Pablo Massa:

>Some weeks ago, I asked about what were --in the opinion of the list-- the
>worst films about composers ever made.  A listmember (I don't remember who)

It might have been me.

>Does anyone has a commentary about this film?.  Was it real?.  Wasn't it
>a delirium of my own brain, overheated by 6 hours of watching Italian TV
>contests at RAI?.  Does anyone knows where can I join a support therapy
>group to deal with this?.

Definitely.  For me, it was a jaw-dropping combination of inspired images
(the opening, when the wooden "composing shed" bursts into flames) and
juvenile "poetry" that would make the most self-absorbed teenager blush.
No expert on Mahler's life myself, I nevertheless have to question the
accuracy of the non-LSD-inspired biographical details.  Did Mahler really
convert to Catholicism because he wanted to get into Alma's drawers, for
example? While I don't say it *has* to be accurate, one has to question
what this mess really is about, other than Russell's usual rant about the
egomania of geniuses.  I really wish he'd get another idea.

>And someone was complaining about "Amadeus"!!

That also was me, but in the weeks since, I've begun to moderate my
unmitigated contempt.  Now it's mitigated and it's no longer contempt.
Perhaps the only reason why I haven't complained about Immortal Beloved
is that I haven't seen it, and why raise my blood pressure.

Steve Schwartz