THE TURANDOT PROJECT

THE TURANDOT PROJECT
GERMANY/US 2000
DIRECTOR: ALLAN MILLER
When conductor Zubin Mehta decided to stage a new production of Puccini’s “Turandot,” he asked acclaimed Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou (RAISE THE RED LANTERN, JU DOU) to bring his extraordinary visual style to the project. When the production shifted from Florence, Italy, to Beijing’s Forbidden City, the possibilities—and problems—of staging the opera multiplied. Allan Miller’s (MAO TO MOZART) riveting film takes us behind the scenes of a massive, spectacular production whose backstage artistic dramas rival the eventual on-stage spectacle. Tonight’s screening is co-presented with Portland Opera, whose own production of TURANDOT, opening February 4, proudly embraces the diverse challenges of staging this opulent drama. "A must-see for opera lovers and a snappy diversion for cinephiles."—The Village Voice.
(85 min.)