Whether it still has the same power is a matter of opinion. The DVD picture quality does not compare with the original film which was rather soft focus Eastman type colour. The sound track, with it's subtle overlays of the sounds of summer, birds, insects buzzing and twigs snapping - somehow that doesn't come across so well as it does, or did, in the cinema. The magical stunning ending with the frozen image of Elvira releasing the butterfly and gunshot... followed by a second gunshot... suspended in time, well that simply doesn't have the same impact outside the picture house. It's a true art house movie with high production values that are as vulnerable and delicate as the subject matter. However, on re-watching the film on video I was able to appreciate the wider social context and commentary which is pointedly antagonistic, rigidly class based and basically "loveless" - in fact the complete polar opposite of the the star struck lovers. The chamber music scene, the tavern scene, the encounter with a less than talkative automaton woodsman, the unsympathetic army pal... they point to a social dead weight pressing down on the couple. Similarly, romantic scenes such as Elvira's practising her tight rope walking on a clothesline and the watching children's faces, or the forlorn Sixtus after a row born out of desperation staring into the water of a stream and seeing a piece of note paper float by: "Forgive me!" Yes, even on the DVD it moves us to cheer!
An infinitely superior movie about young love to Hollywood's "Love Story". The Mozart/Vivaldi soundtrack, to be found on DG in both LP and CD versions, adds the final poetic seal of wonderful movie making.
An infinitely superior movie about young love to Hollywood's "Love Story". The Mozart/Vivaldi soundtrack, to be found on DG in both LP and CD versions, adds the final poetic seal of wonderful movie making.