PAVAROTTI: A Profound Exploration Of A Delightful Icon

Ron Howard returns to the genre of documentary filmmaking only two years after his impressive bout directing The Beatles: Eight Days A Week – The Touring Years. Coincidentally also dipping back into the music genre with his latest cinematic release in the exploration of the life, personality and icon that is Luciano Pavarotti. Howard’s film is an immersive and impacting feature that covers the titular subject with a vast array of never before seen homemade footage and poignant iconic moments.

Immersive & Impacting Feature

Howard’s documentary is quoted as “(a) riveting film that lifts the curtain on the icon who brought opera to the people”. One can’t argue against such a staunch absolute. Howard successfully captures glimmering and extraordinary honest moments within the iconic subject’s life, ranging from his idyllic, yet complicated family dynamics, newfound charity work, and the music Pavarotti pioneered. Beginning with the comfortable experience of 1960’s Soprano to the critical and financial level of success with his operatic style in the 1990s with the Three Tenors. Howard once again crafts a documentary that is sporadic and delightfully eventful and quite possibly is the best work from the director in years.

Forget about what you know about the tranquillity of the icon’s personal life, as Howard opens up deep wounds that still surround Pavarotti’s relationships with his ex-wife and daughters. Damaging and consequential actions that are unequivocally heartbreaking for all but are ultimately human in their states of complexity. The exploration of said actions is astonishingly rich and often sour to see spoken and discussed. The documentary effectively absorbs all animosity and emotion with the documentation of multiple heartbreaks and unleashes it on their unwitting audience.

Astonishingly Rich

There is a significant detail of emotion found here. Surprising considering the platonic public figure of Pavarotti that the world knows is somewhat bland and quite ordinary. It’ll be a challenging aspect for fans to accept and to the credit of Pavarotti’s estate is thoroughly examined, warts and all. It is an eye-opening account of a figure’s double life if you will. A difficulty that most, if not all, public characters wrestle with resolving and conquering, failing or succeeding with ultimate absolutes. Pavarotti, himself, lands on something in between. The challenging public persona versus the family man is an intriguing and detailed examination of the damaging consequences of being a celebrity.

Howard doesn’t linger on the consequences for long as there is a significant array of material to get through. A career alone that spends over six decades of substance is no easy task to squeeze in a feature just under two hours long. Notable events in the subjects life are either sidelined or glossed over, in particular, Pavarotti’s stunning duet with James Brown, or the infamous two-seat Concord flights. It’s hard to argue that this feature may have perhaps been better suited to a two hour two-part HBO series, in the same vein as Dan Reed’s highly controversial Leaving Neverland. Things feel a little too cramped for a more magnificent execution at times.

Perhaps Better Suited to a Series

Unfortunately, the interviewees are slightly underwhelming for impact and observation of the subjects life and career. Family aside the film doesn’t have a significant punch or eye-opening account of life on the road or pressure of fame. Presumably not to undercut the poignant emotional crux of highlighting Pavarotti’s infidelity, yet with that, the feature feels one-note and a tick sheet of events of sorts. It is also worth to note that most of Pavarotti’s circle are deceased and the film can only suffice in indulging in his friend group with preexisting footage.

The footage suffices with the delivery of crafting all manners of layers and depth to Pavarotti, thankfully they add something and aren’t just thrown in to create an already sizeable famous figure look more sizeable or famous. His ongoing battle with the media regarding his affairs, love for companionship regarding hospitality and creation of music are just a few threads that add something unique and compelling.

Yet the film only has a selected amount of footage to rely on. However with the sizeable footage it does have it flops in fully realising all parameters of the cost it had on Pavarotti. His relationship with Princess Diana and her death is most notably a missed opportunity for the film to traverse. His later life charity and political ventures also feel slightly thrown in for good measure and aren’t thoroughly examined nor quantified with their success.

Conclusion: Pavarotti

If one word summed up Ron Howard’s latest effort, it would be that of surprising. For a film that could quite easily be a straight forward snooze and typical conventional diluted telling of another musically gifted icon, we are thrown head first int he chaotic life and times of exuberant charismatic subject. With that there are surprises at every turn in Pavarotti. The magnified exploration of the subjects life is stunning. A quaint picture-perfect story but within the underbelly of success and trauma of fame is taking precedent.

Pavarotti is a palette cleanser on from the mixed response of Han Solo: A Star Wars Story. If anything, this must have convinced Howard never to dip his feet in a film about lightsabers again. Behind the camera on a documentary on a subject he cares about, he crafts stunning portraits of musical icons. Pavarotti is a delight. At times hard to watch, but ever so entertaining and explosive exploring one of the most captivating and astonishing artists of the 20th century and showcasing every nook and cranny it can to fully realise such an iconic performer.

What are your thoughts on Pavarotti? Will you heading out to see Ron Howard’s latest or will you wait for it on DVD/BluRay or Digital Download?

Pavarotti was released on the July 15, 2019 in the UK and will have be released in the US on the 16 October 2019. For all international release dates, see here.