This beautifully shot documentary offers tempting glimpses of Bayreuth and the goings on there. But those glimpses really just scratch the surface. Probed at greater length if not depth are the mixed feelings of Stephen Fry about the place and about Wagner, the man who built it.
His misgivings are very well founded, since the place and the composer were closely associated with Hitler and still are. But, though Fry is a smart, genuine, and entertaining man, in this film he really doesn't convey his feelings in a way that makes for compelling viewing. Too much of the film is Fry in awe of the place--the architecture, a conductor's chair, a door knob--while worrying about the Nazi taint.
Parts are well done, especially an interview with an Auschwitz survivor who doesn't get why Fry is so enthralled with the place. But an interview with Wagner's great granddaughter Eva, who co-directs the Bayreuth Festival with her half-sister, is just odd. She doesn't respond well to any of Fry's questions and eventually walks off. Are we to conclude that she's aware of the Nazi taint and highly embarrassed? It's hard to tell.
There's much to be curious about regarding the history of the Festival and its operation, but that's not the topic of this film. Even for someone curious about Stephen Fry's ambivalence to the experience filmed here, what's offered is regrettably superficial.
His misgivings are very well founded, since the place and the composer were closely associated with Hitler and still are. But, though Fry is a smart, genuine, and entertaining man, in this film he really doesn't convey his feelings in a way that makes for compelling viewing. Too much of the film is Fry in awe of the place--the architecture, a conductor's chair, a door knob--while worrying about the Nazi taint.
Parts are well done, especially an interview with an Auschwitz survivor who doesn't get why Fry is so enthralled with the place. But an interview with Wagner's great granddaughter Eva, who co-directs the Bayreuth Festival with her half-sister, is just odd. She doesn't respond well to any of Fry's questions and eventually walks off. Are we to conclude that she's aware of the Nazi taint and highly embarrassed? It's hard to tell.
There's much to be curious about regarding the history of the Festival and its operation, but that's not the topic of this film. Even for someone curious about Stephen Fry's ambivalence to the experience filmed here, what's offered is regrettably superficial.