Opera

Name: Opera
Genre: Thriller, Horror, Mystery, Crime
Released: 1987-12-19
Duration: 1 h 47 min
Rating: 6.9
Cast: Cristina Marsillach, Ian Charleson, Urbano Barberini, Daria Nicolodi, Coralina Cataldi-Tassoni

Obsession. Murder. Madness.

Opera (1987)

Timing: 1:47 (107 min)

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no scores

6.8/10
535

6.9/10
22000

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All about film

Video 7

Photo 71

Actors and characters

Watch film Opera — Vintage Theatrical Trailer

0:58

Photo 71

Release date

1987-12-19

Country

Italy

Production

RAI, Cecchi Gori Group Tiger Cinematografica, ADC Films, C.G. Silver Film

Genre

Thriller, Horror, Mystery, Crime

Budget

$8 000 000

Revenue

Website

Director

Dario Argento

Actors

Cristina Marsillach, Ian Charleson, Urbano Barberini, Daria Nicolodi, Coralina Cataldi-Tassoni, Antonella Vitale, William McNamara, Barbara Cupisti, Antonino Iuorio, Carola Stagnaro
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Producer

Dario Argento, Ferdinando Caputo

Operator

Ronnie Taylor

Composer

Claudio Simonetti

Artist

Renato Lori, Antonio Tarolla

Audition

Editing

Franco Fraticelli, Alessandro Calosci, Verena Baldeo
All team (82)

Short description

A young opera singer is stalked by a deranged fan bent on killing the people associated with her to claim her for himself.

What's left behind the scenes

For the majority of the film, music by Giuseppe Verdi is used as the soundtrack.
The problems and difficulties that arose during the making of the film (including the death of one of the actors) led director Dario Argento to believe that the so-called "Curse of Macbeth" was to blame for everything. This refers to a superstition that pronouncing the surname "Macbeth" outside of lines in Shakespeare's play will bring a curse upon oneself.
According to Urbano Barberini, catching the crows that were released in the opera house after filming took several hours. About 140 birds were used, and approximately 60 were subsequently caught. The rest presumably flew out of the building during filming.
The role of Mara was initially assigned to actress Vanessa Redgrave, but she left the project shortly before filming began. After that, the script was rewritten, and the significance of this role noticeably decreased. According to actor William McNamara, Redgrave was cast in a role that would have taken no more than a week to film, and she left the project without ever appearing on set, although she was paid her full fee.
All of William McNamara's lines were dubbed by an actor of English origin. McNamara himself did not realize this until he watched the entire film, and said he should have guessed something was wrong, since there was no boom operator with a microphone on set during filming.
Daria Nicolodi (1950-2020) initially did not want to take on the role of Mira. She felt that the role was poorly written, and she had only recently broken up with Dario Argento, with whom she had been in a romantic relationship for many years. Ultimately, she agreed because she liked the scene of her character's death, although she later admitted that it was a little scary to film, as the actress was required to attach a tiny amount of explosive to the back of her head.
The ending of the film was shot in the same location as the beginning of Dario Argento’s other film, "Phenomenon."
Initially, Columbia Pictures planned to release the film in German cinemas in 1988, but censors demanded the removal of 25 minutes of footage (mainly scenes of violence), and the film was released directly to DVD, even though its theatrical release had already been officially announced.
The end of the film was shot in the same location as the beginning of another Argento film, "Phenomena".
The problems and misfortunes that arose during the production of the film (including the death of one of the actors) led director Dario Argento to believe that the cause was the so-called "curse of the Macbeths." This refers to the superstition that mentioning the name "Macbeth" outside the context of Shakespeare's play brings a curse upon oneself.
According to Urbano Barberini, catching the crows that had been released in the opera house took several hours after filming ended. About 140 birds were used, and approximately 60 were subsequently caught. The rest presumably flew out of the building during the filming process.
The role of Mara was initially assigned to actress Vanessa Redgrave, but she left the project shortly before filming began. Following this, the script was rewritten, and the significance of the role decreased noticeably. According to actor William McNamara, Redgrave was cast in a role that would have taken no more than a week to film, yet she left the project without ever appearing on set, even though her entire fee had been paid.
All of William McNamara's lines were dubbed by an actor of English descent. McNamara himself knew nothing of this until he watched the entire film; he remarked that he should have guessed something was wrong, as there had been no boom operator with a microphone on set during filming.
Daria Nicolodi (1950-2020) was initially reluctant to take on the role of Mira. She felt the role was poorly written, and moreover, she had only split up a couple of years prior with Dario Argento, with whom she had shared a romantic relationship for many years. Ultimately, she agreed because she liked the scene of her character's death, although she later admitted that filming the scene was quite frightening, as the actress was required to attach a tiny amount of explosive to the back of her head.