Farinelli

"Stops you in your tracks and transports you to a phantasmagorical world where music, mystery and magic hold sway."

"For all its emotional extravagance and sheer Baroque lushness, "Farinelli" is actually a triumph of taut control and superb structuring. "

"Farinelli is great fun and sufficiently thoughtful and complex to give food for continuing thought."

"Exquisite-looking, well-acted and impeccably staged, the film is best watched as a juicy, gossipy guilty pleasure with the added cache of a “serious” subject (i.e., opera). There’s an excellent hi-def transfer; extras include a making-of featurette and on-set interviews."

"The Blu-ray transfer in 2K helps preserve a truly splendid piece of moviemaking about a subject of which we've seen far too little. And don't miss the nearly hour-long Bonus Feature, Nostalgia for a Lost Voice, which details how so much of this amazing movie was researched and filmed -- with special attention to the way in which Farinelli's unusual voice was recreated, using the voices of two different singers, a female soprano and male counter-tenor, then seamlessly joining the two in the sound studio. Fascinating!"

"...a film that apparently takes some major liberties with Farinelli’s life and times but still functions as a pungent chronicle of the era."

"The movie will appeal to fans of opera as well as those who enjoy lush period pieces."

"The film is a sumptuous, extraordinarily moving and beautifully produced costume drama biopic...It’s another musical masterwork from Belgian director Gérard Corbiau."

"The story is a richly dramatic one that's well-acted and impeccably rendered, with fine costumes and locations including some of the grandest opera houses in Europe"

"FARINELLI is both a visual and aural confection and a dramatic delight that one can indulge in like a rich dessert. And like any sumptuous treat, I didn't want it to end."

"Mix the plot of Milos Forman’s Amadeus with that of Robert Altman’s Vincent & Theo — and add a splash of David Cronenberg’s Dead Ringers for the kinkiness factor — and you’ll have a fair approximation of the events transpiring in this Belgian import that’s loosely based on a true story"

"Mix the plot of Milos Forman’s Amadeus with that of Robert Altman’s Vincent & Theo— and add a splash of David Cronenberg’s Dead Ringers for the kinkiness factor — and you’ll have a fair approximation of the events transpiring in this Belgian import that’s loosely based on a true story"