Crossing Rachmaninoff - directed by Rebecca Tansley
Starring: Flavio Villani
Screenplay: n/a - documentary
Music Score by: n/a
Cinematography: Simon Raby
Edited by: Thomas Gleeson
Running Time: 79 minutes
Rated: E - nothing of note
This is an unusual movie for me to have seen.
Even for someone who will pretty much see anything it is odd.
I don't know a thing about Rachmaninoff, don't much like classical music give or take a Clair de Lune or two and mostly avoid documentaries unless they are about subjects really compelling to me.
The story of an Auckland pianist preparing for a concert in Italy would be right outside of my interest zone then.
Well and truly.
But I do enjoy free movie tickets and that was what I had here - two passes to see "Crossing Rachmaninoff".
Flavio Villani is an Auckland based pianist whose favourite piece of music is Rachmaninoff's Concerto no.2
He is invited to perform it accompanied by an orchestra in his home country Italy.
We follow him in Auckland and in Italy as he prepares himself.
The first task is to become comfortable performing with an orchestra - something that he has never done.
Much of the running time will explore this.
The question of whether he will achieve this is all but negated by an opening sequence of Flavio actually performing the piece with an orchestra - in Italy.
Titles then inform us that we are back four months prior to this and the preparation is beginning.
It's an odd move for a documentary that is all about a man rising to a personal challenge.
I would have thought that better angle would be can he do it?
Regardless we see Flavio teaching piano to some young people and we hear from some local people including the priest of a church at which Flavio plays.
Auckland is soon left behind as Flavio flies to Italy- the country of his birth and the venue for the concert.
We see shots of the young Flavio playing live and he tells us how he came to discover music and his own natural talent for it.
We hear that although he always knew that piano he still studied for a degree in I.T
His Father is introduced as a formidable figure of authority in his life.
A former military man he was supportive of Flavio up until he revealed on aspect of his life.
We learn that Flavio is gay and that it caused great difficulty for a time.
His Father threatened to disown him after handing him 200 Euros to travel overseas.
It is perhaps the main moment of drama in the film and as much as I am sure that it was a difficult time for all involved I would have expected the moment when Flavio sits down ready to perform the Rachmaninoff piece to be the big such moment.
Flavio himself is an easy going, appealing presence.
There is an approachability to his demeanour which seems at odds with the intensity of his passion and drive for music.
Several of his young students speak of his rejection of playing that is not exactly right.
Certainly for someone who is as clueless about the creation of music as I am the music that he has chosen appears to be extraordinarily difficult.
There is some support for this idea but much of it is delivered by people using terms and descriptions that are not entirely of benefit to laymen.
Once we get to Italy matters of family take over.
There are some stunning shots of Italy and a great sequence of the family (Mother, Father and Brother) preparing a meal.
A fascinating character arrives in the form of Filippo Arlia - the conductor of the orchestra with which Flavio will play.
He is full of manic stares and dramatic baton flourishes as he aids Flavio in performing with his orchestra.
Filippo is interviewed all too briefly and then is only shown during the performance.
I wanted to hear more from this guy.
As someone who is impressed by anyone who can play an instrument I was even more fascinated by a guy who is in charge of a room full!
As impressive as it is that Flavio plays such difficult music it is deeply interesting to me that Filippo apparently knows enough about all aspects of the piece that he can instruct and arrange a couple of dozen people.
Another interesting character who does better with screen time is Flavio's former teacher- a man with a shock of wild hair set off with a wooly hat.
In all honesty I find this more interesting than I thought I would but there is still the realisation that there isn't a lot of material here and the very short running time of 79 minutes is still possibly longer than required.
As you would expect the finale is the performance and it does run for ten or fifteen minutes.
It exists more as a treat for aficionados than as a dramatic climax.
Perhaps the thinking was that a documentary about a man failing wouldn't have been made so why bother pretending that the show didn't go well?
And the concert is shot very well.
RATING: 68 / 100
CONCLUSION: It's a lean 79 minutes of which a good 20 is performance which means that it certainly doesn't out stay its welcome but there is the nagging suspicion that the filmmakers struggle to find enough meat on this story to make this truly compelling.
Screenplay: n/a - documentary
Music Score by: n/a
Cinematography: Simon Raby
Edited by: Thomas Gleeson
Running Time: 79 minutes
Rated: E - nothing of note
This is an unusual movie for me to have seen.
Even for someone who will pretty much see anything it is odd.
I don't know a thing about Rachmaninoff, don't much like classical music give or take a Clair de Lune or two and mostly avoid documentaries unless they are about subjects really compelling to me.
The story of an Auckland pianist preparing for a concert in Italy would be right outside of my interest zone then.
Well and truly.
But I do enjoy free movie tickets and that was what I had here - two passes to see "Crossing Rachmaninoff".
Flavio Villani is an Auckland based pianist whose favourite piece of music is Rachmaninoff's Concerto no.2
He is invited to perform it accompanied by an orchestra in his home country Italy.
We follow him in Auckland and in Italy as he prepares himself.
 |
| Flavio Villani |
Much of the running time will explore this.
The question of whether he will achieve this is all but negated by an opening sequence of Flavio actually performing the piece with an orchestra - in Italy.
Titles then inform us that we are back four months prior to this and the preparation is beginning.
It's an odd move for a documentary that is all about a man rising to a personal challenge.
I would have thought that better angle would be can he do it?
Regardless we see Flavio teaching piano to some young people and we hear from some local people including the priest of a church at which Flavio plays.
Auckland is soon left behind as Flavio flies to Italy- the country of his birth and the venue for the concert.
We see shots of the young Flavio playing live and he tells us how he came to discover music and his own natural talent for it.
We hear that although he always knew that piano he still studied for a degree in I.T
His Father is introduced as a formidable figure of authority in his life.
A former military man he was supportive of Flavio up until he revealed on aspect of his life.
We learn that Flavio is gay and that it caused great difficulty for a time.
His Father threatened to disown him after handing him 200 Euros to travel overseas.
It is perhaps the main moment of drama in the film and as much as I am sure that it was a difficult time for all involved I would have expected the moment when Flavio sits down ready to perform the Rachmaninoff piece to be the big such moment.
 |
| Filippo Arlia - conductor |
There is an approachability to his demeanour which seems at odds with the intensity of his passion and drive for music.
Several of his young students speak of his rejection of playing that is not exactly right.
Certainly for someone who is as clueless about the creation of music as I am the music that he has chosen appears to be extraordinarily difficult.
There is some support for this idea but much of it is delivered by people using terms and descriptions that are not entirely of benefit to laymen.
Once we get to Italy matters of family take over.
There are some stunning shots of Italy and a great sequence of the family (Mother, Father and Brother) preparing a meal.
A fascinating character arrives in the form of Filippo Arlia - the conductor of the orchestra with which Flavio will play.
He is full of manic stares and dramatic baton flourishes as he aids Flavio in performing with his orchestra.
Filippo is interviewed all too briefly and then is only shown during the performance.
I wanted to hear more from this guy.
As someone who is impressed by anyone who can play an instrument I was even more fascinated by a guy who is in charge of a room full!
As impressive as it is that Flavio plays such difficult music it is deeply interesting to me that Filippo apparently knows enough about all aspects of the piece that he can instruct and arrange a couple of dozen people.
Another interesting character who does better with screen time is Flavio's former teacher- a man with a shock of wild hair set off with a wooly hat.
 |
| Flavio performing the concert |
As you would expect the finale is the performance and it does run for ten or fifteen minutes.
It exists more as a treat for aficionados than as a dramatic climax.
Perhaps the thinking was that a documentary about a man failing wouldn't have been made so why bother pretending that the show didn't go well?
And the concert is shot very well.
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