Meeting Venus, Tannhõuser and pickets
Meeting Venus
Directed by Istvan Szabo
Written by Istvan Szabo and Michael Hirst
Starring Glenn Close, Niels Arestrup
Reviewed by Ulrike Erhardt
How can anyone withstand the lure of such a title? Even if this particular Venus (Glenn Close, backed by the voice of Dame Kiri Te Kanawa) is too cerebral to satisfy. It's the decadent and seductive charm of Europe which makes up for it.
Istvan Szabo based Meeting Venus on his own experiences while directing the opera Tannhõuser in Paris seven years ago. Niels Arestrup vividly plays the Szabo figure, "Zoltan Szanto".
Szanto asks of his cast only what he asks of himself — complete dedication. What he gets are dancers' union strikes, regulation coffee breaks, management fighting over positions and power, environmental groups picketing ... in fact, just about anything but music. The problems mount when Szanto, a married man, is caught in a love affair.
It's exhilarating to see all those nationalities and egos clash, as well as Tannhõuser being played in undies with an overgrown penis in the background. An opera-hater, I was carried away and almost converted by the powerful music of Wagner.
Love. Lust. Betrayal. Chaos. And the overture hasn't even begun. Small wonder that Istvan Szabo is the winner of many international film accolades. Bravo, maestro!