Aria (film)

Summary

The opening credits are set to the overture to Giuseppe Verdi's La traviata.

Un ballo in maschera

A fictionalised account of a 1931 assassination attempt on King Zog I of Albania, notable for his shooting back at his would-be assassins and surviving. (In the actual attempt, King Zog was leaving a performance of Pagliacci.)

"La vergine degli angeli" from La forza del destino

Two London teenage girls and a young boy steal a car.

Armide

Two young women try to attract the attention of oblivious bodybuilders, eventually stripping off.

Rigoletto

A bedroom farce set in San Luis Obispo's famous Madonna Inn, in which a movie producer cheats on his wife unaware that she, too, is there with a clandestine lover of her own.

"Glück, das mir verblieb" from Die tote Stadt

A look at the seemingly-dead city of Bruges, Belgium. Scenic footage of the empty streets and cemeteries is intercut with a duet of two lovers, providing counterpoint to the dead city.

Abaris ou les Boréades

A re-creation of opening night at Paris's Théâtre Le Ranelagh in 1734. The audience is filled with a raffish assortment of inmates from an asylum.

"Liebestod" from Tristan und Isolde

Two young lovers arrive in Las Vegas. After driving down Fremont Street, they check into a cheap hotel room where they unsuccessfully try to commit suicide following the consummation of their relationship.

"Nessun dorma" from Turandot

After a car crash, a lovely young girl imagines her body is being adorned by jewels mirroring her injuries, in a tribal ritual parallel to the procedures of the surgical team treating her, until she wakes up in the operating room after resuscitation.

"Depuis le jour" from Louise

A veteran opera singer gives her final performance, intercut by 8mm home movies of an early love affair.

"Vesti la giubba" from Pagliacci

A virtuoso remembers his career while arriving at an opera house, visiting the dressing room to put on his clown makeup, and performing the aria for his audience of one. (This story provides a vague framing narrative to link together the other segments.)

The closing credits, after replaying a small excerpt of each of the ten operas, are again set to the overture to Giuseppe Verdi's La traviata, thus finally closing the cycle.

Critical response