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Sen no Rikyû: Honkakubô ibun (1989)
Not your typical jidai geki but absolutely worth watching
I can't compare this movie to anything other than Parsifal. A very different story and genre, but somehow had the same spiritual, comtemplative, ceremonial vibe. It's the kind of work that makes you think and it's more about a certain feeling and aesthetic than a plot. The kind that's worth rewatching and pondering about.
The cinematography is also gorgeous. Not a single item or colour out of place. Perfect in a melancholy way.
Knightfall (2017)
You want the real story, which was way better than this mess?
Read The Accursed Kings by Maurice Druon. Far more faithful to history, well-written, well-researched, with excellent characterizations. GRRM said it was one of his favourites (and you can certainly see some influences of it in ASoIaF's plot).
A tüz balladája (1972)
Seen it a lot of times as a kid
I sed to have this one on vhs, and watched it a lot when I was a child, but I had NO idea it had this many big-name actors! I remember Vera Venczel (she played pretty much every young girl in every period drama in that era) but didn't know it had a lot of legends. I need to find it again and rewatch.
The plot, as far as I remember, is something of a magic realism/folk tale thing about an orphan girl who is the personification of fire, she is jointly raised by four different families (always switching at season changes) and her using her powers to help out people eventually causes the village to turn on her.
Live from the Metropolitan Opera: Il trovatore (1988)
Big names, no balance
Is this production worth it? It is, for a young Dolora Zajick, who was already fantastic as Azucena - and she still is nowadays. She's the highlight of the cast.
Pavarotti is in great vocal form, and even acts sometimes (he has nice chemistry with his "mother"), although his Di quella pira is not as good as one might expect from someone so famous of his high Cs.
Marton at this point in her career is too much of a Turandot or Brünnhilde to be a good Leonora. She doesn't have the flexibility, she skips "Tu vedrai" completely, and barely keeps up in any coloratura-heavy parts.
Sherrill Milnes still does a good job, but he was past his prime. A few years earlier, he would have had no rival as Di Luna (as one can see from the excellent recording with Price and Domingo).
The production, on the other hand, is a textbook example of how not to stage this opera. The staircase is impractical and dangerous, there is no direction whatsoever so everyone falls into routine, the costumes are more or less period-accurate but incredibly tacky and over-the-top. So much brocade and unnecessary sparkle on everyone. The armours look like something out of a video game. Manrico and Di Luna share the same terrible fashion sense (flowery tabards that look like the fabric was meant for curtains). One can easily tell they're brothers. Also, the red/blue colour coding should be forbidden in this opera. I have watched a lot of different productions and directors just loooove it. For the love of Wotan. Stop.
Il trovatore (2002)
Get it for Hvorostovsky
There are certainly stronger casts out there, but everyone is at least good, and Hvorostovsky was one of the best Di Lunas of the early 21st century. He sings like an angel here and he makes the Count more than just your typical baritone villain, he shows his vulnerable side. One might wonder why Leonora doesn't dump the tenor and goes for him. For comparison watch the Met's 2011 production - he just got even better with experience. The gods were truly cruel to take him so soon.
Not that Cura isn't a charismatic Manrico, looking a big like Che Guevara, but he lacks his brother's elegance and style (and his high C game is... nonexistent).
Yvonne Naef is a more youthful Azucena, which is more accurate than the usual old hag portrayal - 15 years ago she was a young mother, so she's only mid-late 30s. She makes a good impression, perhaps not the force-of-nature approach you can see from Barbieri or Cossotto, but she is believeable, especially inacting.
Veronica Villaroel is probably the weakest link in the cast - not bad, but not very memorable either.
Tómas Tómasson is an unusually strong and sinister Ferrando - certainly not some old guy who is just there to explain the plot, and he has a menacing voice.
What I love the most about this staging is the ending - the onstage execution makes for much better emotional impact.
Julius Caesar (2012)
A refreshing take
A very strong production and a very unusual one (I have only ever seen traditional ones and the Globe's Elizabethan-costumes variant). The setting upgrade certainly works and the more casual and natural approach brings the story closer to the viewer. The characters are believable people, and I didn't find the accents distracting - their delivery is beautiful and I had no problem understanding the text with no subtitles (I'm not a native English speaker, although I'm pretty fluent).
The lack of armour in the battle makes things much easier once everyone starts falling on their swords (or rather daggers).
There are some small touches I loved: the conspirators wear black togas for the assassination scene with no tunics - something that, to people who are as obsessed with the late Republic as I am, will evoke Cato the Younger who famously dressed like this. He died before the events of the play, but he was a lifelong opponent of Caesar (and Portia's father / Brutus' uncle).
Another clever thing is that they have Lucius (who is an adult in this cast) replace Strato. It provides a lot more emotions.
Overall it's a great production with a strong cast - definitely worth watching.
Ichimei (2011)
It does stand up to the original
The Kobayashi version is one of my favourite movies, so I came in expecting a decent but ultimately not-as-great remake. I was blown away. I cried at several points. It focuses even more on the raw human drama and overall the story is more detailed. The actors are excellent and the cinematography is beautiful.
The build is slow but keeps up tension, and the three duels are condensed (compared to the old movie), but the final battle more than makes up for that.
I'd say both versions are masterpieces, and watching them back-to-back would be worth it.