Eighteenth-century costume piece about a pair of symbiotic siblings, a castrato vocalist and a very minor composer: one sings what the other writes. Director Gerard Corbiau (The Music Teacher) violates what ought to be a cardinal rule of musicals: if you're going to use lip-synching, don't use closeups. (The blending of two different voices, soprano and countertenor, for a wider range, only exacerbates the problem.) That, of course, does nothing to dampen the Camp potential, enhanced by the feathery headdresses and painted stage scenery, as well as by the portrait of Handel (the sneering Jeroen Krabbé) as an imperious megalomane, crushing a passing insect under the ferrule of his cane. But Corbiau takes the material much too seriously, is too dedicated to dispensing historical lessons, musical lessons, psychological lessons, is (in short) too heavy and dull, to make much of the campiness. Stefano Dionisi, Enrico Lo Verso, Elsa Zylberstein, Caroline Cellier, Omero Antonutti. (1994) — Duncan Shepherd
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