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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 (12 customer reviews)
RRP: £19.99
Price: £4.88 & eligible for Free UK delivery on orders over £5 with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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Frequently Bought Together

Puccini: Madame Butterfly -- 1995 film version [DVD] [1997] + Otello [DVD] + Verdi: La Traviata -- Royal Opera House [DVD] [1994] [NTSC]
Total RRP: £55.97
Price For All Three: £20.34

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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

Puccini: Madame Butterfly -- 1995 film version [DVD] [1997]
87% buy the item featured on this page:
Puccini: Madame Butterfly -- 1995 film version [DVD] [1997] 4.8 out of 5 stars (12)
£4.88
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Puccini - La Boheme [The Metropolitan Opera HD Live 2008] [DVD]
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Puccini - La Boheme [The Metropolitan Opera HD Live 2008] [DVD] 4.0 out of 5 stars (5)
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Product details

  • Actors: Ying Huang, Richard Troxell, Ning Liang, Richard Cowan, Jing Ma Fan
  • Directors: Frédéric Mitterrand
  • Writers: Frédéric 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 (12 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B00005U0HI
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 2,223 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

See all Reviews

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Customer Reviews

12 Reviews
5 star:
 (10)
4 star:
 (2)
3 star:    (0)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.8 out of 5 stars (12 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
51 of 51 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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41 of 41 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars An operatic feast for your eyes and ears, 25 Oct 2002
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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37 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars So happy!, 5 Mar 2003
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.

It is a feast for the eyes, ears and emotions. I saw it twice in the cinema when it was first released in Australia, and it left me in racking sobs at the end.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Yes But....
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