Watch Wagner For Free

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

The first must-see film of the year.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

a biography of Wagner. not the best but fascinating for the manner of Richard Wagner to translate the image not exactly of a composer but a revolutionary figure. the atmosphere, the performances, the music are pieces of an interesting fresco for a period, a struggle and foundation of a new vision. and each becomes useful to define the essence of a fall of period. only sin - the seductive way to be Wagner by Burton. one of his last roles, Wagner becomes cloth for the career of a fascinating actor. the identity between lead character and his interpreter has a thin line as border. a virtue. and, maybe, one of the details who gives specific flavor to a biographic series.

The problem with this epic film is in the decision to use an abstract patchwork quilt approach to the subject matter. A more straight forward narrative would have worked much better.Right from the start there's confusion, entering the biography when the main subject is already a mature 35 years of age. Then the usual jumps in time and situation follow.The screen is not filled with clear narrative, only erratic glimpses of a life that cries out for clarity of design and structure. In the lead, Richard Burton does the best he can, given the script and direction. The photography looks rather ordinary as do the sets. Only the work of Georg Solti on the soundtrack lends dramatic brilliance.Irregardless of the considerable length and scope of this TV work, one looks forward to another film effort on this fascinating subject.

I was delighted to learn from IMDb that this film was offered as the "Complete Series" and on DVD. However I was a bit disappointed that it was apparently produced from the video tapes rather than from the film itself. The quality is not that bad but it does not do full justice to this greatly anticipated effort. I was quite astonished with some of the scenes in both versions, apparently done at actual locations such as Bayreuth, Venice, Zell am See, and Tribschen. One of the most intriguing and original scenes was the superimposition of actual photographs of the original performance over the film scenes as viewed by King Ludwig II in his private viewing of "The Ring." All in all, this was worth the wait.

Beautifully visualised, acted and scripted - whoever said "boring script" must set Terminator or Rambo as his ideal. My chief criticism: the death of King Ludwig was oddly placed (too early making that part of the film disjointed). Perhaps too long but the subject merited it; I saw it in a club showing, but would have preferred to spread it over 2 days.