Passion (1996)

Good start, but then it gets ruined

Brilliant and touching

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

I'm giving this a pretty high score even though it's not the easiest to sit through. I just have too much respect for how it came across to me. Passion deserves to be talked about outside the niche within a niche of Sondheim fans. People who have seen this musical are likely to be repulsed, mainly because of the behavior of Fosca. Audiences shouted mean comments at the stage during preview performances! Why? Let's analyze the story.Giorgio, a green young man sent off to war, meets Fosca while stationed in a remote town. Fosca appears to suffer from mental illness, chronic physical illness, and eating disorders. Giorgio is the only person in the whole story who tries to know Fosca on her own terms and listen to her; no one finds her physically attractive. You can guess that she falls in love with Giorgio, but he is already involved with Clara, a married woman. Fosca is upfront, desperate and nosy about Giorgio and Clara. Giorgio is quick to call her out on it, insisting that her appearance is no excuse for her behavior. The trouble is, Fosca doesn't have anyone, and did I mention the self-esteem issues? We learn in a flashback that she was deceived by a suitor and brought up by her parents to believe that a woman's only value is in her beauty. Given what her life is like, I'd humor her a little more if I were Giorgio.Here's the thing: Giorgio denounces Fosca's infatuation as shallow and unreasonable, but his relationship with Clara is just that. We don't learn why he started seeing Clara. When we see Giorgio and Clara together, they do little other than make out, but in the bulk of his scenes with Fosca, he's talking and thinking with her. Fosca is more of an intellectual, being a reader and pianist, while Clara gives Giorgio permission to ignore her without having met her; unaware that no one sympathizes with Fosca a) because of her appearance, and b) from a lack of understanding of her medical condition!As you can tell, this is a thinker's piece. Passion is difficult to swallow, but it raises important questions. For one, where do we draw the line between pardoning antisocial behavior due to past suffering and total accountability? Is Fosca so defeated by society that there's no way she can't passive-aggressively harass the objects of her desire? (I say yes.) One could argue about this play endlessly, and to me, that is when you know a piece of writing or art has done its job.

This has to be Sondheim's weakest work (with the possible exception of his last work, which I have never heard). As with most of his musicals, it suffers from a poor book (in fact, I think 'Forum' may be the only musical he wrote with a good book). But usually his work is saved by the wonderful music and lyrics. In this case both are dull, unimaginative, and even repetitive. Why on earth does he always take the worst material and try to turn it into a musical? In the past, it was crap like 'Merrily, We Roll Along' and 'Sweeney Todd'. He even managed to take one of the greatest films ever made, Smiles of Summer Night, and turned it into a trite, hackneyed, predictable story. But there we can blame the book writer for not staying true to the original material. Here he takes what was originally a highly mediocre Italian film and tries to turn it into something interesting. Well, he and Lapine once again failed at that. As to the performances, well they are all equally dull and uninteresting. Donna Murphy, in fact, belies the fragility of her character by belting out songs that could knock the walls off the theater. To say this is incongruous would be redundant. Jere Shea is just plain dull, and not very attractive. The rest of the cast is just plain dull. The direction, staging, costumes, lighting, etc. are all unimaginative. Hopefully this entire piece will just disappear from Sondheim's canon.

I'm going to go against the grain here. Now, I really love the work of Stephen Sondheim. Since my first experience with Sweeney Todd, his art has continued to surprise me. However, this play was possible his worst and I can see why it failed to find popular audience.In my opinion, this play sent out a terrible message to the audience. From personal experience, I realize how dangerous obsessive love can be. There is nothing romantic or passionate about obsession and the behavior Fosca presents. The entire romance is just plain frightening and creepy. Fosca would have been more sympathetic if she had suffered from unrequited love alone rather than obsession.Marin Mazzie (Clara) gives the strongest performance in this, and is the only thing I enjoyed about the play. Some of the music is nice, but definitely not Sondheim's best. The sets and costumes are rather boring as well. If you're looking from some good old Sondheim than I would suggest watching Sweeney Todd, Into the Woods, West Side Story, and Sunday in the Park with George. The music, appeal, and overall production is so much greater in those plays.

For some reason there's no credit given here for the 1981 Italian film this musical is based on - Ruggero Maccari and Ettore Scola's "Passione d'amore" - which, in turn, was based on the novel "Fosca" by Iginio Ugo Tarchetti. All versions are well worth checking out! :)