Review of Cosi (1996) by Edith N — 13 Dec 2007
It strikes me that the first thing to do before putting on an opera is to find out if anyone can sing. Now, Toni Collette can, and beautifully, but the rest of the cast? Not so much. Hence a spoken production of [i]Cosi fan Tutte[/i]. In a mental ward. Do I even have to mention that hilarity ensues?
Admittedly, it's a pretty poignant hilarity at times. I mean, we are, after all, looking at mental patients. These are not happy people. And, indeed, their director--not a mental patient--is not always a happy person. His relationship with his girlfriend is not the best, and [i]Cosi[/i] is putting a strain on it. Not least because, after about halfway through, it's no longer a job. About halfway through, he stops having a job at all. However, he cannot give up [i]Cosi[/i]; none of them can.
Most of the cast are stereotypes of mental patients, however. As is usually the case, their whole purpose is to be wacky. Now, I am perfectly aware that this is a comedy. However, even in comedies, some characters are better realized than others. Toni Collette's Julie, for example, is "merely" an addict and therefore can be multidimensional. But David Wenham's Doug is just crazy. The others, whose names I cannot reliably remember, are just crazy. That is all they are to be used for.
I am perfectly aware that I'm more sensitive to the issue than most, of course. I'm also aware that most characters in comedies aren't painted with the finest brush. However, for the most part, the mentally ill in film are [i]only[/i] mentally ill. There is seldom anything else of interest about them. After a while, it's very wearing.
Still, this is a very funny movie. And the production of [i]Cosi[/i] is in fact quite good. We still get the music of Mozart, since the production is done with a record playing in the background. (They also have an accordionist with a Wagner fixation, but they keep him safely under wraps.) I'll admit that I think aspects of the plot don't come through entirely, but it's still a very good movie.
This review of Cosi (1996) was written by Edith N on 13 Dec 2007.
Cosi has generally received positive reviews.
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