Product Details

• Actors: Jose Carrreras, Sydne Rome
• Format: Classical, NTSC
• Subtitles: English
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Kultur Video
• VHS Release Date: August 15, 1991
• Run Time: 120 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6301606191
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #301,205 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars FOR CARRERAS FANS - BETTER THAN YOU MAY THINK, June 1, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Final Romance [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I just watched this vehicle for the lovely voice of Jose Carreras. The story, while a mixture of fact and fiction, is mildly interesting. However, the music is beautiful with excerpts from familiar operas. The acting is pretty basic with Carreras giving by far the best performance of the cast. Actually, he's better than I thought he would be, warm and natural. Definitely not great theater, no Jose Carreras fan would want to pass this up.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Worth watching and listening, November 23, 2009

By 

Claudia N. Davidsen "Claudia Davidsen" (Ruskin, FL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Final Romance [VHS] (VHS Tape)

The Final Romance packaging accurately describes it as "...a dramatic reconstruction of the life of the 19th century Navarese tenor Julian Gayarre...". This 1986 movie does not exactly play fast and loose with the facts of Gayarre's life. As with other such works, it takes the facts, fleshes them out with some speculative elements, and intensifies the romance with some pure fiction. Don't expect to know all about Julian Gayarre at the end of this film. You still have to read up on him.

I acquired this movie because Josep (Jose) Carreras stars in it. His singing is excellent, as is most of the music in this production. Carreras's acting is also pretty good--as another reviewer noted, probably the best in the cast. (Fun observation: Carreras--playing Gayarre--ever so slightly flexes his upper lip just before singing (even lip-synching). Carreras watchers know that this is one of his real-life traits, often evident just before he sings or speaks.)

The other actors in The Final Romance are adequate. The child actors are beautiful and delightful. Montserrat Caballe, in her bit part as "the diva", is fun. Montse plays it just barely enough over the top so that we know that Diva Caballe is not playing herself. I am reminded of Ethel Merman, for some reason, which works OK. Nobody in this movie got the Best Actor Award of 1986.

Most of the music is operatic. There is some sacred music, a lovely anonymous Christmas carol, and a couple of songs by Abril. All of the music--both instrumental and vocal--is very good.

Fans of Carreras will find some unintentional references to his life.
* One is the protagonist's singing of an aria immediately after learning of the death of his mother. As Gayarre, Carreras very nearly cries the word "Mama". In real life, Carreras has been known to become very emotional, even to weep, when singing a reference to a mother figure. He lost his own mother, with whom he had a very close relationship.
* The second is Carreras portrayal of Gayarre learning of the illness that would ultimately take his voice, then his life. I found this touchingly prophetic of Carreras learning of his own illness (leukemia) in 1987, and his courageous battle with this disease.
* Another is the song, Viva, the words of which bring to mind again Carreras's real-life courage when facing his own mortality.

The exterior and interior visuals are nice. The period costumes are wonderful throughout. You're going to love the quaint scenery on the small opera stages. Watch for the waterfall and the stagehand operating it. Also, enjoy the "water" in the Lohengrin swan scene.

The overall quality of the VHS is OK. The film was made and released in 1986, so it shouldn't be any big trick to re-master it for DVD, add some extra features like documentation on Julian Gayarre's life, the making of the film, photos and the like. If it had been a big hit, I'm sure that would have been done already.

In conclusion: The Final Romance is aptly titled--at least the "romance" part. It is a very, very romantic film, bordering on being a chick flick. At the time that it was made, it capitalized on Carreras's romantic image, and was obviously a vehicle for him. He was just so adorable! The Final Romance is not a great production or profound in any sense. It is, however, "watchable" and "listenable". Enjoy it for what it is.