I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Better Late Then Never

Yo, there's no way for me to review this film without saying, take your *insert ethnicity + "ass" here* to see this film,like now. You have to see it in order to know what you're really messing with.

Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

Farinelli is the artistic name of Carlo Broschi, a young singer in Handel's time. He was castrated in his childhood in order to preserve his voice. During his life he comes to be a very famous opera singer, managed by his mediocre brother Riccardo.Although this is the story of a real person, it relies very little on facts. Just a few notes: the ambiguous relationship between the Broschi brothers, the stormy one with rival composer Handel, and Farinelli's own amorous escapades and over-the-top "rockstar" attitude are totally spurious. But I don't think this makes the film bad, because it is not intended to be a true story.It is somewhat hard to believe that this used to be a real practice... the purposeful destruction of a child just to have him sing high notes. Whatever was the point?

This movie has something of a kinship with "Amadeus," portraying as it does the important cultural significance of music in a very different time and place - far more significant than music is today - but it's a much darker movie than "Amadeus" (which itself has some dark undertones.) The movie gives a glimpse into the life of Carlo Roschi (better known as Farinelli) - one of the great opera singers of the 18th century. Farinelli (played by Stefano Dionisi) was a castrato - castrated as a young boy in order to preserve his brilliant soprano voice. Admittedly, it's a bit off putting to see a male portrayed as singing soprano (I say portrayed, because I assume Dionisi was lip-synching, since we don't have castratos today.) But while Farinelli's singing was the centerpiece of the movie, what's really being portrayed here (and, from what I've been able to glean, not entirely accurately, although I'm no expert on 18th century opera singers!) are the complex relationships in Farinelli's life - especially his relationship with his brother Riccardo (Enrico Lo Verso.) Carlo was the brilliant singer; Riccardo seems to have been a rather average composer - but, trying to keep a promise made to their father, they work as a team. The relationship is bizarre, and sometimes even vaguely erotic. Riccardo describes a love between them more passionate than that between lovers - and perhaps because of that passion there are huge amounts of jealousy and anger as well as love. The two brothers share everything - including women, in what are portrayed as strange tag-team sorts of sexual encounters, where - to put it bluntly - Riccardo finishes what Carlo can only start. There's also an interesting exploration of Farinelli's relationship with the great composer Handel (Jeroen Krabbe), which revolves around their work for rival opera houses in London. It's really very interesting.The movie is mostly in Italian and French, which necessitates subtitles for English speakers, which I always find a bit distracting. I was also disappointed that the movie depicts virtually nothing of Farinelli's time in the Spanish court, where Farinelli became court musician to King Philip V - and apparently very influential, as well. Still, it's very well done, and you don't have to be a fan of opera to enjoy this. 8/10

Be prepared for something different, disturbing, and with a history lesson that is completely inaccurate. In fact, it is a blatantly convoluted tale that looks more like a Cinderella story than actual accounts of history. Director Gerard Corbiau's Farinelli is 'all that' but it also is visually stunning and represents castrati singing with richness and clarity. Farinelli is the artistic name of castrato (a male castrated at a young age) Carlo Broschi (Stefano Dionisi), a handsome young choir boy who was accidentally castrated at the age of 10 purportedly due to a riding accident. Ill and under the influence of powerful drugs (opium) at the time, Carlo has no recollection of his unfortunate accident. His brother Riccardo (Enrico Lo Verso), seven years his senior, tells him repeatedly the story of how he was riding a beautiful white horse from which he was thrown, causing an injury that led to his castration. Throughout his life, Carlo has a recurring nightmare about riding the white horse but in his dream he never falls off. The conflict between Carlo's dreams and Riccardo's stories hints at the horrible secret between the brothers that is ultimately revealed near the end of the film. Carlo's astonishing soprano voice (a digitized composition of the voices of Derek Lee Ragin and Ewa Mallas Godlewska) eventually makes him and his brother who composes mediocre operatic scores for Carlo to perform, a phenomenal success. Carlo relinquishes his born name with his professional name Farinelli. Although Carlo suspects that his brother had something to do with his childhood emasculation, he continues to perform his brothers badly written operas. Both brothers are aware that Carlo's superior talent is being undermined by performing Riccardo's operas.An ill-fated meeting with Maestro George Frederick Handel (Jeroen Krabbé), who desired a contract with Carlo, begins a contentious battle between the two for the lion's share of audience. Carlo turns down Maestro Handel's offer is hired to perform in a London theater to draw audiences away from Handel's operas. Farinelli performs wonderfully and eventually takes virtually all of the audience away from Handel. Carlo's looks, fantastic voice, and range make female audience members faint dead away. One woman tells Carlo that he is responsible for her first musical orgasm! A pact between brothers where women are concerned creates titillating ménage a trios scenes which earned the film its R rating. Carlo soon realizes that performing Handel's operas are so desirable to him that he tries to convince Handel to take him in. The rest of the story reveals the tragic secret that Carlo has always known but in the end brings brothers together for one more ménage a trios that would leave Carlo to become a father; the one gift that was taken away from him as a child. I really enjoyed this film and the music that accompanied it. I commend the director for his efforts to take a difficult subject matter and turn it into a story that is both entertaining and titillating at times. However, the early-on innuendo that Riccardo was somehow responsible for Carlo's difficult life took away the endings potential climax that could have left the audience hanging. --Lewis Saettel 2007

I was quite intrigued by the scenery in the film. I also like the acting. The actors in the film were perfectly chosen. They fit right into their characters. One thing I didn't like about the movie was that whole brotherly thing in the movie. They kept saying that they had a pact or something like that to the women. And the opera was nice to a point, but then I just kept forwarding. It was the same thing over and over again, but to different tunes. If you like operas and, Italian and French actors, this movie is worth seeing. I give it an 8.5 out of 10.