Kirpianuscus for music, atmosphere and costumes. for few scenes. as introduction to the spirit of a period. and for the remind of the traits of Baroque. one of films who remains a must see for the aesthetic virtues. maybe, in same measure, for the good intentions. because, except the case of "castratti", it is only a story of a music star. with same sins and virtues and half truths. with the same impressive clash between art and near reality. showing the same vulnerability of a selfish hero of scene. so, a beautiful film. but not more.

gavin6942 Farinelli is the artistic name of Carlo Broschi, a young singer in Handel's time. He was castrated in his childhood in order to preserve his voice. During his life he comes to be a very famous opera singer, managed by his mediocre brother Riccardo.Although this is the story of a real person, it relies very little on facts. Just a few notes: the ambiguous relationship between the Broschi brothers, the stormy one with rival composer Handel, and Farinelli's own amorous escapades and over-the-top "rockstar" attitude are totally spurious. But I don't think this makes the film bad, because it is not intended to be a true story.It is somewhat hard to believe that this used to be a real practice... the purposeful destruction of a child just to have him sing high notes. Whatever was the point?

MartinHafer This was an extremely pretty, but ultimately pretty unengaging film. The sets are lovely and the singing, for those who like this kind of music, is great but ultimately the story failed to engage me on anything but a superficial level. The based on truth story just doesn't have enough going on to merit a movie. Yes, Farinelli has no testicles and can't ultimately satisfy his lovers. In steps his brother to "finish the job". About the only interesting tidbit I gathered was that you ultimately find out this brother is the one who actually arranged to turn Farinelli into a castrato. Yuck. I get that. So what is next? Unfortunately, not much.

bubblegumyums65 I was quite intrigued by the scenery in the film. I also like the acting. The actors in the film were perfectly chosen. They fit right into their characters. One thing I didn't like about the movie was that whole brotherly thing in the movie. They kept saying that they had a pact or something like that to the women. And the opera was nice to a point, but then I just kept forwarding. It was the same thing over and over again, but to different tunes. If you like operas and, Italian and French actors, this movie is worth seeing. I give it an 8.5 out of 10.