PORGY & BESS Movie Remake in the works, Dee Rees to direct- Page 2

[Ledaero]

Posted: 2/13/20 at 2:29pm

I will say that I'm very nervous about Dee Rees taking on this project. Maybe she'll knock it out of the park, but I haven't enjoyed any of her films that I've seen. And her new movie, The Last Thing He Wanted, has just been shredded by critics and audiences. She tends to have issues with focus and pacing, which could really kill a Porgy adaptation.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 2/13/20 at 6:23pm

There seems to be an underlying assumption in this thread that real opera singers don't have the acting chops to play the P&B roles. (Yes, there's also the issue of name recognition, which few opera singers have in the culture at large.)

Apparently, few here saw the broadcast last week of the Met's smash new production. I promise you the acting was better than that in the films of LES MIZ or MAMMA MIA.

The idea that opera singers overact badly or can't act at all is out-of-date. Eric Owens at the Met is the best Porgy I have ever seen and I was watching him on film, 40' high!

[A Director]

Posted: 2/14/20 at 12:48am

I read somewhere, Tom Hooper was the first choice to direct this!

 

Updated On: 2/14/20 at 12:48 AM

[joevitus]

Posted: 2/14/20 at 3:32pm

I can't get interested in it, in part because I'm sure they will give him a cane and cut the goat cart, which is all wrong, but more so just because I think most filmed opera is terrible, apart from preservation of historic performances. Film as a medium and opera as an art form rarely go well together (Bergman's The Magic Flute being a happy exception, for me).

[carnzee]

Posted: 2/14/20 at 3:38pm

joevitus said: "I can't get interested in it, in part because I'm sure they will give him a cane and cut the goat cart, which is all wrong, but more so just because I think most filmed opera is terrible, apart from preservation of historic performances. Film as a medium and opera as an art form rarely go well together (Bergman's The Magic Flute being a happy exception, for me)."

I agree for the most part; but check out Gotz Friedrich's films of Salome and Elektra if you like those operas, they work surprisingly well.

 

[Globefan]

Posted: 1/23/21 at 6:12pm

I think for Bess, I'd choose Ashleigh Murray who played Josie McCoy on Riverdale and its spin-off Katy Keene. She's not a soprano, but I think she'd be great.