Bless Ron Howard, man has this guy come such a long dirt road from whistling with Andy Griffith. Bravo on another fine music documentary, this time on the late great Pavarotti.
Even if you don’t like opera, you’ll love this doc. You just have to hang in there for the first 15 minutes which are a little opera heavy, but that’s allowed especially for aficionados.
What’s enchanting about his life story (and really with the help of a great storyteller or ‘framer’**, Howard here, Scorsese with Rolling Thunder Revue isn’t everyone’s story enchanting? Ok, maybe not Manson.) is his joie de vivre, a substance not found in the Maria Callas doc. But to Tom Volf’s defense, perhaps she was just too damn depressed to find it. **Props to the writers who helped Howard, Cassidy Hartmann and Mark Monroe.
In any case Luciano had enough joy for two lives. Now was he always moral in the Catholic tradition? No, but, he sure gave himself to friends and charity.
I loved his passion for wanting to perform with Bono and U2, his empathy for children with cancer and war atrocities and his friendship with Lady Diana.
My day began with Hitchcock’s “Shadow of a Doubt” (thank you Burns Court for the Breakfast Movie Treat) with its wry humor and intrigue and ended being almost sung to sleep by “Pavarotti”. Now, that’s a damn near perfect day. (Picture me walking off whistling holding hands with Andy. LOL. Ok maybe don’t.:)
