Opéra Imaginaire (1993)

I wanted to but couldn't!

Crappy film

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Great singing but other than that... The film as a whole, in my opinion, is ruined by sloppy and unimaginative use of computer animation in some of the shorts and especially in the narrator sequences. Perhaps in 1993 it was an interesting experiment in CGI, but today we are interested in the end result, which, alas, is far from being impressive. Some of the fragments made in more traditional animation techniques are not bad, but "not bad" is hardly enough, and very few of the shorts pretend to be more than that. Number 11 (Lakmé), directed by Pascal Roulin and done in clay animation, is one of the more interesting pieces.

"Opéra imaginaire", very much like "Fantasia" and "Allegro Non Troppo", gives life to many of the most famous pieces of classic music through different styles of animation. The animation it's so beautiful as the music itself, but the best thing is that, unlike "Fantasia", the stories of the shorts are quite faithful to their original counterparts.The styles of the shorts are quite different from each other, but all of them work very well, reaching a unique and poetic quality that not many movies have. There are things that only could be made in animation, and this movie is the greatest example of this: I never saw such beauty, such dream-like imagery in a live-action film. I loved all the shorts that make part of this animated anthology."Opéra imaginaire" is one of the most beautiful and mesmerizing films ever made.

Like Fantasia (1940) or Allegro Non Troppo (1977), L'Opéra Imaginaire (1993) is an assembly of animated short films based on classic music greats. Directed by some of the best European animators and artists, L'Opéra Imaginaire takes us through dance, theater, music and painting masterpieces. It uses several animation techniques, like stop-motion clay animation or CG characters.There are 12 shorts, held together by a 3D character host, guiding us through a 3D opera house.01) VESTI LA GIUBBA, directed by Ken Lidster, music from PAGLIACCI by Ruggiero Leoncavallo (1858-1919). 02) LA DONNA È MOBILE, directed by Monique Renault, music from RIGOLETTO by Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901).03) CARMEN, directed by Christophe Vallaux and Pascal Roulin, music from CARMEN by Georges Bizet(1838-1875).04) VOI CHE SAPETE, directed by Pascal Roulin, music from THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791).05) MADAME BUTTERFLY, directed by Jonathan Hills, music from MADAME BUTTERFLY by Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924).06) PEARLFISHERS, directed by Jimmy T. Murakami, music from LES PÊCHEURS DE PERLES by Georges Bizet(1838-1875).07) DU ALSO BIST MEIN BRAÜTIGAN?, directed by Raimund Krumme, music from THE MAGIC FLUTE by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791).08) CINDERELA, directed by Stephen Palmer, music from LA CENERENTOLA by Gioacchino Rossini (1792-1868).09) LE VEAU D'OR, directed by Hilary Audus, music from FAUST by Charles Gounod (1818-1893).10) NOI SIAMO ZINGARELLE, directed by Guionne Leroy, music from LA TRAVIATA by Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901).11) LAKMÉ, directed by Pascal Roulin, music from LAKME by Léo Delibes (1836-1891).12) E LUCEVAN LE STELLE, directed by José Abel, music from TOSCA by Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924).My copy of this film, a 1993 VCD, dedicates L'Opéra Imaginaire to the memory of Portuguese animator José Abel, the director of the 12th piece, deceased 1993.

Single highlights of operas like Rossini's Cinderella, Mozart's Magic Flute and others, Bizet's Pearl Fishers is a masterwork, performed by worldwide famous singers, in artistic cartoons version. If you already enjoy opera, you will love it, if not; you will probably develop the taste for this magnificent art form.