Con’s Score: 3.5 /5 High Cs
That voice. That name. (You know you’re an icon when spell check can finish typing it for you.) The documentary opens with Luciano Pavarotti wanting to sing in an empty concert hall in the Amazon that Enrico Caruso had once sung in. Hands in pockets, he unleashes that voice. That voice. It then cuts to a home-made film, reflecting on his legacy while on his sick bed, and we know we’re in for an intimate ride.
This Ron Howard documentary traces Pavarotti’s career, almost painstakingly chronologically. Luciano was born during World War II, and nearly died as a child. He credits it for his sunny outlook on life, but he was also blessed with that voice and a humble appreciation of what he felt God had gifted him.
He trained hard to bring it to fruition and credits learning a lot from Dane Joan Sutherland. He cheekily admits in an interview with Clive James that he felt her stomach to understand her breathing technique. (What an operatic treat that would have been.) He also apparently had nine different high Cs. I didn’t count them – but he had a voice that could turn atheists into believers.
He seems to have lived a charmed life. He worked hard and success came to him. That big grin and passion for life attracted him to audiences, and he gave back just as passionately. He took Opera to the masses, which upset the purists. His family and friends give a lot of honesty in their interviews but most of it is glowing, so you wonder how gritty this is.
A highlight is how during a concert in London Hyde Park in pouring rain, he charmed Princess Diana, who turned his attention to charity. But the true highlight was ‘that’ concert in 1990 with Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras. The insights into the rehearsals and rivalry during the performance are worth the ticket alone. You’ll never hear it the same way again.
Director Ron Howard treats Luciano with kid gloves. He touches on his love for women, skips over one obviously intense relationship with an ‘assistant’ and only goes into his infidelity with Nicoletta who he eventually married and had a child with. (His infidelities are only mentioned once by his first wife, who didn’t believe them.) It ignores the fact he didn’t turn up for many shows and some lip-syncing controversies.
You can tell the audience this is chasing – non-opera – fans when Bono has a lot to say. (Is he the expert on everyone?) This gloss might have been the price to pay for all the access Howard had to his friends and home movies. It’s a documentary Luciano himself would have approved of, and blurs the line between documentary and hagiography, but it’s hard not to love the big guy. After all, we’re interested in that voice… that voice.
Con Nats, On The Screen
In Cinemas From October 24th
