Customer Reviews

Venice Revealed

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

 

 

It would be impossible to learn more, see more, experience more of Venice even if you lived in the city for a month. Peter Ackroyd does an excellent job as narrator, and writer, for "VENICE REVEALED." It is based on his own book, "Venice Pure City", and this in-depth, entertaining, but also educational experience leaves the viewer as enchanted as if you actually were there in person. You will feel the passion and seduction of this romantic city by way of the visuals and Ackroyd's tutorial guiding through the 4 distinctively different episodes of Venice.

I wish I'd seen this DVD set, 'VENICE REVEALED', prior to my own visit of the city. This set offers subtitles which I found helpful for location names. It also subtitled when an interview was conducted with a Italian-speaking individual. About the only thing visible in person, but not shown on this documentary, is the trash floating on the water, left behind by inconsiderate tourists. This DVD is powerful, both audibly as well as visually. Wonderful music accompaniment.

Episode details:
1 THE CITY AS ARCHITECTURE-Arrival is by boat taxi. Buildings were built in this city on water. Venice is like no other earthly city. The visual is so captivating that listening closely to the historical accounts is a trial. John Ruskin's, "The Stones of Venice", highlights the masonry architecture of 5 styles. Venice is architecturally a mask: facade over decaying brick. Yet, underwater wood piles support the unique aesthetic structures.

2 THE CITY AS ART-There is not a parcel of Venice that has not been featured in fine visual art. The city itself is so powerfully ready for the artist, it's like the master painter arranged buildings, canals, bridges, and water as he did fruits for his still-life works. Old masterpieces show the history of Venice as well as how little has changed. Of course, Tintoretto, a life-long Venice artist, is a focus. Also highlighted is the city's own artistic style: prestezza.

3 THE CITY AS MUSIC-Music describes life in Venice as much as any other facet. Gondoliers and working women sing constantly. In Venice the madrigal was born; Venice was opera's capitol; and it was birthplace of Vivaldi and his spirited, fiery, music; including the orphan girls' choir. "The texture of Venetian music is the texture of the Venetian soul."

4 THE CITY AS THEATRE-Venice is full of small and large theatres and is itself a stage, a set, with the town folk, the gondoliers, each a player on its stage. It happens constantly from street pantomime to great productions--and of course the opera. Even religious ritual and pageantry is elaborately staged. In Venice, theatre is life.

Bonus material includes a helpful booklet, written bios of 2 architects, 6 artists, Ackroyd, 2 composers, 2 theatres, and a filmography list of 26 feature films shot in Venice since 1954. A well done companion DVD, that I'd recommend watching with this ground-level vista, is the aerial footage in "Visions of Italy/The Great Cities".

"VENICE REVEALED" is so very much more than just another travelogue. This is sophisticated education and cultural enlightenment. Perfect for public and school libraries, as well as discerning home DVD collections. An aesthetic value.

Contrary to his other works on famous cities, Ackroyd's book and now, much much much worse, this DVD is among the most vapid and terrible documentaries I have ever seen.

The pictures bear no relationship to the narration about 50 percent of the time and the same footage is used in episode after episode.

Do not buy this.

Yikes, I really thought that this would be better than it was. Ackroyd has next to no original insights into Venice, its art or history. Cliche ridden drivel about Venice being a city of decay and death,a city of surfaces and illusion, etc. Very typical Anglo-centric (it was Byron who started the death myth and the Brits ate it up) misinterpretation of Venice. Ackroyd's shallowness is revealed in an interview on another website about this video when he states he loved making this video because he got to meet real Venetians, something he never did while writing the book that this series is based on!

Other annoyances: while talking about a work of art they show some work other than the one he's referring to; playing the Dies Ire from Mozart Requiem waaaay to much: barely mentioning Monteverdi in the segment on Venice and music; using the same footage of Ackroyd in a boat on a canal over and over again. Admittedly these last failings are the directors faults and not Ackroyds. I will say the segment on Venice and theater was not as bad as the other sections.

A good point is that some interesting scholars and writers get interviewed like Ruskin exponent Sarah Quill and Vivaldi researcher Micky White. One only wishes they were the focus of the series and not Ackroyd and his hackneyed observations.

I'd say skip this one and get "Francesco's Venice" a way superior look at Venice by a Venetian with better cinematography and greater depth and scope than this. I would say that but for some reason this excellent BBC series still is only available in Britain in a Region 2 version. But if you have hacked your DVD player to play all regions by all means pass on Ackroyd and go for Francesco.

Ruskin's volumes on Venice, written in the 19th century is the landmark work on art and architecture in the city. The problem for the researcher is that it is long out of print and used copies are difficult to find and very pricey. This book, published in 1976 is essentially a scholarly presentation of the Venetian Index,with comments,that is more accessible to the amateur historian. I'm very glad to have it as I prepare for my visit to Venice in September of this year.

Created for the art afficionado, this DVD tantalizes the appetite for Venice. The narration is insightful and evocative, and the architecture, paintings, and music are well displayed. Interviews with current citizens, and others who work on preservation, add poignancy to the virtual visit. I highly recommend this product. My only caveat is that the viewer will also get plenty of footage of the narrator. *smirks*

I was eagerly looking forward to seeing Ackroyd's commentary on my favourite city but I have to say that I was very disappointed. From the opening sequence (repeated endlessly) where Ackroyd enters Venice on a water taxi to the strains of Dies Irae the whole thing appears very cliched. Don't look for original insights...there are none. But if you enjoy seeing a tiresome and pedantic 60 plus year old Englishman with a pronounced speech impediment, and an annoying habit of leaving his shirt unbuttoned, then this is the DVD for you!
He acknowledges in the jacket that in writing the book on which the DVD is based he NEVER SPOKE TO A SINGLE VENETIAN! What an amazing admission for any author.
I viewed all 4 titles in the 2 disc DVD set and the only one with any redeeming qualities was the last -Venice as Theatre.
What a disappointment! An opportunity wasted to do a good documentary on the most fascinating city on the planet.
PS Please tell us which music was used in the making of the DVD - the music is in fact the best part of the whole DVD set!

although the footage is quite pretty, the narrator's voice is barely heard..the background music is so loud, it drowns him out! also, his accent is very thick, and it's tough to understand him..his books are probably better.

This is an excellent series to gain basic knowledge of Venice. I've searched for several years for a documentary that shows La Fenice, in detail. For that reason alone, this series surpassed my expectations. It's well photographed and very good. My only major complaint is the sound balance - I listened to the DVD's both through a stereo system and through a 5.1 sound system. In both cases, the music drowned out much of the dialogue - so I missed some of the commentary. Also - I REALLY didn't need to see footage of the stiff looking Peter Ackroyd, limping around Venice!

Boring. More shots of Peter than needed. Slow paced. Happy when it ended.