''The Full Monteverdi'' is a 2007 British film written and directed by John La Bouchardière and based on his live production of the same name, itself based on

Claudio Monteverdi Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi (baptized 15 May 1567 – 29 November 1643) was an Italian composer, choirmaster and string player. A composer of both secular and sacred music, and a pioneer in the development of opera, he is considered ...

's fourth book of madrigals (1603) which, in turn, is a collection of settings of poems by such Italian Renaissance poets as

Giovanni Battista Guarini Giovanni Battista Guarini (10 December 1538 – 7 October 1612) was an Italian poet, dramatist, and diplomat. Life Guarini was born in Ferrara. On the termination of his studies at the universities of Pisa, Padua and Ferrara, he was appointed pr ...

Ottavio Rinuccini Ottavio Rinuccini (20 January 1562 – 28 March 1621) was an Italian poet, courtier, and opera librettist at the end of the Renaissance and beginning of the Baroque eras. In collaborating with Jacopo Peri to produce the first opera, ''Dafne'', in ...

and

Torquato Tasso Torquato Tasso ( , also , ; 11 March 154425 April 1595) was an Italian poet of the 16th century, known for his 1591 poem ''Gerusalemme liberata'' (Jerusalem Delivered), in which he depicts a highly imaginative version of the combats between ...

. The film features the British vocal ensemble

I Fagiolini I Fagiolini is a British vocal ensemble specialising in early music and contemporary music. Founded by Robert Hollingworth at Oxford in 1986, the group won the UK Early Music Network’s Young Artists’ Competition in 1988 and a Royal Philharmon ...

and the original cast of actors from the live production. The title is a play on the name of the 1997 film ''

The Full Monty ''The Full Monty'' is a 1997 British comedy film directed by Peter Cattaneo, starring Robert Carlyle, Mark Addy, William Snape, Steve Huison, Tom Wilkinson, Paul Barber and Hugo Speer. The screenplay was written by Simon Beaufoy. The film is s ...

'' – a pun vindicated, according to academic Peter Conrad, by The Full Monteverdi's "raw, emotional striptease". The plot concerns six couples who are breaking up simultaneously in a restaurant. During the course of their meals, revelations about the past drive the couples to separation. The apparently avant-garde structure and

nonlinear narrative Nonlinear narrative, disjointed narrative, or disrupted narrative is a narrative technique, sometimes used in literature, film, video games, and other narratives, where events are portrayed, for example, out of chronological order or in other ways ...

of the film are based in the musical material, which is often of highly

contrapuntal In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more musical lines (or voices) which are harmonically interdependent yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. It has been most commonly identified in the European classical tradi ...

polyphony Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independent melody, as opposed to a musical texture with just one voice, monophony, or a texture with one dominant melodic voice accompanied by chords, h ...

, and follows the stories of the different couples in a manner similar to the vocal interchanges in the madrigals.

Production

Shot in HD on location in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

Cheltenham Cheltenham (), also known as Cheltenham Spa, is a spa town and borough on the edge of the Cotswolds in the county of Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort, following the discovery of mineral s ...

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

and London, including the

London Eye The London Eye, or the Millennium Wheel, is a cantilevered observation wheel on the South Bank of the River Thames in London. It is Europe's tallest cantilevered observation wheel, and is the most popular paid tourist attraction in the United ...

, the central restaurant scenes were filmed on a studio set designed by Chloe Lamford. The sound was recorded in advance and lip-synched in post-production.

Release

''The Full Monteverdi'' had a limited initial theatrical release, primarily through music festivals. It has been broadcast in Australia, Canada, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden and the U.K. The film was released on DVD by

Naxos Records Naxos comprises numerous companies, divisions, imprints, and labels specializing in classical music but also audiobooks and other genres. The premier label is Naxos Records which focuses on classical music. Naxos Musical Group encompasses about 1 ...

. The film was given a further theatrical release in South Africa by

Ster-Kinekor Ster-Kinekor is a South African-based cinema company, and the country's largest movie exhibitor. It represents 60-65% of the market, having 56 cinema complexes consisting of 400 screens and 64,000 seats; 154 of those screens being 3D cinemas. It ...

, opening on 2 April 2010, and in New Zealand by Rialto Distribution, on 24 June 2010.

Critical reception

The film's reception was largely favourable, particularly from classical music critics, though some found La Bouchardière's matching of contemporary realism with

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

a cappella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...

'' music uncomfortable; most acclaimed it for its innovation, fidelity to the spirit of the original music and unrelenting emotional depth. Film and literary scholar William E.B. Verrone hailed The Full Monteverdi as "both visually and narratively dazzling... an innovative and

experimental film Experimental film or avant-garde cinema is a mode of filmmaking that rigorously re-evaluates cinematic conventions and explores non-narrative forms or alternatives to traditional narratives or methods of working. Many experimental films, parti ...

, the kind of adaptation that rarely is attempted or gets made: one that flies in the face of convention daring to be different."William Verrone: ''Adaptation and the Avant-Garde: Alternative Perspectives on Adaptation Theory and Practice'' (Bloomsbury, 2011) It was awarded a

Choc du Monde de la Musique Choc may refer to: * Chocolate * ''Choc'' (magazine), a French photography magazine * Choc (typeface), a typeface by Roger Excoffon * Choc Bay, in Gros Islet Quarter, Saint Lucia * Choč Mountains, in north-central Slovakia * Choc River, in the So ...

References

External links

* * * https://www.johnlabouchardiere.com/the-full-monteverdi-film {{DEFAULTSORT:Full Monteverdi, The 2007 films British romantic musical films 2000s Italian-language films British romantic drama films Films about classical music and musicians Early music 2000s musical drama films 2000s romantic musical films British musical drama films 2007 directorial debut films 2007 drama films 2000s British films