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Farinelli: Il Castrato

Play trailer Poster for Farinelli: Il Castrato R Released Dec 7, 1994 1h 50m Biography Drama Music Play Trailer Watchlist
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60% Tomatometer 25 Reviews 82% Popcornmeter 2,500+ Ratings
Carlo (Stefano Dionisi) and Riccardo Broschi (Enrico Lo Verso) are a brother act: Ricardo is a composer who writes the music and Carlo a castrato who sings it beautifully. But Carlo is clearly the more talented of the two, and soon becomes wildly famous -- first in Italy and then throughout Europe -- as the legendary castrato Farinelli. Riccardo takes to managing his celebrity sibling, but, when the composer Handel (Jeroen Krabbé) begins working with Farinelli, Riccardo's resentment surfaces.
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Farinelli: Il Castrato

Critics Reviews

View All (25) Critics Reviews
Owen Gleiberman Entertainment Weekly Rated: C Sep 7, 2011 Full Review Kevin Thomas Los Angeles Times Artistry abounds in every aspect of the film. Rated: 4/5 Feb 13, 2001 Full Review Edward Guthmann San Francisco Chronicle Glossy and histrionic, salacious and empty, Farinelli reduces a fascinating story to a series of hissy fits and leering glances. Rated: 1/4 Jan 1, 2000 Full Review Mal Vincent The Virginian-Pilot In an age in which the castrato voice no longer exists, the moviemakers recreated an intriguing facsimile. Rated: 3/4 Feb 25, 2022 Full Review David Bax Battleship Pretension Farinelli is lush and theatrical in the way you'd expect a movie about an opera singer to be but, somehow, it's also dry and dull. May 24, 2019 Full Review Matt Brunson Film Frenzy While visually vibrant and generally well-acted, Farinelli is strangely not very compelling. Rated: 2.5/4 Apr 24, 2019 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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DVRK P Excellent story telling. very good use of fast forwards, letting us just know what we need to know from the past in order to understand what we are experiencing from the current times that are shown, but yet keeping alive the intrigue that gets disguises with the many relevant events that are happening through the Broschi brothers, but doesn't keep us from wondering about the real origin from this story that won't be revealed to us until we are very submerged into the film. The pursue of excellence takes out the most gruesome and raw decisions from all the characters on Farinelli. It is compelling how none of the characters, or the plot itself, gets spoiled with power/money aspects as it could be expected from such situation. But instead, all of them share an inexorable search for excellence within music. Very nice movie. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 03/11/24 Full Review Audience Member A lot of people seem to confuse their lust for a beautiful actor with the artistic merit of a film. This one really isn't very good, though rescued by the opera scenes. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/27/23 Full Review Audience Member Un film che romanza fin troppo la vita dell'artista e che alla fine lascia ben poco allo spettatore. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/29/23 Full Review Audience Member I know the movie isn't based on true history of Farinelli because little is known for that period, but i liked the end of the movie, in which Farinelli is fulfilled in love despite his cruel fate . Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/21/23 Full Review Audience Member Looks good but feels somehow empty, disjointed, and hard to be invested in. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/15/23 Full Review Audience Member Farinelli, gives an idea of how it was the art of the period and the suffering of a Castrati such as Farinelli despite having apparently everything. The big flaw it suffers it's that drama and modernism exaggerate and breaks what happened in reality, but otherwise, is a well done film about the considered greatest castrati of all time. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/14/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Farinelli: Il Castrato

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Farinelli: Il Castrato

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Movie Info

Synopsis Carlo (Stefano Dionisi) and Riccardo Broschi (Enrico Lo Verso) are a brother act: Ricardo is a composer who writes the music and Carlo a castrato who sings it beautifully. But Carlo is clearly the more talented of the two, and soon becomes wildly famous -- first in Italy and then throughout Europe -- as the legendary castrato Farinelli. Riccardo takes to managing his celebrity sibling, but, when the composer Handel (Jeroen Krabbé) begins working with Farinelli, Riccardo's resentment surfaces.
Director
Gérard Corbiau
Producer
Véra Belmont, Linda Gutenberg
Production Co
Italian International Film
Rating
R
Genre
Biography, Drama, Music
Original Language
Italian
Release Date (Theaters)
Dec 7, 1994, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Apr 23, 2019
Runtime
1h 50m
Sound Mix
Surround
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