Customer Reviews

The Turandot Project

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Although "Turandot" was always my mother's favorite Puccini opera and, as a result, I grew up listening to it, I never quite understood it as I understood the other "simpler" works like Butterfly and Tosca (my personal favorite). But when I saw "The Turandot Project" on the Sundance channel this morning, all of a sudden everything became clear and I rushed to the computer to find the DVD.

While the production itself is spectacular (300 extras, 50 ballet dancers, a contortionist from the Beijing Opera, and 300 soldiers from the local Chinese Army garrison), the documentary of what was involved in making the production actually happen is fascinating. I counted at least four languages (English, Italian, and Mandarin for most, but let's not forget the Viennese sound director with his own Mandarin/German translator) and a nearly unlimited number of egos.

At the end of the documentary, while we hear Puccini's gorgeous music, the film cuts between the the actual production and the earlier shots of the various problems and rehearsals. I swear, watching that, I got actual goosebumps.

In all, the production is the culmination of an astonishing effort dedicated towards one goal: the production of Puccini's masterpiece in its perfect setting, the Forbidden City. The production is a triumph of human dedication and cooperation and makes you think that maybe, in the end, there's hope for us all.

Memorial of a historical musical event.
The tremendous challenge of getting Chinese,Italians and experts from other nationalities to come together in understanding to create a spectacular version of Turandot with authentic Ming dynasty costumes, scenery in an ancient Peking theatre is portrayed in an exciting way by the same director who won an Oscar for "From Mao to Mozart" with Isaac Stern in 1979.

The Italian choirmembers stop singing when the clock strikes 5 (union rules). The Chinese director is worried that the Chinese stagehands (who have had no exposure to western opera) will make a mistake in moving the complicated set and make China look bad in the eyes of the world.

The costumes are fantastic, the singing and acting great (The suicide scene of Christina Gallardo as Liu was brilliant.)

But most interesting of all are the transcultural communication issues. Recommended viewing for project managers, in whatever branch.

There are so many facets to the events being described here that it's almost incredible how dull this documentary is. While they mention in passing that there are tensions between the Chinese government and the director of the opera, we never see any of that play out and it's never mentioned again. Similarly, we're told that this is a huge cultural event for China, to have such a lavish production of Turandot performed in Beijing, but we don't really see that reaction, aside from two or three very brief comments near the end.

Then there are the tensions amongst the people putting the production together. Again, these are casually brought up, but there's no follow-through.

Instead of following any of these potentially fascinating threads, the makers of the documentary instead show us footage of people walking through China, an opera singer complaining to someone we've never seen before that the hat she's supposed to wear looks stupid, etc. The whole documentary seems to lack any kind of focus.

Several weeks ago, I saw "Moon Over Broadway" which is a documentary about the making of a musical (starring Carol Burnett). While the staging of an opera in Beijing is much more potentially interesting to me than a musical with Carol Burnett, "Moon Over Broadway" was a far more successful documentary than "Turandot Project" because it actually managed to get behind the scenes and to develop some of its ideas. There was an actual story taking place and we got to know several of the people involved in the production and we were able to experience their frustrations and conflicts. By the end of "Turandot Project," by way of contrast, I felt like I had nothing invested in any of the people involved and had no real sense of who they were or why they were there or why this was important.

"Turandot Project" isn't really worth your time unless you're a huge opera fan and willing to sit through a lot of pointless footage that's been slapped together at random.

This is a unique DVD showing and describing the development of the authentic production of Turandot. It describes the producers and artists efforts to create a fantastic production of the Turandot story. Including the incredible authentic costumes and scenery made by the Chinese people. A one and only experience worth having.
I then purchased the DVD of the completed work Turandot in China by Zubin Mehta -and Zang Yimo.

Turandot is one of my favorite operas, and I enjoyed watching how it was conceived and produced in another country. I watch it over and over again.

Turandot is not one of my favorite operas, it being not as well known as Madam Butterfly. But I enjoyed this film because it illustrates how cross cultures can work together to create a beautiful production. Chinese opera itself is incredible, but in this film, a movie director is put in charge of the production. There is a big difference between stage lighting and film lighting. This film depicts resolving differences between crews. Not too much here about the singers, or the orchestra. Meta has a role, but it's basically about making this thing work. I especially enjoyed the army troops being used as extras.

It's difficult to do opera even poorly, and nearly impossible to do it well. The art form is staggeringly collaborative, and --- unlike cinema --- is utterly dependent on all factors combining in the right way at each unrepeatable, uneditable moment. So... take Puccini's swan song, TURANDOT, his grandest, if not his greatest, opera; now, present it in a city that has never produced western opera but that is the fictional/historical setting for its plot; make certain that your thousands of collaborators and artistic leadership do not speak the same language; and finally, add the less-than-creative tension of a totalitarian government determined that the entire enterprise should reflect well on both current leaders and the ancient culture. No wonder this film is so fascinating! Reviewers will understandably wish to see such a vast canvas painted from different perspectives than the ones chosen, but that serves to indicate how engaging this subject truly is. Alan Miller does an amazing job of capturing international overtones, aesthetic divergences, and personal obstacles and perseverance. Extraordinary commitment to detail and one particular coup-de-theatre: the creation of an exquisitely-danced character representing the court executioner. The focus (as is frequently the case with TURANDOT), is less on fineness of nuance than on the scale of achievement. You'll come away from viewing this documentary fully as inspired by the artists' commitment and flexibility as by the production itself. Unique!

Formidable talent on all sides; formidable
difficulties in translating the entire
production of this opera into a version
acceptable in China. The nuances of lighting
decisions were, for just one example, as
fascinating to follow as anything in the plot
of Turandot. A wonder-full thing to watch and
listen to.

I gave this DVD a low rating simply because the visual quality was extremely poor. It looked more like a poorly made VCD or perhaps even just a counterfeit copy. How can the director of cinematography justify this kind of work for such an "epic" production?

ZHANG YIMOU ONE OF THE BEST DIRECTOR IN THE WORLD,I WERE VERY SUPERISE FROM HIM.THIS MOVIE YOU MUST TO SEE.