Farinelli

Carlo Broschi is the most celebrated singer of the eighteenth century, known on stage as Farinelli. His voice is extraordinary because he was castrated as a boy. His brother Riccardo arranged it, and Riccardo is a composer; he wants his own music heard through his brother's voice. The two travel Europe. In London they meet Handel, and Farinelli notices for the first time that his brother's compositions are not good enough. Gérard Corbiau directs. Stefano Dionisi plays Farinelli and Enrico Lo Verso plays Riccardo. The technical problem was the voice. The castrato voice does not exist today; to solve it the production combined recordings of a countertenor and a soprano by computer, producing an artificial voice that carries both ranges. The castrati were a real historical fact. Thousands of boys were castrated in Italy in the eighteenth century for the church and the opera; Farinelli was the most famous product of that system and spent years at the Spanish court. The subject at the centre is brotherhood and dependence. Riccardo made his brother and needs his voice; Farinelli is the one who paid. The historical accuracy was argued over, particularly the relationship with Handel and several invented events. It won the Golden Globe for best foreign film and was nominated for an Oscar. Who it is for: viewers who like baroque opera and period film. Who it is not for: the narrative slides into melodrama, the sexual scenes are overemphasised, and the history is not reliable.