Meeting Venus

When I first read about the movie I had trouble seeing Glenn Close in the role of an opera diva, but she does a marvelous job, and her lip-synching to the absolutely divine soundtrack of Kiri te Kanawa is really pretty good. Her counterpart Nils Arestrup does a wonderful job as well, playing the introvert, yet passionate conductor, for whom the whole Paris opera experience is alien and strange in more than one way.

The soundbites from Wagner's Tannhaeuser are well-picked and enchanting.
Some people may find the overall storyline predictable, but that does not take away from the overall very high quality of this movie


Culture clash at the opera   May 12, 2000
Mostafa Hefny (Cairo, Egypt)
The first "foreign" language film I ever saw was Istvan Szabo's Mephisto, which was a riveting and original film that has stayed with me for a long time. I haven't had the chance to revisit that great film, so I rented this one, which is Szabo's first English language film.

Meeting Venus is a film much more interesting in its setting then its plot. The story revolves around a Hungarian conductor(Niels Arestrup) travelling to Paris to oversee a production of Wagner's Tannhauser, where he encounters a tempremental diva of a lead singer (Glen Close) and a chorus more interested in making political points then singing. I don't know much about opera, but I think its safe to guess that the details of the production portrayed in this film are not meant to be accurate, but rather Szabo uses the opera as a microsome for the cultural and artistic differences between citizens of the post Iron Curtain Europe.

If this makes the film sound thematically interesting, I'm sad to say that it is a complete failure on a dramatic level. Most of large cast of characters speak incomprehensible English, plot points involving labour disputes are thrown in but never followed up, and the crucial central relationship between the conductor and his leading lady is woofully underwritten. At first she detests him and makes his life miserable, a couple of minutes later she's seducing him and declaring her love for him and after that she starts embarrassing him. Stranger still is that the film is narrated with the conductor's letters to his wife back in Hungary, a woman who he clearly can't communicate with in everyday life. Suffice to say that the character's remained a mystery to me till the end credits.

The film predictably ends with the big performance, but by then I had completely lost interest.


Delightful!   March 28, 2000
Izolda (North Haven, CT United States)
It is a delight not only for classical music fans but for anybody interested in the cinema with the European flavour! And that is what "Meeting Venus" is really about: music and Europe, the latter after the transformations of the recent times. But don't worry, it's not a hard to digest treatise on the European problems, but a light satire marvellously performed by an international cast led by Glenn Close and Niels Arestrup. The plot is very simple - a Hungarian conductor comes to Paris to lead "Opera Europa" in a goofy production of Wagner's "Tannhauser" [It is "Tannhauser" with "a concept" - the term, well known to the opera goers, refers to the opera productions that follow director's, NOT composer's vision of the work, like Peter Sellars's Mozart in modern costumes and settings - Sellars is the best known American "concept" director. There has been a true epidemic of "concept" productions in Europe in the recent decade and it is good to remember it while watching "Meeting Venus"]. Everything seems to conspire against the talented and energetic conductor and the final catastrophy is near, but... I won't give away everything, even if it really doesn't matter if you know the ending. I watched this movie many times and every time I come back to it, I discover many new details. I understand it better and better - not only as a wonderful metaphor, but also at the very basic linguistic level: poor diction (combined with poor English pronunciation) of some actors in the secondary roles makes this movie a little hard to understand, especially for people for whom English is a foreign language (I am one of them). It is a little hard, as I said, but not impossible - I want to emphasize it because I believe that people with the European, but not necessarily Anglo-Saxon background are the most likely to be interested in this very European movie. So, be prepared to use your "rewind" button quite often! If you do not know the story of "Tannhauser", it would be good if you can familiarize yourself with the libretto of the opera before you start watching the movie. It is not necessary, but it will help you understand (and enjoy) a lot, including the ending. If you dislike Wagner (as I do most of the time), do not let this prevent you from watching "Meeting Venus". You'll hear the famous ouverture and the glorious pilgrim's chorus, which are wonderful pieces of music. The final chorus will leave you spellbound! To sum up - this is a delightful, wonderfully performed movie and it is very likely to be one of your favorites, as it is mine. And just a final word to these movie lovers who do not care about music, whether by Wagner or not: even if music is an important element of "Meeting Venus", you can easily enjoy the movie without caring for its soundtrack. Just make sure you read the opera's libretto - that is enough to understand the movie's message. But don't be surprised if, after having met Venus you'll find yourself in the classical CD shop looking for "The Best of Wagner". Fragments from "Tannhauser" are guaranteed to be there, because IT IS (some of) the best of Wagner. Enjoy!


A delight for classical music fans!   June 10, 1999
Czinczar (Southeast Michigan, USA)
Maltin's synopsis and evaluation of the movie sum it up well, so there's not much more to say. It's a real pleasure to watch. Classical and/or opera fans will find it irresistable. There's something about the movie's pacing that will make it appeal to them. If you're not a classical fan, some of you may consider it a mere "chick flick." Some have criticized it as being too soap opera-ish. I dislike soap operas. I would have noticed. It didn't strike me that way. The cast members all gave excellent performances, though Close didn't come across all that well as a Swede. The characters' opera-sized egos made them a bit buffoonish, but it was all still effective. Both Close and Arenstrup were fascinatingly inscrutable in their motivations and compulsions. It was very entertaining to watch Szanto/Tannhaeuser in his struggle to come to terms with his feelings for Anderson/Venus. There's a nice little twist at the end of the movie that works perfectly. Wagner's music is woven in beautifully throughout. "Meeting Venus" is a must-see for any classical/opera fan and anyone who likes a witty and accessable non-Hollywood movie.