Wagner - Parsifal, 2 tape set [VHS]

Possibly the most important artistic rendition
This may be most important films or performances I have ever seen in my about 50 years of intense exposure to arts and literature. It is one of the most profound, stimulating and spectacular renditions of the final masterpiece of Western civilization. Whenever, watching Parsifal one is bedeviled by petulant reading that Nietzsche gave to it, complaining that Wagner has embraced Christianity. Wagner never bothered to answer Nietzsche pamphlet on the matter, save for a revealing letter published in his now most rare-to-find complete collection of writings. Wagner used myths as metaphors to reach for and express the inexpressible and draw from it an equally suggestive music exasperatingly longing for that which lie beyond itself. No-one would take literally the Ring's metaphoric imagery of Nibelungs working Earth's bowels, giants, dragons and magic fires. By the same token, Parsifal draws from the least Christian of the many Christian stories and imagery to use it as the most powerful expression of the journey of redemption; a team which Wagner pursued and expressed consistently since the Hollander. This performance highlights this artistic intention transcending the basic iconography of Christianity into powerful both expressed and evoked symbolology and semantic explosions which leave no space to Christian idolatry. Wagner would have hated the minimalist performance in vogue in days, often dictated by insufficient budgets. His artistic intention was to have music merging drama, theater, poetry an choreography, is such a powerful manner that what results of it goes far beyond the mere sum of its elements. In this sense, nothing could be overstated or over-staged or over-expressed. The man who first placed on stage French horns, dragons, naked swimming nymphs, flower girls et cetera, would had undoubtedly used not theater but movies to express his symphonic poems. I love to think that this is the Parsifal Richard Wagner would have produced had he been alive now. It is a must fo anyone seeking a full experience of his own life.

Best Filmed Opera Ever
Opera never comes off on film. Except this time. Syberberg takes no short cuts -- it's the entire huge show. And he doesn't hurry. The pace is glacial. But his mindbogglingly rich imagery, so dense in symbolic meaning it takes repeated viewings to even begin to appreciate it all, makes every second count. This is not business as usual, but a singular masterpiece of dramatic innovation. The base recording is excellent on its own, and the obvious lip synching somehow works to the movie's unearthly advantage. This excellent print is compromised only by an indifferent menu system. All told, worth every penny!

subtitles
There are no subtitles recorded but there is an English close captions which has subtitles.

One of the Very Best
Hans Jurgen Syberberg's "Parsifal" is, quite simply, one of the greatest opera films ever made - worthy of being ranked alongside Losey's "Don Giovanni" and Bergman's "Magic Flute". I shall not spoil it for those who haven't seen it by detailing the dazzling feats of invention - and, yes, wit - that distinguish this production. Just take it from me - you will not be disappointed!

Not your grandfather's Parsifal, but give it a chance.
To begin with, I'm glad I bought it. Many of the negative judgments in the following reviews are no more than the insults one hurls at whatever is unfamiliar--and certainly this DVD presents a great deal that is unfamiliar. People need to keep in mind, however, that this is NOT a film of a stage production of Parsifal. It could be called "opera with commentary," perhaps, commentary based on hundreds of years of relevant western history. That is not literally what Wagner wrote, no, but contains much to reflect on, combined with a decent performance of an important music drama. I am not going to claim that I comprehended all the symbolism; maybe eventually, but not now. Some of the weirdness is really pretty easy to place though: phallic statues in Act II don't require a lot of explanation, for example, and neither, I think do the countless references to Germany's Nazi past or to the imprint of Wagner's own life on European (and our) culture. The rest, I'll work on. The film has faults, certainly. The subtitles are truly terrible, not because they read like bad sixteenth-century texts (which they do), but because the spelling, grammar, and syntax are simply sloppy. That shouldn't have happened, but they are intelligible. I also agree with the reviewers who criticized the pace, both musical and dramatic. The "dreamlike" quality of the first act seemed at first more zomboid than dramatic. But truthfully I don't know how Parsifal could be played (in filmed close-ups) as conversational interaction among ordinary people. The "opera" itself doesn't seem to me to lend itself to sitcom techniques. I was also somewhat displeased that almost everything happened in very narrow physical space. I saw mountain defiles aplenty but not much of anything in the way of the open meadow called for. Maybe the constraint is deliberate, but I think of Parsifal as bigger, somehow. I was more concerned that the music dragged: Wagner's immensely long, arching continuity seemed missing much of the time. This is a musical work, after all, not a symbolist play with musical eruptions. I cannot, however, put my finger on any particular point when the musical dimension was inadequate, so perhaps I'm wrong. It's hard to notice everything at once in this very complex production. I was not much bothered with the lip-sync problem, and I liked most of what came out, never mind from whom. The actors do match the roles, and with Wagner productions that's not often entirely the case (Show me a lithe, red-headed vixen who can sing Isolde!) I cannot explain the two Parsifals any more than anybody else seems able to do, but I was happy with both of them. I expect to play this DVD many times. It is not for the stubbornly conventional, but many viewers will find they have become deeply involved, unexpectedly.