Stravinsky in Hollywood [Blu-ray]

There is not enough real archival footage to sustain this documentary -- so actors have been employed for fake re-enactments of Craft and the Stravinskys at their daily activities. I find this ludicrous and a waste of time. The matching of unused music to various films is baffling: nothing seems to follow the rules of film scoring. The narration does not explain this. Did Stravinsky just write something without a scenario in front of him? The whole film is a bit of a let down. Yet I had to own it. Stravinsky fills my shelves of books, CDs, and DVDs and I have to own it all. BTW, this film covers the Craft/Schoenberg influence on Stravinsky rather well. But in-depth analysis is missing. More comments from Craft would have been welcome.

I have studied Stravinsky's music and his life for many years. I found this DVD to be a disappointment for the following reasons:1) There are many scenes with actors playing these roles: Stravinsky, Mrs. Stravinsky, Robert Craft. These scenes are made to look old/authentic via digital manipulation: film scratches, faded color, etc. This fact is not stated in any advertising text. I found this to be misleading, if not deceitful.2) The actors bear only a slight resemblance to the actual people. The actress Mrs Stravinsky is shorter than the actor Mr. Stravinsky. In fact, the real Mrs. Stravinsky towered over the composer.3) Most of the authentic archival footage has been used in previous Stravinsky documentaries.4) The "new" archival footage is quite short. I estimate under 5 minutes.5) The sit-down interview with Robert Craft is interesting.6) I learned nothing new from this documentary, but I am not a typical viewer.The Stravinsky documentary "Once At A Border" by Tony Palmer is far superior and is my recommendation.

This is a very refreshing and unique documentary on famed composer, Igor Stravinsky, and his life in Hollywood, California. The documentary specifically addresses Stravinsky's encounters with the Hollywood film industry and how they solicited his composing powers for film scoring. Lots of never before seen footage is provided along with a new interview with the aged musical assistant of Stravinsky, Mr. Robert Craft (he's 90 now). Stravinsky's music is shown alongside the films that he had originally composed them for, but was never used. I recommend this new documentary for any Stravinsky lover, however, I strongly suggest having a prior background knowledge about Stravinsky as this documentary limits itself to specific instances in his life. I personally have every commercially available Stravinsky documentary that you can imagine; this new documentary provides newer information that was not previously available.

informative and very interesting. Great footage of Stravinsky. EVery music lover should have it.

I was attracted to this Bluray of the 2014 film by Marco Capalbo – produced for German TV – because I wasn’t aware that Igor Stravinsky wrote film scores for Hollywood movies. Not to give any “spoilers” here (I hate them) but, actually, while he did compose a few scores in the late 1930s and 40s for major studios, they were never used and he stayed in California for 40 years but composed for other than film. As the short (53-minute) documentary states near the end, he did compose a piece for CBS TV – “The Flood”- which was a flop and which is unavailable on home video.Near the beginning of the film, we learn that Stravinsky was lured to Hollywood (where, I was surprised to learn, he bought a house (with is mistress of 20 years – soon to be his wife) overlooking the Sunset Strip) by Walt Disney who wanted to make an animated film (later to become “Fantasia”) and was going to have Stravinsky compose for it. I won’t reveal how that turned out – not as you might think! Stravinsky was originally hired to write for some other big budget Hollywood films and – since they were never used in the films but became part of non-film compositions – Capalbo matches the Stravinsky music to the original film (just short scenes) to show what “might have been”.There is a good amount of rare footage of Stravinsky at home as well as in the hospital in his final days. But there is also a lot of time spent on “recreations” with actors portraying both Stravinsky and his “assistant” and “house guest” (for 20 years!), composer, conductor and record producer Robert Craft. Craft – who is now 90 – is the sole interviewee in the film and he sheds light on Stravinsky’s inner thoughts and hope for his music. Honestly, I thought the recreations (all visual; no recreated dialogue) took way too much time and distracted from the “realness” of the film. (And the “recreations” are in wide screen, while the archival footage is in the 4:3 standard screen aspect.Capalbo wrote, produced, directed and narrates the film. His voice is not the most exciting and reminded me of the narrator of travel films in the 1960s. But that is a subjective opinion.The BD has no bonus features (and no subtitle option for the hearing impaired). There are three trailers from other videos from the same video company – Major.If you love classical music – especially by composers like Stravinsky and Arnold Schoenberg (his contemporary and rival, who gets time here too) – you’ll want this BD. If you are looking to learn about Hollywood film scoring, I’m afraid you’ll be disappointed. So the BD gets four stars from me (I learned something yet I found the recreations unnecessary and would have preferred more interviews) but to Stravinsky fans - like reviewer Michael Britz, whose review was posted before mine it probably would get five stars.I hope you found this review both informative and helpful.Steve Ramm“Anything Phonographic”

Very interesting examination of Stravinsky and the Hollywood film industry. Not only pulls together original footage, but also ties these in with Stravinsky's (unfulfilled) film projects.

Der Film enthält eine Vielzahl an gestellten Szenen, die mit 3 Schauspielern "nachgesdreht wurden".Das ist an sich nicht schlecht gemacht; nur die Tatsache, dass es in der Beschreibung des Filmes garnicht genannt wird und ausserdem im Anspann/Booklet lediglich mit "Cast" und den 3 Namen der Schauspieler erwähnt wird, hinterlässt ein etwas fahles Gefühl.Eine andere Rezension beschreibt es bereits:"Es gibt viele Szenen mit Schauspielern, die als Rollen spielen: Stravinsky, Mrs. Stravinsky, Robert Craft.Diese Szenen sehen durch digitale Manipulation alt/authentisch aus: Filmkratzer, verblasste Farbe usw. Diese Tatsache wird in keinem Werbetext angegeben. Ich fand dies irreführend, wenn nicht sogar betrügerisch."5 der 8 Filmausschnitts-Bilder auf der Hülle entstammen diesem Teil.Wenn dies nicht so offensichtlich "unter den Teppich gekehrt würde", wäre es zum einen ehrlicher und zum 2. nicht unbedingt abwertend.

実際のストラヴィンスキー本人の映像と、俳優による再現映像が混在しており、演出上それぞれがきちんと整理されていないので、極めて煩わしい。それを割り引いて観たとしても、我々が最も見たいストラヴィンスキーの演奏シーンが少なく、全く期待はずれ。

The documentary is done well, but personally I could have done without the acting parts. However, given the nature of the subject, the result is quite appreciable.For completionists, I'd say.