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Puccini: Madame Butterfly -- 1995 film version [DVD] [1997]

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Puccini: Madame Butterfly -- 1995 film version [DVD] [1997]

DVD ~ Ying Huang

4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)

RRP:	�19.99
Price:	�4.88 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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This item: Puccini: Madame Butterfly -- 1995 film version [DVD] [1997] DVD ~ Ying Huang
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	84% buy the item featured on this page: Puccini: Madame Butterfly -- 1995 film version [DVD] [1997] 4.8 out of 5 stars (13) �4.88
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Product details

Actors: Ying Huang, Richard Troxell, Ning Liang, Richard Cowan, Jing Ma Fan
Directors: Fr�d�ric Mitterrand
Writers: Fr�d�ric Mitterrand, Giuseppe Giacosa, Luigi Illica
Producers: Ahmed Baha Attia, Daniel Toscan du Plantier, Karima Ladjimi, Pierre-Olivier Bardet
Format: Classical, PAL, Widescreen
Language Italian
Subtitles: German, English, Arabic, Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, Finnish, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish, French
Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Number of discs: 1
Classification: PG
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
DVD Release Date: 4 Mar 2002
Run Time: 128 minutes

Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)

ASIN: B00005U0HI
Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 3,504 in DVD (See Bestsellers in DVD)
Popular in this category:
#1 in DVD > Musicals & Classical > Opera > Composers > Puccini

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Reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review

Like the finest of film scores with its fluid beauty and succession of intensely romantic tunes, Puccini's opera Madame Butterfly has a surprisingly cinematic feel. In 1995 director Frederic Mitterand exploited this quality of the story, exposing a young woman's disillusionment against a backdrop of cultural chasms. Shot on location, with Tunisia doubling convincingly as a turn of the century Nagasaki, this Butterfly shines with fragile beauty. The house becomes a brilliantly used set; airy and full of the scent of flowers and at the same time a cage for the trapped woman. Archive footage of bygone Nagasaki is used skilfully to underline the distance between the 15-year-old bride and Pinkerton.

Purists may prefer a more traditionally robust, stage-bound Butterfly, but you'd be hard-pressed to find a more visually heartbreaking interpretation. Chinese soprano Ying Huang doesn't rock the rafters with her vocal power; hers is a tender, delicately observed performance. Tenor Richard Troxton's self-seeking Pinkerton is well sung. Overall, this is a haunting cinematic treatment of an enduringly popular opera.

On the DVD: Madame Butterfly is presented in a letterbox widescreen format (enhanced for 16:9 widescreen televisions). The Dolby Digital surround soundtrack engulfs the listener in some of Puccini's most memorable tunes, stringing you out and leaving you emotionally spent. The main special feature is a charming portrait of Ying Huan, providing interesting insights into how the film was made and how she won the role. --Piers Ford

DVD Description

DVD Special Features:

Ying HUang: Portrait of a Butterfly Featurette
Theatrical Trailer
Languages: Italian
Dolby Digital Suround
Subtitles: Arabic, Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish
1.85:1 Aspect Ratio
Enhanced for 16:9 Widescreen TVs

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Customer Reviews

13 Reviews

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

Average Customer Review

4.8 out of 5 stars (13 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

58 of 58 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful, 10 Aug 2004

By	Shantimar (Greece) - See all my reviews

I loved the film when I first saw it and I loved it again when I saw it on DVD. Cried my heart out at the end. There are little thoughtful touches, such as Butterfly insisting on wearing American clothes, or putting Christian icons together with her ancestor temple, or the way the two lovers look at each other during the famous duet "Dolce notte, quante stelle" (one is self absorbed, the other one is absorbed in her husband), the fact that we are given a glimpse of what awaits Butterfly if she doesn't commit suicide, all this show that the director has given careful thought to everything that could enhance the story and music.
One query, though. There were no Italian subtitles. There is an impressive choice of Arabic, Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish. But no Italian. This is bad for Italians, of course, but not only them: I think that many opera lovers (regardless of their nationality) familiar with the meaning of the words would also like to read the Italian libretto while it is sung.

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46 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An operatic feast for your eyes and ears, 25 Oct 2002

By	"okthisname" - See all my reviews

This version of Madame Butterfly is simply stunning, the cinemagraphic approach provides a rich visual feast that captivates your heart from the first bar till the last. The use of a mixed western, asian cast also brings a sense of realism to the piece that many stage productions lack. This DVD provides the viewer with an introduction to opera that is hard to surpass.

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25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful, precious, heartbreaking, 21 Mar 2005

By	Peter Reeve (Thousand Oaks, CA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

Mitterand's version of Madame Butterfly is that extreme rarity, a beautifully acted, beautifully sung, beautifully filmed movie version of an opera. The cast is suited, in age and appearance, to their characters, which is hardly ever the case in stage productions. Ying Huang, who as Butterfly, carries most of the weight of the drama, gives a particularly heartbreaking performance. Yes, be warned, this is the weepiest of stories and you will need a good supply of tissues close to hand.

The cinematography is employed to great effect, enough to make this more than just a filmed stage production, yet not so much as would detract from the tightly focused drama. Any filmed opera has the problem of what to do with the intermezzo. Do you omit it? Do you leave the screen blank? Mitterand's solution is to retain the music and show actual film footage of early twentieth-century Japan as a visual filler. I think this works very well and helps to support the overall realistic feel of the movie.

There is just one false note: at the wedding, the gonze (Buddhist priest) appears as a supernatural figure, floating through the air. There is no good reason for this and it simply detracts from the dramatic impact of the moment. No matter, this remains an unmissable movie for all actual and potential opera lovers. Just be prepared to cry and cry and cry...

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful and moving
This is one of the best versions of Madame Butterfly I've seen. Only someone with the hardest of hearts could fail to be moved.

Published 3 months ago by M. Dean

5.0 out of 5 stars Yes But....
This DVD has much to recommend it. However the sequence where the Uncle literally floats over the crowd in some sort of homage to Japanese fantasy folk lore (! Read more

Published 4 months ago by Adrian Drew

5.0 out of 5 stars Madame Butterfly
I had asked for a music disc of MB for Xmas and was a touch dismayed to receive this however I thoroughly enjoyed it, more so than the theatre production, and found it extremely... Read more

Published 8 months ago by S. Wetton

4.0 out of 5 stars Superb opera movie
This was the first opera i ever saw and was blessed to watch it at the Vienna Film Festival on a summers evening in an open square alongside 5,000 other people. Read more

Published 9 months ago by AwakeNow.co.uk

5.0 out of 5 stars Unmissable Version Of a Wonderful Opera
Its not surprising that Madam Butterfly has remained to this day one of the most popular operas in the Operatic Repertoire. For the music and the story is timeless. Read more

Published on 2 Sep 2007 by E. A. Redfearn

5.0 out of 5 stars Get ready for some serious tears!
Whether you like it or not, you will be in tears with this film. Fantastic story, wonderful music, magic scenery, great Opera Singers/Actors! Read more

Published on 10 Jul 2007 by S. Williams

5.0 out of 5 stars BRAVO !!! a standing ovation
WAOH . guys, if you get that DVD, you better get the pack of paper tissues that goes with , as you will end up with wet eyes I can assure you that

. Read more

Published on 17 Feb 2007 by Bernard M. Abel

4.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful except...
This is a beautiful film of one of the best loved Operas by Puccini.
The cast is excellent throughout and it makes a great change to see a singer in the leading role who... Read more

Published on 13 Sep 2006 by J. turunen

5.0 out of 5 stars Sublime
This is truly one of the best opera films ever made. Puccini could have written it for the screen! The characters are real and believable. Read more

Published on 19 April 2005

5.0 out of 5 stars So happy!
I'm so happy that this beautiful film version is available on DVD. For the last three years, I've been looking for it every time I browsed DVDs. Read more

Published on 5 Mar 2003 by Anna Langley

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