The film was made in 1994 and directed by Gerard Corbiau. This movie takes place in the mid to early eighteenth century. There are a number of different setting were the story takes place. The film starts in the court of King Philip V of Spain in the year 1740. It then takes a flashback to Naples eighteen years earlier. The two stars, Carlo Broschi, also known as Farinelli, and his older brother Riccardo, then travel and perform throughout England. They end their journey at Nobles Theater in London where they compete against George Frideric Handel and his Covent Garden opera theatre. After becoming extremely successful, Farinelli goes to Madrid, where the movie started. This was a time period when music was extremely powerful. Like many musicians of the late baroque era, Farinelli viewed him self as almost being god like. After all, that is how so many people treated him. Music during this era was so powerful that it could push people to cry, faint, and as one woman in the movie put it, cause a "musical orgasm." People would go to great links to see great musicians perform. They would travel and spend a great deal of money to see the performance. Before the show, the people would throw flowers and cheer. The look on the audience's faces during the performance is that of sheer bliss. It is almost like they are in a dream world. This late baroque period was a time of refinement. Great composers such as J.S. Bach and Handle were not simply creating music but sharpening and improving the music styles of music already known. The category of music found in the movie is opera. Farinelli performs in a theatre with costumes and an orchestra playing in the orchestra pit. If I was not in music appreciation this movie would probably have been pretty painful to watch. First off, half the time I would have no idea what was going on when the characters are talking about music. For example, There is one scene in the movie specifically where I would have had no clue what was going on.
