John Hay
Elisabetta Rogiani
Victoria Russell

Trucco
Vilborg Aradottir	....	makeup artist
Alain Bernard	....	hair stylist
Ann Buchanan	....	hair stylist (as Anni Buchanan)
Ann Buchanan	....	makeup artist (as Anni Buchanan)
Isabelle de Araujo	....	makeup artist
Beatrice Depuy	....	makeup artist
Dominique de Vorges	....	makeup artist
Christine Dhenin	....	makeup artist
Angelo Di Biase	....	makeup artist
Anne Dupuis	....	hair stylist
Christine Duvivier	....	hair stylist
John Egan	....	hair stylist
Maryse Faure	....	hair stylist
Christophe Marlard	....	makeup artist
Isabelle Mauqui	....	makeup artist
Morag Ross	....	makeup artist
Philomene Sammartino	....	makeup artist
Sylvie Sammartino	....	hair stylist
Penny Shawyer	....	makeup artist
Jenny Shircore	....	makeup artist
Pascale Thisseraud	....	makeup artist
Herve Waguet	....	makeup artist

Direttore di produzione
Stephen Brown	....	production manager (segment "Un Ballo in Maschera")
François Hamel	....	production manager (segment "Enfin il est en ma puissance")
Kevan Pegley	....	production manager (segment "Vesti La Giubba")
Howard Woffinden	....	production manager (segment "La Donn e Mobile")
Daniel Wuhrmann	....	production manager (segment "Lieux desoles")

Aiuto regista
Barry Blackmore	....	assistant director (segment "La Vergine degli Angeli")
Reynald Calcagni	....	assistant director (segment "Enfin il est en ma puissance")
Yann Gilbert	....	assistant director (segment "Lieux desoles")
Peter Kohn	....	assistant director (segment "Vesti La Giubba")
Jaques Lobeleux	....	assistant director (segment "Enfin il est en ma puissance")
Iain Patrick	....	assistant director (segment "Un Ballo in Maschera")
Sholto J. Roeg	....	third assistant director
Waldo Roeg	....	assistant director (segment "Un Ballo in Maschera")
Michael Rowles	....	assistant director (segment "La Donna e Mobile")

Art Department
Stewart Hadley	....	chargehand
Roland Jacob	....	set dresser (segment "Lieux desoles")

Sonoro
Daniel Bélanger	....	sound re-recording mixer (segment "Lieux desoles")
Simon Bishop	....	sound (segment "Vesti La Giubba")
Philippe Lioret	....	production sound mixer (segment "Lieux desoles")
Stephane Lioret	....	boom operator
Neil Walwer	....	sound re-recording mixer (segment "Lieux desoles")

Effetti speciali
Rich Casboro	....	special effects makeup artist (segment "Liebestod")
Malcolm Heywood	....	special effects photography (segment "Vesti La Giubba")

Camera and Electrical Department
David Bailey	....	still photographer
Paul Borg	....	gaffer
Bob Carlos Clarke	....	still photographer
Greg Gorman	....	still photographer
Michael Katz	....	gaffer (segment "Liebestod")
Annie Leibovitz	....	still photographer
Jonathan Lennard	....	still photographer
Angus McBean	....	still photographer
Terry O'Neill	....	still photographer
Roberto Schaefer	....	Steadicam operator
Snowdon	....	still photographer
Koo Stark	....	still photographer
John Swannell	....	still photographer

Casting Department
Abi Cohen	....	casting assistant

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Sandy Powell	....	costume designer: segment "Un ballo in maschera"

Editorial Department
Laurence Starkman	....	editor: closing montage

Music Department
John Eliot Gardiner	....	conductor: opera "Les Boréades"
Philippe Herreweghe	....	conductor: "Armide"

Altro personale
Grover Dale	....	choreographer
Terry Gilbert	....	choreographer
Callie Khouri	....	production coordinator
Richard Morrison	....	title designer

Production Companies

• R.V.P. Productions (presents)
• Virgin Vision (presents)
• A Don Boyd Production

Distributors

• Miramax Films (1988) (USA) (theatrical)
• A*Vision Entertainment (1996) (USA) (VHS)
• Academy (video)
• Hipervídeo (Brazil) (VHS)
• Image Entertainment (1999) (USA) (DVD)
• Lightyear Entertainment (1999) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• RCA Italiana Opera Orchestra and Chorus  music performers (segment "Un Ballo in Maschera")
• RCA Italiana Opera Orchestra and Chorus  music performers (segment "La Virgine Degli Angeli")
• La Chapelle Royale  music performers (as Ensemble Vocal Et Instrumental De La Chappelle Royale) (segment "Armide)
• Weyder Gym  filmed on (segment "Armide)
• RCA Italiana Opera Orchestra and Chorus  music performers (segment "Rigoletto")
• Madonna Inn  filmed on (segment "Rigoletto)
• Münchner Rundfunkorchester  orchestra (segment "Die Tote Stadt") (as Munich Radio Orchestra)
• Monteverdi Choir  chorus (segment "Les Boreades")
• English Baroque Soloists, The  orchestra (segment "Les Boreades")
• Théâtre Le Ranelagh  filmed on (segment "Les Boreades") (as Ranelagh Theatre in Paris)
• Philharmonia Orchestra, The  orchestra (segment "Liebestod") (as Philharmonia Orchestra)
• Orchestra e Coro del Teatro dell'Opera di Roma  music performers (segment "Nessun Dorma") (as Rome Opera House Orchestra)
• Unit 5 Studios  filmed at (segment "Nessun Dorma")
• RCA Italiana Opera Orchestra and Chorus  music performers (segment "Depuis Le Jour")
• Teatro Amilcare Ponchielli Cremona  orchestra (segment "I Pagliacci") (as Teatro Ponchielli in Cremona)
• ARRI Lighting Rental  light equipment

Durata:

90 min

Nazionalità:

UK

Lingua:

Italiano | Francese | Tedesco

Colore:

Colore

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sonoro:

Dolby

Divieti:

Australia:M | UK:18 | USA:R

Company:

R.V.P. Productions

Curiosità:

Woody Allen declined when he was approached to direct a part of this film due to schedule problems.

Movie Connections:

Citato in "Saturday Night Live: Bob Saget/TLC (#20.19)" (1995)

Colonna sonora:

Nuit redoutable !... Lieu désolé

Some of it is extraordinary, some of it is awful

It's interesting to see what different directors will do when they are told, "make a short film based upon a famous opera." It's like looking through someone's garbage...you really get a sense for who they are.

Based upon what I've seen here, here's what I think about each director and their segment:

Nicolas Roeg - Always an experimental guy, but, by nature, experiments often fail. Such is the case with Roeg's segment, which perplexingly casts his wife Thresa Russell as a (male) fascist ruler about to be assassinated. I have no idea what he was thinking, but the segment doesn't work at all.

Charles Sturridge - This guy must have major skeletons in his closet. It's the story of three children, sadly watching a replay of themselves being killed in a car accident on TV, the result of taking their parents' car out for an ill-advised drive. It's a beautiful, intensely sad sequence, one of the best in the movie.

Jean-Luc Godard - Never known for being subtle. This is the WORST of the movies. If you can't figure out that it's about sexual frustration, go live in a cave. It takes something truly special to make two gorgeous women parading around naked to be so mind-numbingly boring.

Julien Temple - Mainstream director somehow having backed into the arthouse scene. This entertaining bit of absurdity plays like an elaborate Saturday Night Live sketch, with a husband and wife out cheating on each other at the same hotel. It's funny and sexy, and surprisingly at home with the more cerebral segments.

Bruce Beresford - Great respect of love, sex and sensuality. Pleasant enough, basically the story of a woman (Elizabeth Hurley) giving herself to her lover for the first time. Nice buns on Elizabeth, but it's a wonderful little sequence regardless. Gorgous photograaphy.

Robert Altman - Tell this guy to do whatever he wants, and he'll be at a loss as to what he wants to do. Utterly pointless, boring and irritating short about the inmates of an asylum sitting in a theatre awaiting the night's performance. Nothing but a series of swooping camera shots and people acting crazy. Really bad.

Franc Roddam - Pessimistic and cynical, especially when it comes to love. Beautifully shot sequence about two young lovers who travel to Las Vegas to have one last night together before committing suicide. Subtly gives us hints as to why they do what they do (life is a pointless series of tragedies which leads up to old age), which makes the sequence all the more heart-breaking. Bridget Fonda's film debut, and it seems she was pretty enthusiastic about taking off her clothes right off the bat. Nothing wrong with that!

Ken Russell - Seems to have known most segments would be deadly serious and pretentious, so decided just to goof off. Russell fans will love this sequence, others will probably just be bewildered. Nothing to read into here, a woman is on the operating table after being in a car accident, and has hallucinations about being adorned with jewels as opposed to being stitched back together. Well shot and genuinely imaginative.

Derek Jarman - Simplicity is the key. An old woman thanks happy thoughts of her younger days as an actress. That's it. Simple, charming, moving.

Bill Bryden - Let's hear it for the has-been. A dying actor (John Hurt) performs the famous opera from Pagliacci (the sad clown) to an empty theater, after which he drops dead. It's a brutally sad sequence about the devastation a performer feels after they have been forgotten by the public.

Overall, it's an interesting movie. The girls' bare bottoms and guys' ripped pecs of Godard's sequence will help both men and women get through it, but Roeg's and Altman's misfires will have you reaching for the fast-forward button.