Soundtracks:
Pretty Woman
Priscilla Queen of the
Desert
Lost Weekend
In the Line of Fire
One Hundred Men and a Girl
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La Traviata (fallen woman)
Kind: Serious opera in three acts
Language: Italian
Location: Paris
Time: 19th century
Hits: The drinking song, "Sempre libera" ("I'll
always be free"), "Brindisi"
 The
astonishing thing about the world of opera is the constant contradiction
between the dramatic occurrence onstage and the need for constant singing.
One may find it a little hard to understand how heroes who die for 15 minutes,
go on singing with pathos and professionality. Only people who are used
to operas do not ridicule as Violetta, dying of tuberculosis, sings beautiful
arias throughout the entire opera, regardless of her condition. In "La
Traviata" we seriously feel the contrast between the opera medium
and the story it tells. And on the other hand - this is maybe the very
secret of opera's charm: everything is translated to music and singing
in a noble, stylistic manner.
Based on a novel by Alexander Dumas, "The Lady with
the Camellias", the opera is about the hypocrisy of human society,
in which many women are exploited by men - they are good for amusement
but "unfit" for respectable family life. In this opera, a prominent
quality in Verdi's opera is manifested very clearly - the composer's ability
to take a "time-out" in the story for wonderful moments of opera
magic. In his next operas, and particularly in "Aida" and "Othelo",
this feature will be even more evident.
 Alfredo,
son of rich parents, falls in love with Violetta, a prostitute infected
with tuberculosis. His father is unpleased with the matter and persuades
Violetta to leave his son, for his benefit and future. She painfully goes
back to her previous life, and her physical condition worsens every single
day, with a cough that seems terminal. Alfredo's father shows compassion
and in her dying hours, her lover comes to her and they are joined in love.
In the movie "Pretty Woman", Richard Gear takes
his somewhat unchaste beloved, Julia Roberts, to the opera, and not by
chance this is the opera they watch. The heroine is in tears because of
the story and Violetta's misfortune, and perhaps sees it as a prophecy
of her own destiny. But do not fear, for American films must end well,
and so in the end of the movie her lover takes her towards the bright future
of which Violetta was deprived.
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