The Tales of Hoffmann

A film adaptation of an opera made entirely in the studio. The source is Offenbach's opera. The poet Hoffmann sits in a tavern and tells of three loves: the one in which he falls for a mechanical doll, the one with a woman in Venice, and the one with a sick woman forbidden to sing. All three end badly. The method is unusual. The music was recorded first and the entire shoot was made to that recording. No sound was taken on set; the performers and dancers moved to the finished music. It let the director build the image entirely according to the score. No scene was shot on location. Everything was constructed in the studio: coloured backdrops, painted sets, floors that change in the middle of a scene. The weight of the narrative is in dance. Moira Shearer and Ludmilla Tchérina lead, and most of the sections are given as ballet. Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger directed. It did not find the audience expected on release; it was later counted among the most ambitious combinations of cinema and opera, and many directors have described its influence on them. A special production for anyone who likes opera, ballet and visual experiment. For a viewer looking for a story, the film keeps narrative in second place and is built entirely on design.