THE WAGNER FILES (Ralf Pleger). 90 minutes. Subtitled. Opens Friday (December 13) at the Carlton. For times, see listings. Rating: NNNN
You might not expect a documentary about 19th-century German composer Richard Wagner to borrow techniques from modern espionage films, graphic novels and 1950s melodrama. But Ralf Pleger’s marvellous film – timed to coincide with the 200th anniversary of the composer’s birth this year – does all of those things and still adds up to a respectful and informative portrait.
Think Robert Ludlum meets Douglas Sirk: The Wagner Identity.
Pleger uses style to enhance content. To depict the composer’s early years fleeing his creditors across Europe, he uses Bourne Identity-style computer graphics. And he chronicles Wagner’s symbiotic relationship with his second wife, Cosima (they met when both were married to other people) in passionate scenes featuring actors Samuel Finzi and Pegah Ferydoni.
Half a dozen experts guide us through Wagner’s complex life, spending lots of time on the ugly anti-Semitism in his infamous pamphlet Judaism In Music. There’s also great insight into the composer’s ambivalent relationship with his chief patron, Bavaria’s King Ludwig. And Wagner’s fetish for silk and roses is shown both in gorgeous dramatized scenes and through the use of his music.
Ah, yes, that alluring, sensuous, narcotic-like music. It underscores everything in the film, with thematically appropriate snatches of Tristan, Tannhauser and the Ring Cycle in the mix. We even get some glimpses of Carlus Padrissa’s striking production of the latter.
A must for classical music fans and an entertaining intro for Wagner neophytes.
