The Tales of Hoffmann (1951)

 Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger's "The Tales of Hoffmann"


With the finale of their 1947 film "Black Narcissus" and the ballet sequences of 1948's "The Red Shoes," it was becoming evident that Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger were getting closer to achieving their goal of a 'composed film.' 'Composed image,' a term coined by by Powell, meaning a marriage between image and operatic music. With their 1951 film "The Tales of Hoffmann," they were successful in their execution of their idealized 'composed image' through a retelling of the 1881 opera "The Tales of Hoffmann." 

The entirety of "The Tales of Hoffmann" is done completely without dialogue. There is only singing. It recounts the tales of Hoffmann, a man who fell in love with an automaton in France, had his reflection stolen by a courtesan for a magician in Venice, and falls in love with a dying soprano singer in Greece. 

The resulting film is something unlike any other film I've seen before. It is a complete visual work that completely re-energizes and re-invents the operatic format to a visual spectacle. I think what Powell & Pressburger achieved with this film is something unparalleled. Aside from the technical visual mastery of what we see, the plot of the film, despite being from the late 19th century, is completely abstract enough to re-contextualize in any time period. For example, a few of Hoffmann's stories involve falling in love or being drawn to a beautiful falsehood, only to be entrapped by a powerful force that was only using that beauty as a lure to steal the man's identity. While watching Hoffmann fall in love with the automaton in the first story, I couldn't help but take that abstract concept and apply it to contemporary issues involving being enticed by technology, social media, and AI in order to steal our identities and information. Because of these easily attributable concepts, the story itself because universal and transcends whatever medium is expressing it. To me, this completely validates the experimental style of film. Even though the way you're engaging with the film is completely alien to a modern audience, as one does not typically see a spectacle completely demonstrative of an operatic visual format, the film still manages to communicate real and tangible truths through this format. 

Because of this, I view the film with a great deal of respect and will speak very highly of the film if ever asked. However, the film can be a bit disengaging at times through its format. As a piece of art, it's incredible. As something to sit and watch for over two hours, it can be a bit exhausting in certain parts. For this reason, one should not watch it if they are intent on being entertained. However, if you want to view something never accomplished before and perhaps will never be accomplished again, "The Tales of Hoffmann" is completely worth the experience.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Rio Bravo (1959)

Image
  Howard Hawks' "Rio Bravo" To conclude the filmography of Howard Hawks, I watched his 1959 western film " Rio Bravo ." I've got to say that I was expecting a lot more out of this picture based on all the praise for the film. That is not to say that I didn't like it, it was a fine time at the cinema (I was not at the cinema, I was at home). I can't say that I should have expected more, as I'm not entirely that big of a fan of Howard Hawks. Even his best film (to me), " The Big Sleep " is arguably one of the weaker film noirs that I've seen. " Rio Bravo " is a film that apparently is a response to 1952's " High Noon ," which was an allegory about Hollywood's blacklisting and McCarthyism. Howard Hawks and John Wayne felt the film was anti-American and instead made " Rio Bravo " to broadcast an alternative perspective in which the hero of the story doesn't shy away from justice. I personally ha...
Read more

King Kong (1933)

Image
  Merian C. Cooper & Ernest B. Schoedsack's "King Kong" There are many post-Depression American 'box office' films that I have seen in my film studies journey. Most of these post-Depression box office films don't typically sit right with me. The films I have in mind are the gangster and monster films that swept the nation in the early 1930s. These films typically were meant to placate an anxious American audience. However, the depth to their thematic intricacies leave something to be desired. Even without this depth, the 'entertainment' aspect of these films were not very entertaining to me. However, there is one film that utterly surprised me, 1933's adventure epic " King Kong ."   The story is well-known. A group of filmmakers travel to a remote island to take advantage of strange and interesting natural wildlife unknown to the outside world. There they meet an indigenous people, all terrified of a large, monstrous primate living on...
Read more

The Big Sleep (1946)

Image
  Howard Hawks' "The Big Sleep" After watching Howard Hawks' 1946 film noir " The Big Sleep ," I have to say that it is not one of my favorite film noirs. That being said, it was definitely the best Howard Hawks film I've seen thus far. It did not have the typical dark ending that permeates the whole film with bleak darkness, which probably made it a lesser noir for me. In fact, it felt more like a 'studio noir,' if that makes sense. I'm not going to go into the entire plot of the film, especially because the entire plot is incredibly convoluted. In fact, this was a major strike against the film at the time of its release. Many reported that they could not keep up with what was happening. I've got to say that, for myself, this was the case as well. I found myself having to rewind to figure out what exactly I missed or who was who. However, upon reflection, the convoluted plot may only add to the feverish intoxication of the film.  Because...
Read more