Wagner & Me: Stephen Fry Geeks Out

Can you separate an artist’s work from their offensive ideology?  Hollywood asks Middle America to do exactly that nearly every weekend.  Granted, the case of Richard Wagner is of a much higher magnitude.  After all, we know whose favorite composer he was.  Stephen Fry is also an ardent admirer, who tries to reconcile his beloved music with the man’s problematic legacy in Patrick McGrady’s Wagner & Me (trailer here), which opens this Friday in New York.

Fry is clearly a civilized man of the arts, who actually lost family members in the Holocaust.  He also loves Wagner’s music.  Love might be an understatement.  Touring the celebrated Bayreuth concert hall built to the composer’s specifications as it prepares for its annual Wagner festival, Fry is absolutely giddy.  All his sophistication deserts him.  It is a total fanboy geek out.

Frankly, Fry might cringe at some of this footage in years to come, but on the other hand, cynicism is overrated.  Fry conveys his passion for the music and God bless him for it.  To his credit though, he does not ignore the dark side of Wagner.  While he does not delve too deeply into the composer’s documented anti-Semitic sentiments, he fully explores the way Hitler and the National Socialists used the long deceased Wagner to legitimize their reign of insanity.  W&M is particularly eye-opening when addressing the support Wagner’s heirs lent to Hitler at a very early stage in his career.  Fry also visits a violinist who survived the concentration camps to get her considered judgment on Wagner, which is indeed quite reasonable and reflective.

Wagner will always be a tricky figure to come to terms with.  On a basic level, an artist like Wagner or a veteran of film and television like Fry cannot help it if some unsavory characters become fans of their work.  Yet, many will fairly argue there were chauvinistically nationalistic themes in Wagner’s operas that were all too compatible with National Socialism.  Fry somewhat tries to rehabilitate his idol (while wisely refraining from the “he was a big fan of Mendelssohn and some of his best friends were Jewish” defense the Wagner establishment has floated), but he never closes the deal.

In fact, viewers might walk away from W&M more critical of Wagner the man than when they walked in.  That is a testament to Fry’s honesty if not necessarily his persuasiveness.  Interesting but not essential, Wagner & Me opens this Friday (12/7) in New York at the Quad Cinema.

Tribeca ’12: Wagner’s Dream

It is the epic tale of a powerful ring that brings misfortune to all who seek it.  Sound familiar?  After technology advanced to the point Peter Jackson could finally do justice to Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, it is not surprising the opera world might hatch some new ideas for Wagner’s Ring cycle.  However, mounting a production on stage is a totally different proposition than making a film with extensive post-production effects, as renowned director Robert Lepage demonstrates with the Metropolitan Opera’s ambitious new production of the Ring.  Director Susan Froemke (with editor Bob Eisenhardt) captures the ensuing flirting-with-disaster exhilaration of live opera in Wagner’s Dream (trailer here), which had its world premiere at the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival, in advance of a special-event nationwide screening this coming Monday.

Reportedly, Wagner was not at all satisfied with the initial 1876 staging of his Ring cycle, but he died before he could implement any of the mysterious changes he promised.  As a result, the questions of what would Wagner do and what is feasible have bedeviled opera companies ever since.  Charged with developing something bold, Lepage did just that. 

His radical concept centers on what will be referred to as “the Machine.”  A series of interlocked, swiveling planks, sort of but not really resembling a double helix, the Machine will serve as the minimalist set for all four constituent productions of the Ring cycle.  When it works, it facilitates some truly epic grandeur.  Unfortunately, it is decidedly buggy.

Frankly it is quite cool and surprising the Met is so enthusiastically behind Dream, because it documents some embarrassing moments for the storied company.  Complications with the machine put a damper on more than one opening night, which is awkward for the professionals bluffing their way through on-stage, but makes for dramatic documentary cinema.

Arguably, Lepage’s Ring cycle production might be thought of as the Met’s Apocalypse Now, with Wagner’s Dream corresponding to Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse.  Like screenwriter John Milius sent to retrieve Francis Ford Coppola from the jungle only to be convinced “this would be the first film to win the Nobel Prize,” every cast-member and tech-hand approaching Lepage or Met General Manager Peter Gelb with logistical concerns winds up doubling down on the Machine.  Again, just like Coppola’s film, the result is a sometimes flawed, but towering work of genius.

Dream is one of the few behind-the-scenes documentaries completely warranting the big screen treatment.  A sense of scale is important here.  Yet, it does not ignore the human element, following the challenges faced by the featured performers and sampling the reactions of loyal patrons.  Having helmed two previous docs about the Met, including the profile of Maestro James Levine relatively recently broadcast on American Masters, Froemke clearly had the trust and confidence of the opera company.  By now, many probably assume she is on staff there.

Even for opera neophytes, Wagner’s Dream is a fascinating film.  It is also a highly effective teaser for its special encore screenings of Lepage’s Ring cycle productions.  One cannot help wondering whether audiences will see the Machine cooperate or not.  Highly recommended beyond the obvious opera and theater audiences, it screens across the country via Fathom Events this coming Monday (5/7) and will also be shown at the BAM Rose Cinemas the following Saturday (5/12).