If you weren't familiar with Wagner's music and his life, you would find this film very tough to follow. Even with that knowledge, it tends to be murky and confusing. Seldom have so many theatrical giants been in a film to so little effect. Burton, Redgrave, Olivier, Gielgud, Richardson. Thats a theatrical galaxy! It should have been a tour de force but it wasn't. The film is never shown and tapes are extremely rare. (I found mine at a flea market in Burk's Falls Ontario.) Still it's an interesting side trip for an opera fan. I wouldn't reccomend it at all for someone who is not.I'm sorry there was not more music and less talking. It was criminal to cut short and talk over Tristan Und Isolde! Mark Twain said that Wagner's music is really much better than it sounds. Unfortunately, this movie is not as good as it looks.
