Farinelli
1994 · Movie · 111 min · ★ 6.6 · 65% critics
This biographical drama follows a celebrated Italian opera singer whose extraordinary voice turns him into a sensation across Europe. As fame grows, he faces intense pressure, rivalry, and complicated personal ties, forcing him to weigh ambition and artistry against the costs of success.
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Details
- Years
- 1994
- Release date
- 1994-12-01
- Language
- French
- Runtime
- 111 min
- Max quality
- HD
- Critic score
- 65/100
- TMDB rating
- 6.6/10 (192 votes)
About
You’ll likely enjoy this if you want a romanticized, visually rich music biopic with powerful opera performances and melodrama, somewhat in the vein of La Vie en Rose; Not for you if you need strict historical accuracy or prefer minimal sexual content.
Pros: beautiful operatic music; lavish period look; compelling rise-to-fame | Cons: historically inaccurate; too much sexual content; thin character depth
Themes
- opera
- sibling relationship
- eunuch
- biography
- dresden, germany
- opera singer
Awards & recognition
- Academy Award — Best International Feature Film · 1995 · nominated
- International Submission to the Academy Awards · 1995 · nominated
Cast & crew
Stefano Dionisi
as Carlo Broschi (Farinelli)
Enrico Lo Verso
as Riccardo Broschi
Elsa Zylberstein
as Alexandra
Jeroen Krabbé
as George Frideric Handel
Caroline Cellier
as Margareth Hunter
Marianne Basler
as Countess Mauer
Jacques Boudet
as Felipe V
- GV
Graham Valentine
as Prince of Wales
Pier Paolo Capponi
as Broschi
- RR
Renaud du Peloux de Saint Romain
as Benedict Hunter
Directed by Gérard Corbiau