Directed by Peter Chelsom, with Ned Beatty 1991. Available on DVD
The Time Out Film Guide is a useful compendium, but somehow one has to sense whether the reviewer has similar values to oneself or not- which one may not discover until one has seen a particular film oneself. This film is condemned as “maudlin blarney”. The story, about events in the life of the Irish tenor Josef Locke, lacks the “gritty realism” so beloved of the contemporary media, there is no serious violence, and no depiction of sex. Unmodern, in other words. It is sentimental, full of improbabilities and obviously contrived dramatic incidents which made me laugh out loud. The music is sentimental also- “O solo mio” belted out with all the “great emotion” which distinguishes opera as an “art”. The grounds for feeling critical about this film, the characters, the story, the music, indeed everything, are endless. No modern film critic or “educated” viewer could possibly be taken in by it, could they? But the generous feeling of humanity redeems it all- one just laughs at the absurdities and the contrived plot and while being quite unconvinced finds oneself hoping against hope for a happy ending, because the leading characters deserve it. “Old-fashioned” and strangely touching- recommended!
Tilo Ulbricht