Yikes. Remind me what made me think I’d love this again? Oh yeh – Kenneth Branagh + Stephen Fry with the look of old Ken Russell. Unfortunately I’d forgotten that this type of music on non-stop for 2 hours just makes want to tear my skin off and escape, Fry libretto or no. You’d think that with all the tricks Branagh pulls in bringing this thing to the big screen – I’ll admit, it’s visually stunning – not to mention employing such a clear-headed wit as Fry to translate/interpret/whatever the lyrics, the story might come across much clearer for those of us who hold that as one of the major reasons to avoid opera. Sadly, I’m still no wiser as to what the hell this is about – and worse, even though it’s all in the English language, thanks to the singing style, you still can’t understand half the lines. They even break the flow at certain points with spoken dialogue which I found just added insult to injury.

It’s possible I just wasn’t in the mood for this today, and a second viewing could certainly do it favours. But I really don’t know when I’ll find the time to venture there again. It looks and sounds wonderful, but I really found it otherwise all over the place.