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Naked Opera

2013 1h 22m Documentary List
Tomatometer 2 Reviews Popcornmeter 50+ Ratings
Marc Rollinger, a wealthy Luxembourg businessman, hides his fear of a critical illness by surrounding himself with beautiful lovers, luxury travel and expensive drinks.

Critics Reviews

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Nicolas Rapold New York Times Mr. Rollinger, a protagonist of a curiously circumscribed life, proves to have an opaque appeal. Sep 4, 2014 Full Review Clayton Dillard Slant Magazine A film that outwardly wants its depiction of class privilege to be ridiculing and farcical, but lacks the ability to express these critiques in lieu of the means of the class on the chopping block. Rated: 1.5/4 Aug 30, 2014 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Audience Member Taking a page out of the direct cinema handbook by following the ethos of choosing the right person and following his quotidian normality, through Angela Christlieb's Naked Opera we explore a wealthy businessman's life of carnal indulgences and Mozart's Don Juan. Marc Rollinger is an eccentric intellectual whose expensive peculiarities, pompous loquaciousness and penchant for male escorts - a portrayal that seems so far removed from these times of economic crisis as to make him seem far removed and alienated. Christlieb frames him with sophistication and a collected style that conveys the luxury that surrounds him. Initially, we almost naturally react to him derisively, perhaps because his nature makes him look as if he had stepped out of Oscar Wilde's wittiest take on upper class superficiality. Yet, as the film progresses, so does his humanising process. That is when we come to know of his vulnerabilities and loneliness and understand the nature of his lust as well as his need for cameras to capture what he himself refers to as 'the truth'. Despite this, it remains uncertain all throughout whether there really is a truth to be discovered or even worth discovering. However, this is in fact something that Christlieb herself is concerned with and she reveals such concerns by sometimes exposing elements that remind us that it is a film after all. Nevertheless, it's virtually impossible not to fall for Rollinger's natural magnetism, especially when he takes these occasional trips to the dark side in way not too unlike Alice in Wonderland - if Alice had had millions to her name. But aside from all this, Naked Opera's principal theme, much like Don Juan, could be he theme of seduction - the illusion of seduction whether it is through paid companionship or through the camera lens. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/24/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Naked Opera

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Cast & Crew

Movie Info

Synopsis Marc Rollinger, a wealthy Luxembourg businessman, hides his fear of a critical illness by surrounding himself with beautiful lovers, luxury travel and expensive drinks.
Director
Angela Christlieb
Screenwriter
Angela Christlieb, Bady Minck, Patricia Fürst, Philipp Reimer
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
German
Runtime
1h 22m