This is one of those films that you're either going to love or hate. It's stagey and stylized, which I think adds to the atmosphere of the fantasy opera, but others will find offputting. No attempt is made to hide the fact that the sets are just that, sets, made up largely of curtains and painted backgrounds. However, camera effects are used to highlight some of the magical and symbolic moments. The balance between stage and film is, in my estimation, just right.
There are highly imaginative touches throughout the film, especially during the Olympia act. The most comical of the stories, here it is given a nightmarish aspect too. The ballroom scene (with the "dancing" mannequins) is cleverly done and the destruction of the doll is startlingly graphic.
While the Olympia act emphasizes dance, the Giulietta and Antonia acts (here shown second and third, respectively) are somewhat more static and the emphasis switches to the atmosphere of the sets. Giulietta inhabits a convincingly dark, gothic Venice; Antonia appears to live in a Grecian ruins, symbolizing the state of her health.
Various alterations have been made for reasons of style and length, but there are two that I find questionable, and both relate to the character of Niklaus. First, nearly all of his singing has been cut, leaving him to do little except stand on the sidelines and occasionally roll his eyes or make a brief remark. Second, he is never identified with the Muse, not even in the epilogue. Without being familiar with the opera, the audience would have no idea why a supposedly male character is played by a woman. Since the Muse is gone, her message -- that "love makes us great, but suffering makes us greater" -- is also missing. Instead, we are left merely with a depiction of Hoffmann's downfall. Even aside from the missing Muse, the epilogue feels rushed and anticlimactic. If running time was the issue, it would have been better to cut the pretty but irrelevant Dragonfly ballet from the prologue.
These criticisms aside, the film is imaginative, original, and daring in its unconventionality. Even if you don't like it (as I did), you surely must admire it.
There are highly imaginative touches throughout the film, especially during the Olympia act. The most comical of the stories, here it is given a nightmarish aspect too. The ballroom scene (with the "dancing" mannequins) is cleverly done and the destruction of the doll is startlingly graphic.
While the Olympia act emphasizes dance, the Giulietta and Antonia acts (here shown second and third, respectively) are somewhat more static and the emphasis switches to the atmosphere of the sets. Giulietta inhabits a convincingly dark, gothic Venice; Antonia appears to live in a Grecian ruins, symbolizing the state of her health.
Various alterations have been made for reasons of style and length, but there are two that I find questionable, and both relate to the character of Niklaus. First, nearly all of his singing has been cut, leaving him to do little except stand on the sidelines and occasionally roll his eyes or make a brief remark. Second, he is never identified with the Muse, not even in the epilogue. Without being familiar with the opera, the audience would have no idea why a supposedly male character is played by a woman. Since the Muse is gone, her message -- that "love makes us great, but suffering makes us greater" -- is also missing. Instead, we are left merely with a depiction of Hoffmann's downfall. Even aside from the missing Muse, the epilogue feels rushed and anticlimactic. If running time was the issue, it would have been better to cut the pretty but irrelevant Dragonfly ballet from the prologue.
These criticisms aside, the film is imaginative, original, and daring in its unconventionality. Even if you don't like it (as I did), you surely must admire it.