Gesualdo - Death for Five Voices

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John A An obvious passion project about a rather obscure Italian composer but it fails to really intrigue like other Herzog documentaries. Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 11/15/23 Full Review Audience Member Entertaining and interesting, though Herzog's fake narrative is distracting this time, particularly the "reincarnation of Maria D'Avalos", which was clearly made up and pretty silly. Zeitlinger's camera is fun for once. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/30/23 Full Review Audience Member A character that was too perfect a match for Herzog's liking, this documentary on the tragic figure Gesualdo reflects much of Herzog's uniqueness but there does seem to be a bit of a difference in execution compared to his other documentaries. Perhaps his passion is more thoroughly seen. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/08/23 Full Review Audience Member As always, the subject matter is strong and Herzog adds something to take this away from the stuffy-documentary vibe but for me he goes a bit too far this time. Herzog always throws his weight around and I'm usually fond of the outcome but this one stray too far from the source material- it is simply fiction at times and while I enjoyed said fiction, I really learnt very little about Gesualdo in this one and that's a disappointment. I ended up learning more about Herzog and the spirit of Italy at the time, both interesting things but as a documentary this doesn't amount to much. It's a scrap book of some of Herzog's many obscure ideas thrown in to an, otherwise, pretty standard documentary. Herzog himself states that this one "runs amok" but he understandably sees that as a pro whereas I found it to be a con in this case, quite literally. Artistic embellishment is good and well but portraying fiction as fact amongst actual truths is pretty deceitful and confusing for example, the story of the murders is correct whereas Gesualdo killing his second child in the manner described was completely scripted by Herzog and that is the story that I found most interesting. In a film it would be great but this is supposed to be a documentary and while I'm used to Herzog's ways this one just blurs the lines too much for me. In addition to that, when it is factual, its tone is far from the playful, yet oddly haunting charm that resonates throughout the scripted scenes. It's usually just a scholar reading from a book as you would see in any documentary. Some scenes, scripted or otherwise, also offer little to the film- at times I found the performances of the music to be the only times I'd actually learn something about Gesualdo. Nonetheless, Herzog doesn't hold back and this is yet another interesting and memorable piece of work but there's little of worth to take from it, especially if one views it as a documentary. This is for Herzog fans only (like myself) but his experimentation leaves this documentary well below what I expect from him. Rated 2/5 Stars •  Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/20/23 Full Review Audience Member i just love me some herzog Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/11/23 Full Review Audience Member Herzog visits madrigal composer Gesualdo's castle and asks various scholars, musicians, and local handymen to recount what they know about him. Turns out that he murdered his wife and her lover when he caught them in flagrante delicto. It also turns out that a number of the stories about Gesualdo were simply made up by Herzog (to capture his ecstatic truth rather than the accountant's truth). Herzog continues his tradition of narrating the film in his distinctive German accent even when it means translating what the talking heads are saying rather than using subtitles. (This is how Joaquin Phoenix knew that Herzog was rescuing him after a car accident.) If I knew more about madrigals, I might have enjoyed this film more. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/04/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Gesualdo - Death for Five Voices

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