Verdi’s last tragic opera OTELLO, like Shakespeare’s play, is a shattering psychological drama. The new production for the Salzburg Festival was directed by Stephen Langridge, who in 2006 attracted attention with his production of Offenbach’s Bluebeard in Bregenz. Riccardo Muti, one of the best Verdi conductors of our time, returned to Salzburg for the production. Alongside the Spanish baritone Carlos Álvarez as Jago, two rising international singers of the younger generation can be heard as Otello and Desdemona: the Latvian spinto tenor Aleksandrs Antonenko and the Russian soprano Marina Poplavskaya.
Opera in 4 acts, approx 2h10m. Performed at the Salzburg Festival, August 2008
Music: Giuseppe Verdi; Libretto: Arrigo Boito; Conductor: Riccardo Muti; Directed: Stephen Langridge; Sets: George Souglides; Costumes: Emma Ryott; Lights: Giuseppe Di lorio
Cast - Aleksandrs Antonenko, tenor: Otello; Marina Poplavskaya, soprano: Desdemona; Carlos Alvarez, baritone: Jago; Barbara Di Castri, mezzo-soprano: Emilia; Stephen Costello, tenor: Cassio; Antonello Ceron, tenor: Roderigo; Mikhail Petrenko, bass: Lodovico; Simone Del Savio, bass: Montano
This sprawling, madly romantic fairy-tale epic is the kind of deep-dish audience-rouser we've long given up hoping for from Hollywood. SLUMDOG is a soaring return to form for director Danny Boyle." - Ty Burr, Boston Globe
From director Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, 28 Days Later, Millions) and screenwriter Simon Beaufoy (The Full Monty) comes this darkly funny rags-to-riches story that was a breakout hit at this year's Toronto International Film Festival. SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE is the story of Jamal Malik, an 18 year-old orphan from the slums of Mumbai, who is about to experience the biggest day of his life. With the whole nation watching, he is just one question away from winning a staggering 20 million rupees on India’s “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?” But when the show breaks for the night, police arrest him on suspicion of cheating; how could a street kid know so much?
Desperate to prove his innocence, Jamal tells the story of his life in the slum where he and his brother grew up, of their adventures together on the road, of vicious encounters with local gangs, and of Latika, the girl he loved and lost. Each chapter of his story reveals the key to the answer to one of the game show’s questions. Intrigued by Jamal’s story, the jaded Police Inspector begins to wonder what a young man with no apparent desire for riches is really doing on this game show? When the new day dawns and Jamal returns to answer the final question, the Inspector and sixty million viewers are about to find out…
dir. Danny Boyle, w/ Dev Patel, Saurabh Shukla, Anil Kapoor, and Raj Zutshi, 2h
AT THE COOLIDGE: DISCUSSION OF THE FILM WITH HOST TIM JACKSON
"Directed with a poet's eye by Gus Van Sant, from a richly detailed script by 'Big Love' writer Dustin Lance Black... [MILK is] a total triumph, brimming with humor, heart, sexual heat, political provocation and a crying need to stir things up, just like Milk did." - Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
In 1977, Harvey Milk was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, becoming the first openly gay man to be voted into public office in America. His victory was not just a victory for gay rights; he forged coalitions across the political spectrum. From senior citizens to union workers, Harvey Milk changed the very nature of what it means to be a fighter for human rights and became, before his untimely death in 1978, a hero for all Americans.
The film charts the last eight years of Harvey Milk’s life. While living in New York City, he turns 40. Looking for more purpose, Milk (Sean Penn) and his lover Scott Smith (James Franco) relocate to San Francisco, where they found a small business, Castro Camera, in the heart of a working-class neighborhood. With his beloved Castro neighborhood and beautiful city empowering him, Milk surprises Scott and himself by becoming an outspoken agent for change. With vitalizing support from Scott and from new friends like young activist Cleve Jones (Emile Hirsch), Milk plunges headfirst into the choppy waters of politics. Bolstering his public profile with humor, Milk’s actions speak even louder than his gift-of-gab words. When Milk is elected supervisor for the newly zoned District 5, he tries to coordinate his efforts with those of another newly elected supervisor, Dan White (Josh Brolin). But as White and Milk’s political agendas increasingly diverge, their personal destinies tragically converge.
dir. Gus Van Sant, w/ Sean Penn, Emile Hirsch, Josh Brolin and James Franco, 2h8m
“RIVETING. This exhilarating film makes you shake your head in amazement.” – Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times
On August 7th 1974, a young Frenchman named Philippe Petit stepped out on a wire illegally rigged between New York's twin towers, then the world’s tallest buildings. After nearly an hour dancing on the wire, he was arrested, taken for psychological evaluation, and brought to jail before he was finally released.
Following six and a half years of dreaming of the towers, Petit spent eight months in New York City planning the execution of the coup. Aided by a team of friends and accomplices, Petit was faced with numerous extraordinary challenges: he had to find a way to bypass the WTC’s security; smuggle the heavy steel cable and rigging equipment into the towers; pass the wire between the two rooftops; anchor the wire and tension it to withstand the winds and the swaying of the buildings. The rigging was done by night in complete secrecy. At 7:15 AM, Philippe took his first step on the high wire 1,350 feet above the sidewalks of Manhattan… James Marsh’s documentary brings Petit’s extraordinary adventure to life through the testimony of Philippe himself, and some of the co-conspirators who helped him create the unique and magnificent spectacle that became known as “the artistic crime of the century.”
More discussion on Youtube: Tim Jackson Man on Wire part 2
Selected by Sundance Institute programmers from the 83 short films screened at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, this lively program of nine shorts covers a variety of genres, styles and cultures.
In Andrew Okpeaha MacLean’s SIKUMI (On the Ice), an Inuit hunter in the Arctic inadvertently becomes witness to a murder. Daniel Robin’s MY OLYMPIC SUMMER is a touching documentary on the filmmaker’s parents set against the hostage crisis at the 1972 Munich Olympic games. The animated YOURS TRULY from Britain’s Osbert Parker is a dazzling “cartoon noir” incorporating iconic Hollywood imagery. In Danish filmmaker Mads Matthiesen’s poignant DENNIS, an introverted bodybuilder goes out on a date and disappoints his mother. Dan Beers’ hilarious FCU: FACT CHECKERS UNIT stars Pete and Brian (Peter Karinen and Brian Sacca) as two FCU agents who break into Bill Murray’s home to confirm a magazine item about his bedtime habits. In the German film W., a most unusual public service announcement, a social outcast describes how he found his place in the world. I LOVE SARAH JANE from Australian Spencer Susser is an apocalyptic teenage romance, combining the crush of first love and the crunch of zombies. In Myna Joseph’s MAN, two sisters form an unusual bond during an encounter with a young man. Another surprising Australian entry, Nash Edgerton’s SPIDER, proves that practical jokes can backfire in a big way. Approx 1h42m
