Opera Fanatic

This movie could not be more aptly named. Fanatic Stefan Zucker interviews retired Italian Divas. The women are splendid -- regal, witty, graceful, elegant, self assured and intelligent. There is lots of old black and white footage of them belting out arias in their prime.

It is really hard to get past Zucker's speaking voice, which is to my untrained ear, a grating falsetto. He goes back and forth between Italian and New York inflected English. The interviews are all conducted in Italian. I may be projecting here, but I had the feeling the Divas were all wondering what the hell was up with the guys voice.

The subtitles seemed to be the Cliff Notes of what was actually being said and to lag behind the spoken conversation. For me this was a positive thing as I got to practice my Italian listening skills. The Divas all had lovely speaking voices and many of them broke into song at some point. Their now lowered registers were lovely and a welcome relief from the high pitched Fanatic.

During one interview, conducted at La Scala, the Fanatic proclaimed an erotic attraction to the Diva; her comebacks are priceless and had me laughing out loud. It was also the moment that I realized the Fanatic reminded me of Irving a frightening pervy clown Diana and I had to work with years ago.

If you can distract yourself from the sound of the Fanatics voice, I recommend the film.

Buona notte,
Meridita