Anthony Minghella RIP

[SanderO]

Anthony Minghella died after complications from surgery. He will be remembered for many things among them film version of The English Patient and for me the recent Met Opera production of Madama Butterfly.

Thanks Anthony, RIP

[dirac]

Thank you for posting this sad news, SanderO. An important talent gone much too soon.

Reuters story

"The English Patient," based on author Michael Ondaatje's novel, was an unexpected global hit.

In an interview with Reuters after its release, Minghella said he had struggled to raise the money to make the film, which won 12 Oscar nominations.

I have great affection for one of his smaller scale efforts, the wonderful “Truly, Madly, Deeply” with Juliet Stevenson and Alan Rickman, which I think was his first picture.

[SanderO]

I was fortunate to attend a dress rehearsal at the Met Opera this past fall for Madama Butterfly. The Puccini opera is one of the most well known, but I had found the prior Met Opera production rather boring.

The Menghella production however, was visually stunning. One of the most exciting things he did, which I think would be fabulous for some ballet productions is to have a huge mirror suspended above the stage. The mirror was as large as the entire stage and mounted at 45° so that it showed a "plan view" or bird's eye view of the stage. The was particularly interesting because of the sets and costumes and seeing the opera from front view and top view was thrilling.

I don't know what this brilliant idea has not been picked up by the ABT who shares the house with the Met Opera, but it would a wonderful way to see some or the corps work.

Regardless, there were other innovations Minghella employed in the production such as the use of a puppet for the child, who of course had no speaking part, and so rather than have a child play the silent role, he used a full size puppet, perhaps as a reference to anime? Who knows. Minghella really made that Madama experience memorable for me.

I can only imagine what he could have done with some other operas. We'll never know.

[richard53dog]

The Menghella production however, was visually stunning. One of the most exciting things he did, which I think would be fabulous for some ballet productions is to have a huge mirror suspended above the stage. The mirror was as large as the entire stage and mounted at 45° so that it showed a "plan view" or bird's eye view of the stage. The was particularly interesting because of the sets and costumes and seeing the opera from front view and top view was thrilling.

I can only imagine what he could have done with some other operas. We'll never know.

I too was entranced by Minghella's Madama Butterfly at the Met. He definitely had a keen eye for visuals; there are many striking examples in his films.

His death at age 54 is very sad indeed.

[dirac]

NYT obituary.

In what was viewed as a risky move at the time, Mr. Gelb chose Mr. Minghella to direct “Madama Butterfly,” which opened the Met’s 2006 season. Although Mr. Minghella was a trained pianist, he was an opera neophyte before the “Butterfly” production, which originated at the English National Opera in London.

“Everyone here had every reason to be suspicious of him because they knew his opera credentials were limited,” Mr. Gelb said. ”But he set the tone at the first rehearsal — he told the people in the production that he wanted them to read the text to him before they sang a note. The message was clear, that they were not only opera singers, but actors as well.”

I’m sure he would have done more work with opera, and of course in film, although I admit that hunk of brazen Oscar bait “Cold Mountain” was not a good sign.

[sidwich]

I used to see his daughter Hannah at events in NYC when I still lived there. My heart goes out to her and the rest of the family.

[kfw]

Minghella's 1999 interview with Terri Gross on National Public Radio's "Fresh Air" is available here.

[dirac]

Thanks for the link, kfw.