Meeting Venus (1991)

I love this movie so much

So much average

A Masterpiece!

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

The Hungarian conductor Zoltan Szanto (Niels Arestrup) is invited to conduct Tannhäuser by Richard Wagner in Paris. Szanto has to face problems with the ego of the artists, strikes and his family since he falls in lover with the diva Karin Anderson (Glenn Close). But in the end, his love for Karin and passion for Wagner bring redemption to him.One movie that I regret that has not been released on DVD or Blu-Ray in Brazil is "Meeting Vênus", of 1991 from the critically acclaimed Hungarian director István Szabó and with Glenn Close in the top of her career in the role of a problematic diva.Using the staging of opera "Tannhäuser" by Richard Wagner in Paris as background, this wonderful feature is a satire of the unification of Europe that was happening in that historical moment through the ego of the musicians from different countries in the orchestra where the character of Glenn Close is the lead attraction.Just as information, Vênus is the mundane woman or goddess that the troubadour Tannhäuser has sex in the medieval legend that the opera is based.The mime of Glenn Close, dubbed by Kiri Te Kanawa, is perfect and the climax of this movie is the entrance of the artists singing Pilgrims Chant in the opera house and Szanto's stick blossoming. I have seen this scene several times on my VHS that I have seen at least four times. My vote is ten.Title (Brazil) : "Encontro com Vênus" ("Meeting Venus")

A Hungarian conductor tries to unite a multi-national European opera company preparing for a televised production of Wagner's Tannhauser, with mixed results. The same might be said of the film itself, which represents director Istvan Szabo's bid for a wider slice of international box office. Unfortunately, what begins as a mild but engaging Murphy's Law comedy (complete with labor disputes, political arguments, artistic conflicts and so forth) soon devolves into a phony feel-good melodrama, with all the comic frustrations of the early scenes jettisoned in favor of a predictably stormy off-stage romance between the conductor and his temperamental superstar diva (Glenn Close). A few incidental pleasures and an attractive, charismatic cast (presenting the entire European community in a fascinating microcosm) aren't enough to hide all the obvious shortcomings, including (but not limited to) shoddy lip-synching, unnecessary voice-over commentary, and the assumption that listening to Wagner is like dying and going to heaven.

Imagine you are one of Europe's most celebrated composers and that you have been invited to Paris to conduct a production of Richard Wagner's "Tannhauser" for the Opera Europa. You will be given a multinational cast of singers, musicians, and strong, bold sets which are meant to elevate the opera to its biggest heights. You arrive, feeling a little inadequate since Parisians are known for being artistic elitists, the Germans believe only they can produce such a magnificent masterpiece and you. Although you are accepted with applause, the pressure is on.And then imagine that anything and everything that could possibly go wrong takes place with the increasing craziness of a domino dance. Musicians and singers both have unions and demand having more controls over the schedules. Artistic vanity runs amok within the actors, singers, and pretty much everyone else who has their own over-inflated self-importance. One young singer falls, has an accident, and cannot continue with the rehearsals. Another one, an American, receives a visitor from what seems to be an ex-lover, causing not only an inflamed jealousy in his current partner but a screaming match that ruins the American's voice. And on top of this, you, the composer, are not only at odds with your leading lady, but somehow have found yourself doing an about-face and initiating a torrid love affair with her. And your wife finds out. Which may ruin your marriage.Not a good thing, if Tannhauser is to be produced. Istvan Szabo brings this elegant farce of love and opera as if he's been there himself: as a director, he could be telling this story as if he himself were Zoltan Szanto (Niels Arestrup) the composer. His view of Szanto is one that looks like compassion: this is a man who is trying, against all odds, to create something unearthly beautiful, but the very humanity surrounding him is the main obstacle and at times seems like it will succeed and Tannhauser will not survive. And then when he falls for Karin (Glenn Close in a role tailor made for her), he completely and irrevocably falls for her, but at times I wonder, does she feel the same for him too? A Diva has been known for creating a web of romance around her composer/director more than once. It's as if Istvan Szabo were telling us that probably the love she feels may be a well-practiced pose to ensure her moment in the spotlight. That all Divas do are make themselves available for the sake of their own vanity.MEETING VENUS is a rarity of films because it never tries to be an easy farce and is too eccentric in its intertwining, very European characters. Plots aren't solved in the satisfying way that most ensembles would require: that is up to Tannhauser to do, itself as much a character as its human counterparts, to reveal itself like the flower that suddenly blooms at the tip of Szanto's bow despite the intrigues, the near-misses, and even the last-minute inability to even open the stage which reduces the performance to just that. And this is what makes a performance soar: its very presence, its own transcendence, the symbolic meeting and revelation of Venus among the audience.

Lord, how I love this movie! I have been a Wagnerphile for most of my adult life. The entrance music at my wedding (30+ years ago) was from Parsifal. I hum leitmotifs when I'm feeling good. And when I really want an emotional catharsis, I put on "Meeting Venus." I watched it again, after several years' hiatus, a few nights ago. I laughed out loud time and again and sat with tears streaming down my face during the finale. What a wonderful film! I recommend this time and again to my music-loving friends. Imagine "Best in Show" and "A Mighty Wind," set in Paris, produced by the BBC, and with an international, stellar cast of both performers and voice talent. (Not to put down the Christopher Guest ensemble, but consider Glenn Close, Kiri Te Kanawa, et. al., - really!) Raise the curtain!Spiritus ex MachinaThe universe is not only stranger than we imagine, it's stranger than we CAN imagine!