"Don Giovanni", directed by Peter Sellars in 1985 as part of an exploration of the whole of the great Mozartian trilogy, is the film which will close the twentieth edition of the Rovereto International Mozart Festival. In a sense this marks the end of a cycle, returning as it does to an interpretation of the protagonist which uses psychoanalysis in no small measure and constitutes a curious coincidence: as a student at the prestigious Harvard University, the director produced opera using puppets, even going so far as to mount a production of Wagner’s Ring Cycle.

Sellars, who was born in 1957, staged Così fan tutte in 1986, Don Giovanni in 1987 and The Marriage of Figaro in 1988, all for the PepsiCo Summerfare; his versions of the three Mozart operas were highly controversial, but were also widely acclaimed, and were subsequently revived several times both in the United States and in Europe, not to mention the successful film version (for Decca, now also available on DVD). The Don Giovanni story is brought up to date and set in the slums of a dark and restless New York, the protagonist is black and lives on the margin of "normal" society, and the potential for “doubling" Don Giovanni and Leporello is achieved by casting two black twins in the roles. An interpretation which, though it may be far removed from Mozart’s idea, is certainly magnificently produced and usefully provocative.

The film will be screened on Sunday 7th October at 5 p.m. in the Mart Conference Hall, and entry is free of charge.

CINEMA