Costanza

Author: Juan Ascencio
Location: Mexico

"Constanza"

Directed by Lasse Hallstrom
Written by Donald Harwood
Music by James Horner

Principal Cast:

Eric Bana- Matthias Franck
Emmy Rossum- Constanza Ferrer
Ian McKellen- Old Matthias Franck
Monica Bellucci- Fernanda Cavani
Tobey McGuire- Émile Girodet
Hayden Christensen- Erich Franck

Tagline:
"The music ceases, but their love remains forever"

Synopsis: In his death bed, the recognized German orchestra director yearns his years in the word of the opera, all his majestic creations and the biggest love of his life, the Italian soprano Constanza Ferrer. Their love story develops in the middle of World War II; Matthias, exigent and egocentric, meets Constanza during an opera assembly. Even she was only a chorus member, Matthias feels attracted because of her extraordinary voice and strong personality, so he decides to compose an aria which he calls “Constanza” and that becomes his most famous creation . As the times goes, each one’s careers continue ascending and their love gets stronger, nevertheless pride, mutual humiliation and jealousy keep them separated, experimenting both with harmful and ephemeral loves (Fernanda, Emile). After some years of suffering, Matthias and Constanza accept their love and have the chance of enjoying a brief moment together. Hopeless, old and only with his nephew’s company, Matthias find a relief in his legendary aria and the memory of Constanza’s voice

What the Press Would Say:

The magic of the opera is the perfect excuse to develop a complex and tragic love story, in which all elements work together to offer us a delightful piece of art. Lasse Hallstrom and his team make a remarkable work, obtaining his best result since Chocolat, it is amazing to see the perfection on it: music, art design, costume, sound mixing and an intelligent screenplay make us part of the story since the beginning. The strong and human performance of Eric Bana forces us to think on a deserved Oscar nomination, without doubt, this is his best performance so far.

Emmy Rossum surprises with her vocal skills and her maturity to interpret a tough character, this performance will take her career off and will set her in a higher level. The supporting performances by McKellen, Bellucci, McGuire and Christensen are also impeccable, their participation is small but relevant, and the way they captured the emotional complex characters makes us pay attention to the way they acted.

We can finally say that “Constanza” will take the world by surprise, it is a loyal representation of human suffering, directed by a brilliant director, great elements, outstanding performances and a sensitive contact with the world of music, this film can not be ignored by the Academy.

AWARDS FOR CONSIDERATION:

Best Picture
Director (Lasse Hallstrom)
Actor (Eric Bana)
Actress ( Emmy Rossum)
Supporting Actor (Ian McKellen, Tobey McGuire or Hayden Christensen)
Supporting Actress (Monica Bellucci)
Original Screenplay
Original Song (The aria “Contanza” sung by Charlotte Church or Emmy Rossum)
Music Score
Cinematography
Costume
Make-up
As some other technics