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Review: Andrea Bocelli, From Cradle to Stage in ‘The Music of Silence’

By Jeannette Catsoulis

Feb. 1, 2018

How much of “The Music of Silence” is true and how much fiction, only its inspiration, the singer Andrea Bocelli, knows for sure. Adapted from Mr. Bocelli’s 1999 novel of the same name (a story he has described as “similar to” his own life), this blah trudge from cradle to stage will be catnip to his fans and Ambien to everyone else.

Directed by Michael Radford (no stranger to corny, middle-of-the-road snoozers ) with more attention to chronology than creativity, the story dallies so long in its hero’s leafy Tuscan childhood that we’re more than halfway through before anything resembling a singing career materializes. Before then, we learn about the glaucoma that rendered him virtually blind, the soccer accident that exacerbated the condition and the love of music set aside in favor of a law degree.

Around him, primarily Italian actors gamely wrestle with thickly accented English dialogue, most of it hagiographic and all of it dull. The object of their admiration, meanwhile — here called Amos Bardi and played as an adult by Toby Sebastian — is a singularly bland talent, a mopey presence in cardigans and corduroy. Yet my sympathies are all with Mr. Sebastian: It can’t be easy to create a dynamic character when you’re unable to fully open your eyes.

The filmmakers have no such excuse. Not until Antonio Banderas arrives to play Maestro, the crucial voice coach who knocks Amos into shape, does this metronomic slog to stardom muster a pulse. He’s too late to save the movie, but he’s just in time to stop us from nodding off altogether.

Not rated. Running time: 1 hour 55 minutes.

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Film Review: ‘The Music of Silence’

Everything you never wanted to know about beloved Italian opera tenor Andrea Bocelli's early years, from the director of 'Il Postino.'

By Peter Debruge

Peter Debruge

Chief Film Critic

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People sometimes ask me whether it’s difficult reviewing movies made by filmmakers whom I’ve gotten to know personally, and the answer nearly always is: That’s why I don’t. It’s far easier to recuse oneself (that is, to claim “conflict of interest” and step away) than to run the risk of pulling one’s punches so as not to upset an acquaintance. “The Music of the Silence” is the exception, and it’s no pleasure to report that the film makes nearly every wrong decision imaginable, beginning with its source material — a mushy third-person memoir by Andrea Bocelli in which the Italian opera tenor describes how blindness, prejudice, and waves of humiliation and discouragement nearly convinced him (or a character blandly named Amos Bardi) to abandon singing altogether. A toothless ode to a still-living celebrity, it’s a film that may appeal to very young children and very old ladies, but seems sure to bore everyone in between.

I met director Michael Radford while serving on a film festival jury in Monte Carlo last year, and I found him to be as erudite and charming as they come: Unlike so many filmmakers, he was not a born cinephile, and did not see his first movie until he was nearly 20 years old. In the space where other directors so often distract themselves with a single-minded obsession for cinema, Radford is a more broad-ranging cultural omnivore, and his work is rich in its love of language (he is perhaps best known for “Il Postino,” about Chilean poet Pablo Neruda’s years of exile in Italy) and literature (his adaptation of George Orwell’s “1984” found fresh relevance upon its re-release last year).

Radford speaks fluid Italian, which explains why he returns again and again to the country in his films — from his debut, “Another Time, Another Place” (which he joking recalls inspiring a New York critic to advise, “Go see another movie!”), to 2004 Shakespeare adaptation “The Merchant of Venice” — and may have something to do with his choice of projects in “The Music of Silence,” a lugubrious and all-around joyless work of hagiography by any measure. If I seem less interested in Bocelli than I do in Radford (who comes to this project following the scandalous implosion of a film called “The Mule”), that’s simply because this vanity project gives us no reason to care about young Amos’ uphill struggle.

Because Amos is a one-dimensional stand-in for Bocelli, we know that the first few decades were tough, but that things turn out marvelously for him once he reaches the Sanremo Music Festival at age 34, where his performance of Italian rock star Zucchero’s “Miserere” achieved record scores. Like Bocelli, Amos is diagnosed with glaucoma as an infant, and loses his sight completely by the age of 12 — at which point, his mother (Luisa Ranieri) throws her hands to the heavens and breaks down in tears. What will her son do? (Why, he will become a world-famous pop-era singer, of course.)

Amos discovers music early and displays an aptitude for singing from a young age, but suffers an embarrassing setback when his voice cracks while singing at a family wedding. Should he give up singing? (Did Bocelli?) Later, after a detour spent studying law, he begins playing piano at a nightclub. His father (Jordi Mollà) asks an opera critic to come listen and offer his feedback. The professional sneers that Amos has no discipline and doesn’t stand a chance professionally, receiving a glass of water in the face as payment. Does that dissuade Amos? (Did it deter Bocelli?)

Finally, after a long first hour, Amos finds his maestro (Antonio Banderas), who hears potential in the largely untrained student, but insists that Amos not talk or sing except when absolutely necessary until such time as he learns how to use his voice properly. Banderas asks whether Amos has a girlfriend (he does) and whether she is “willing to accept the boring, extremely irritating person you will become after my lessons” (she is). A better question might be: Are we?

Not that Amos was ever very interesting or charming to begin with. As a young adult, he’s played by Toby Sebastian, one of the seemingly endless number of “Game of Thrones” bit players who’ve launched movie careers off the back of that popular HBO series. Sebastian is handsome enough, with big full lips and an adorable layer of baby fat, but his imitation of a shy, vision-impaired singer is frustrating. Perhaps the most fascinating aspect of Bocelli’s book is the fact that he doesn’t depict his blindness as a handicap, whereas Sebastian’s performance (so directed by Radford) treats it with far too much pathos, or else with such hollow aphorisms as, “The sun always comes out after the storm. Have faith, Amos!” (Over the end credits, we learn that Bocelli attributes his success to God and to love, but even if this is true, it doesn’t make for especially satisfying drama.)

The larger obstacle here is the decision to film Bocelli’s story in English, which requires a decent but uninteresting cast to deliver their lines through heavy accents. When it comes time for Amos to sing, there’s no hesitation to dub his voice — which never once appears to originate from within the actor’s chest — so why not allow the cast to speak their native language?

“The Music of Silence” is a film of many mysteries, though the most fascinating ones are not reflected on-screen. Who is this film for? If intended for Bocelli’s worldwide fans, why not incorporate the singer himself into the film’s telling in some high-concept way? If Bocelli’s following is greatest in his native Italy, why not make the film in Italian? And if it’s the music that interests most about Bocelli, why isn’t there less moping and more singing in the movie? If Radford and I had maintained some kind of friendship, I might be able to answer these questions for you here. At least I take some comfort in knowing that, like Bocelli, Radford knows how to bounce back from a bad review.

Reviewed online, Feb. 2, 2018. Running time: 115 MIN.

Production: (Italy) An Ambi Distribution release of an AMBI Media Group presentation of a Picomedia production, in collaboration with RAI Fiction, in association with Empyrean Pictures. Producers: Roberto Sessa, Andrea Iervolino, Monika Bacardi, Motaz M. Nabulsi. Executive producers: Joshua Skurla, Stefano Scozzese, Oscar Generale, Mirco Da Lio, Matteo Martone.
Crew: Director: Michael Radford. Screenplay: Anna Pavignano, Michael Radford, in collaboration with Andrea Bocelli. Camera (color): Stefano Falivene. Editor: Roberto Missiroli. Music: Gabriele Roberto, Cam Srl of the Sugar Group.
With: Toby Sebastian, Luisa Ranieri, Jordi Mollà, Ennio Fantastichini, Antonio Banderas. (English, Italian dialogue)

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The Music of Silence Reviews

The Sound of Silence is a stunning film visually about a singer with a fantastic voice, but the story is not all that exciting.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Apr 12, 2020

A compendium of self-help clichés, of melodramatic anecdotes about an artist who surely did not deserve such a stale production. [Full Review in Spanish]

Full Review | Aug 27, 2018

Everything is well enough made, but without any feeling of authenticity. [Full Review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Aug 26, 2018

The film, directed by Michael Radford, moves along parsimoniously... [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Mar 2, 2018

The Music Of Silence lacks emotional weight, developed characters, a coherent linear story, and sufficient enough acting to make a passable biopic of a living legend.

Full Review | Mar 2, 2018

Michael Radford directs, but his effort is more to show off the music than to delve into the souls of his characters with much complexity.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/10 | Feb 8, 2018

A toothless ode to a still-living celebrity, it's a film that may appeal to very young children and very old ladies, but seems sure to bore everyone in between.

Full Review | Feb 3, 2018

Mild Andrea Bocelli biopic lacks momentum.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Feb 2, 2018

... takes a mostly hagiographic approach, eschewing subtlety while traversing familiar territory about overcoming obstacles.

Full Review | Feb 2, 2018

The Music of Silence is the story of a talented man ... who simply waits for success to come to him.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Feb 2, 2018

A range-constricted slog through the dreariest of showbiz-ascension clichs.

Full Review | Feb 1, 2018

Even the true fan will become bored.

It's the cinematic equivalent of listening to opera in an elevator.

This blah trudge from cradle to stage will be catnip to his fans and Ambien to everyone else.

The assemblage of scenes that allegorically portray Andrea Bocelli's life are devoid of overarching meaning, making the film boring in a way that isn't even rectified by the constant overacting.

Full Review | Jan 30, 2018

The Music of Silence is a fascinating story, given a by-the-numbers telling.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Jan 25, 2018

Slow and corny musical biography of superstar blind tenor Andrea Bocelli

Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/4 | Jan 25, 2018

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The music of silence, common sense media reviewers.

Mild Andrea Bocelli biopic lacks momentum.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Promotes courage and perseverance.

A boy with failing eyesight, loved and supported b

A boy is accidentally hit in the eye with a soccer

During a brief make-out scene, a young couple kiss

Many scenes take place in a piano bar, so there

Positive Messages

Positive role models.

A boy with failing eyesight, loved and supported by his family, becomes an international singing superstar. Also passes the Italian bar to qualify as a lawyer (though we never see him work as one). Viewers see him work toward his goal, though not until rather late in the story. It's positive that he wasn't stopped by his vision loss, but steps taken to reach goal are a bit murky.

Violence & Scariness

A boy is accidentally hit in the eye with a soccer ball, hastening his blindness. Not graphic.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

During a brief make-out scene, a young couple kiss, and a girl strips to her bra. In another make-out scene, a young woman takes a young man into a room where other teens are kissing; it's implied that the pair has sex, but nothing graphic is shown before the camera cuts away.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Many scenes take place in a piano bar, so there's a fair amount of drinking and smoking, but usually not to excess. A young man does get drunk with a young woman and later toasts with his teacher.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that The Music of Silence is a biopic about internationally renowned singer Andrea Bocelli (played by Toby Sebastian as an adult), although he goes by the name Amos in the movie. The film is aimed at a kids-and-family audience, so while there's some drinking, smoking, and sexuality, it's all pretty mild. Characters make out (a young woman strips down to her bra) and are implied to have sex, but nothing beyond kissing is shown. And while several scenes take place in a piano bar (with the associated drinking and smoking), there's only one scene where anyone overdoes it. Bocelli's personal story -- despite losing his eyesight and struggling for many years to become a singer, he has gone on to sell more than 80 million records -- promotes perseverance. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

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There aren't any parent reviews yet. Be the first to review this title.

What's the Story?

In THE MUSIC OF SILENCE, an Italian boy with failing vision finds solace in music. He discovers that he has a beautiful singing voice, but then it changes with puberty, and he gives up on becoming an opera singer to study law. But eventually he returns to music and becomes Andrea Bocelli, one of the world's most successful opera performers. Toby Sebastian of Game of Thrones plays Bocelli; Luisa Ranieri and Jordi Mollà play his parents, and Antonio Banderas co-stars as his teacher.

Is It Any Good?

Nearly everything about this biopic (which was created in collaboration with its subject, Bocelli) feels scrubbed clean. The opening scene, in which an Italian father abandons his work when he learns that his son has been born and then runs through the farm yelling, "A son! A son!" would seem laughably stereotypical if Bocelli hadn't signed off on the whole thing. The Music of Silence has a compelling story at its center: A boy with failing eyesight, later completely blind, goes on to become one of the world's most popular opera singers. But the film, directed by Michael Radford , meanders from vignette to vignette, never building momentum or really making us feel Bocelli's struggle. If the film is to be believed, Bocelli (here called "Amos" and with a different last name, for reasons that are never explained) was so discouraged by his voice change at puberty that he gave up on his dream -- he never sought lessons or worked in any way to develop his gift until much later. But his portrait lacks personality. There's no attempt to put us inside his fading vision. We don't have a handle on who he really is, what drives him, or how he interacted with others. This is surprising, because Radford has made some fine films, including the gorgeous Il Postino and the sadly underrated 1984 . The Music of Silence , by contrast, has no discernible style. Its best moments are in Bocelli/Amos' family's unwavering support of him, as when his uncle throws a drink in a critic's face or when another relative pointedly slow-claps at a rival's performance. Squabbling brothers punching each other -- hard -- in the arm are welcome windows into characters' humanity, which are too few and far between in this film.

The performances by Bocelli/Amos' family members are fine, especially from Ranieri as his mother and Mollà as his father. Mollà's revelation of the depth of his emotion when his character is leaving his son at a school for the blind is the film's most effective moment. But as the grown Amos, Sebastian (who played Trystane Martell on Game of Thrones ) doesn't exactly drive the action. And the script doesn't help, providing Amos with little definition. Because we don't see him particularly trying to pursue his (apparent) dream of singing opera until late in the film, the exercise feels devoid of conflict -- as if Amos' own inertia was his main obstacle. Even a late appearance by Banderas as Amos' life-changing teacher doesn't significantly lift the film's energy. Bocelli fans will be sure to catch this one, but for most viewers, Music will feel aimless and too polite.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about how The Music of Silence portrays Bocelli's blindness. How does it compare to other representations of disabilities you've seen on-screen? Does it feel realistic? Do you think it gave a real picture of Bocelli's personal struggle?

How accurate do you think the movie is to actual events overall? Why might filmmakers decide to change the facts in a movie that's based on real life?

How does Bocelli exhibit courage and perseverance ? Why are those important character strengths ?

One of the most important aspects of any drama is conflict. What or who causes the conflict in this film? Is there an antagonist? What is the struggle?

Are you an opera fan? Why or why not? How can you distinguish among operatically trained voices to tell which are the "most beautiful"? Are your standards for opera singers different from your standards for pop singers?

Movie Details

In theaters : February 2, 2018
On DVD or streaming : August 7, 2018
Cast : Antonio Banderas , Toby Sebastian , Jordi Molla
Director : Michael Radford
Studio : AMBI Distribution
Genre : Drama
Topics : Music and Sing-Along
Run time : 127 minutes
MPAA rating : NR
Last updated : March 31, 2022

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‘the music of silence’: film review.

Toby Sebastian plays a thinly disguised Andrea Bocelli in 'The Music of Silence,' Michael Radford's biopic based on the opera singer's autobiographical novel.

By Frank Scheck

Frank Scheck

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Andrea Bocelli fans (and there are plenty of them, God knows) will probably adore Michael Radford’s hagiographical biopic about the famed blind tenor. But much as serious opera lovers know that Bocelli’s talents aren’t all they’re cracked up to be, discerning viewers will recognize The Music of Silence for the tediously sentimental, rote exercise that it is. It’s the cinematic equivalent of listening to opera in an elevator.

The film is based on a semi-autobiographical novel by Bocelli , which no doubt accounts for its endlessly self-regarding tendencies. The central character, dubbed “Amos Bardi ” (Tony Sebastian, Game of Thrones ), is a singer who constantly prompts awestruck listeners to make such proclamations as “I don’t think in my life I’ve heard anything like that!” And every woman who lays eyes on Amos rhapsodizes about how handsome he is.

Release date: Feb 02, 2018

After an opening sequence depicting Bardi going onstage in front of an adoring audience, the story flashes back to his 1938 birth in Tuscany, with his joyous father shouting, “It’s a boy!” It soon becomes apparent that there’s a problem with Amos, who doesn’t stop crying. He’s diagnosed with congenital glaucoma, able to see only shapes. Years later, an accident in which he’s hit in the face with a soccer ball leaves him totally blind.

Antonio Banderas Heading 'Beyond the Edge' With AMBI

Along the way, Amos meets, falls in love with and marries a beautiful woman, Elena (Nadir Caselli ), although their relationship nearly doesn’t come to pass because he fails to realize that the phone number she’s written on his hand belongs to her sister’s business and he assumes it’s fake. They run into each other not long afterwards, so everything turns out ok. That should give you an indication of the film’s idea of narrative tension.

Plodding along in uncompelling fashion from one familiar-feeling episode to the next, The Music of Silence is the sort of hopelessly old-fashioned biographical drama that makes the same director’s treacly Il Postino seem edgy by comparison. The film certainly looks pretty, thanks to the gorgeous Tuscan locations, but it’s scant compensation for the fuzzy storytelling and bland performances. It doesn’t help that most of the supporting players are Italian and obviously struggling with the English dialogue.

Not until Banderas arrives late in the proceedings does the film show any sign of life, however artificial. Employing his estimable charisma and infusing just enough subtle humor into his line readings to let the audience know that he’s in on the joke, the actor makes you wish the movie was all about him.

Production company: Picomedi Distributor: AMBI Distribution Cast: Toby Sebastian, Luis Ranieri , Jordi Molia , Ennio Fantasticini , Antonio Banderas , Nadir Caselli Director: Michael Radford Screenwriters: Michael Radford, Anna Pavignano Producers: Monika Bacardi, Andrea Iervolino , Motaz M. Nabulsi , Roberto Sessa Executive producers: Gaetano Daniele , Oscar Generale , Stefano Scozzese , Joshua Skurla Director of photography: Stefano Falivene Production designer: Francesco Frigeri Editor: Roberto Missiroli Costume designer: Paola Marchesin Composer: Gabriele Roberto Casting: Maria D’Elia , Sharon Howard-Field

115 minutes

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The Music of Silence (2017)

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The Music of Silence

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Antonio Banderas (Maestro) Jordi Mollà (Sandro) Toby Sebastian (Amos) Luisa Ranieri (Edi) Alessandro Sperduti (Adriano) Antonella Attili (signora Giamprini) Paola Lavini (Owner's wife) Francesca Prandi (Katia) Ennio Fantastichini (zio Giovanni) Francesco Salvi (Ettore)

Michael Radford

Born with a serious eye condition that eventually leads to his blindness, Bocelli nevertheless rises above the challenges, driven by great ambitions towards his passion. The silent pursuit of his daily mission continues.

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Movie Review: Bocelli learns to sing “The Music of Silence”

The writer and director of “Il Postino” turn their hands to the life of the world’s most popular tenor, Andrea Bocelli , in “The Music of Silence,” an old fashioned, corny film hagiography that may please the most ardent fans, who will be more tolerant of its lax pacing and high cheese content.

It’s based on Bocelli’s autobiographical “novel” of the same title, in which he tells his life story through that of Amos Parti, an alter ego who was also born blind, encouraged to love music and further encouraged to pursue it as a career until, Voila!, he is discovered and becomes famous.

The tale is loosely framed within Bocelli telling his life story, via email, backstage before a concert. That frame is more or less abandoned as the tale tediously unfolds, losing our interest long before its first truly magical moment.

We see his overjoyed Tuscan tractor-salesman father ( Jordi Molla ) shout “A boy! A boy!” as he abandons a possible sale on hearing the news of Amos’s birth, the mother ( Luisa Ranieri ) who insists something’s wrong with this baby who will not stop crying.

The doctors suggest it’ll take “a miracle” to let little Amos see, and many operations later, he’s at least able to go to boarding school. A stint as goal keeper (he can see blurred shapes) gets him smacked in the head, and that’s that.

As he grows up, an indulged child (his brother seems to get short shrift), Amos asserts his will, that he will need “no help” (he does) to get through school and into law school, that he won’t accept the sorts of jobs people like him take in the Italy of the 1970s.

“I’m not interested in jobs blind people do — telephone operator, masseuse, musician.”

But an adoring uncle ( Ennio Fantastichini ) introduces him to opera, the late “genius” Beniamino Gigli, and the child shows an aptitude. He stands out in the school chorus, wins talent shows, doing Neapolitan favorites like “O Sole Mio” and singing “Ave Maria” at weddings.

Every big break — the guitar-player who encourages him to co-write pop songs with him, the maestro (Antonio Banderas) who takes him on as a voice student — is highlighted.

“Do you have a girlfriend? Good . Maybe she can appreciate the boring and extremely difficult person you will become after my training.”

It’s that maestro who teaches the smoking, drinking, lounge-singing blind man to protect his voice and to appreciate “silence,” as if a 30something blind adult wouldn’t already know that.

All along the way, beautiful women are smitten by Amos, including the one ( Nadir Casselli ) who supports him through his second roughest patch. That would be when fame is dangled in front of him, and snatched away. The tougher moments? When his voice changed and the boy soprano had no sense that he would ever come back from that.

Michael Radford cast mostly Italian actors for this Italian TV co-production, and the English language version has them (a few Spaniards tossed in) muscling through heavily-accented English. That should have paid off better, but it lends a comically overwrought tone to every cornball line, as if Father Guido Sarducci was the on-set voice coach.

The first moments that take one out of the movie are when we’re supposed to be enraptured by the boy’s voice, and truthfully, it’s nothing special. Frankly, I’d have tightened-shortened the whole childhood half of the film. As pretty as scenes of boys playing soccer in the snow with a can (Amos can hear it and track it to kick it) or the Tuscan scenery or sequences of Amos driving a Vespa (a friend helps steer) might be, they drag.

The first hair-raising bit of movie magic comes in a club called “Boccacio ’70” (after the Fellini/DeSica film based on “Decameron”), when the lounge-singing Amos ( Tony Sebastian, handsome but bland) is joined, on stage, by an opera singer helping a friend celebrate her birthday. They launch into a lyric opera duet that sends chills.

The plummy, playful Banderas arrives in the third act, too late to lift the picture but not too late to liven up the perfunctory last steps Amos/Andrea takes up that ladder to fame.

Remember “Miserere?” That’s the operatic pop song that made Bocelli famous. Remember the 1950s bio-pic “The Great Caruso?” That, unfortunately, is the singer’s story model Radford hewed to when filming this. “Ray” would have been a better primer.

When Amos’s father apologizes, “I used to call you an idiot,” we wonder why that genuine conflict wasn’t in the film. The singer/auto-biographer doesn’t want to poor-mouth those close to him, and only half-heartedly finds villains in the producer who declares “You will NEVER be a singer!” and the opera critic who notes “Your voice lacks extension, power, color” to sing opera. Which critics say about the real Bocelli to this day.

Bocelli’s is a triumphant story, even if it isn’t as amazing when you realize how far a blind child from a family of wealth and culture can go with their support, and even if his popularity doesn’t convey the “greatest singer of his day” label his fans want him to wear.

“Music of Silence” can be forgiven all that, but not the generally bland performances and picturesque but dull way his story is told.

MPAA Rating: unrated, adult situations, smoking

Cast: Toby Sebastian, Luisa Ranieri, Jordi Molla, Antonio Banderas, Nadir Caselli

Credits:Directed by Antonio Banderas, script by Anna Pavignano and Michael Radford, based on Andrea Bocelli’s book. An Ampi release.

Running time: 1:55

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Review: Andrea Bocelli biopic ‘The Music of Silence’ hits all the wrong notes

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Merging pop and opera, blind Italian singing phenomenon Andrea Bocelli has become one of the biggest global entertainers. The new authorized biopic “The Music of Silence,” however, is a range-constricted slog through the dreariest of showbiz-ascension clichés.

Inexplicably, the story is presented — with Bocelli appearing in bracketing scenes — as an alter ego saga about a sight-afflicted Tuscan boy named Amos (played as an adult by Toby Sebastian) who turns a childhood of loneliness and singing promise into a dead-end gig at a piano bar, until rigorous tutelage under an unnamed maestro (Antonio Banderas) triggers a shot at the big time.

And yet there’s never a sense from the hackneyed screenplay by director Michael Radford and Anna Pavignano what music, opera, art, great composers, performing, anything, means to Amos/Andrea as a life force, a reason for existing. The score has all the heft of Muzak, or it serves as a succession of opera signifiers: “O Sole Mio” is a competition tune; “Ave Maria” is sung at a wedding; and “Nessun Dorma,” sung in front of millions, signifies achieved fame.

Far from suggesting a hardship overcome to fulfill a passion, the movie has the privileged air of annoyingly delayed stardom, born out by Sebastian’s generally mopey petulance, and characters — Italian actors reciting embarrassing dialogue in English — primarily there to coddle our hero. When Banderas shows up, easily exuding authority and personality, it’s practically a relief. Otherwise, the pedestrian filmmaking and community-theater pacing mostly recalls PBS pledge drives hawking Bocelli records.

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‘The Music of Silence’

Running time: 1 hour, 55 minutes

Playing: Laemmle Music Hall, Beverly Hills

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THE MUSIC OF SILENCE: A Squandered Opportunity

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Alex Arabian is a freelance film journalist and filmmaker. His…

Virtually everyone on earth who was born before the year 2000 has heard of Andrea Bocelli. To date, the famed opera tenor has sold over 80 million records worldwide. The blind singer has the voice of an angel. He has performed for multiple popes, presidents, and royalty around the world, overcoming his disability, enduring hardships, and rising to the top from humble beginnings.

Based on Bocelli’s autobiography, La musica del silenzio , and in collaboration with Bocelli himself, Michael Radford ( Il Postino , Merchant of Venice ), directs and co-writes along with Anna Pavignano ( Elsa & Fred ) The Music Of Silence . Starring Antonio Banderas , Toby Sebastian ( Game of Thrones , BarleyLethal ), Luisa Ranieri ( Letters to Juliet ), Jordi Mollà ( Bad Boys II , Blow ), and Ennio Fantastichini ( Loose Cannons , Open Doors ), the project has all the ingredients of a successful feature.

Unfortunately, somewhere during the process of translating the material from paper to film, the story falls apart and loses its sincerity. Bocelli deserves a much better onscreen treatment, though it is a bit odd that the 59-year-old is already getting a biopic made about him. One would also expect more from Oscar-nominee Radford . So, what exactly makes The Music Of Silence a subpar biopic of a living legend?

The acting is largely underwhelming, the dialogue stale, the transitions between scenes are choppy, the time jumps rough, and the runtime is overlong. The film isn’t a total mess, however; Toby Sebastian as Amos (Bocelli) gives an outstanding performance, the audience has an opportunity to hear some of Bocelli’s earlier, unreleased original songs, and Radford’s direction provides occasionally beautifully-shot set pieces with some sweeping backdrops.

Tawdry Writing

Pavignano and Radford , both of who were nominated for an Oscar in the category of Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published for Il Postino , have more than proved themselves capable of crafting thoughtful dialogue. One can’t help but wonder what exactly is missing in this adaption. Much of the dialogue by the secondary characters doesn’t feel natural. A lot of this is likely the result of the screenwriters’ desire to write the film in English to reach a wider audience; phrases, sayings, and words never translate exactly across languages and culture, and the result can appear blunt when what is written on paper is spoken in a different language.

THE MUSIC OF SILENCE: A Squandered Opportunity

Aside from Banderas and Sebastian , who are English, The Music Of Silence boasts a predominantly Italian cast, and it would have been nice to see them act in their native language. It isn’t just that things get lost in translation, however. The writing comes off as inauthentic, aside from the lines that are given to Sebastian and Banderas . Furthermore, one of the only constants, the retrospective narration, beautifully written, seems to vanish a third of the way into The Music Of Silence . The viewer isn’t introduced to the adult Amos ( Sebastian ) until almost halfway into the film, showing a lopsided focus on Bocelli’s childhood.

The Problem With Biopics

Biopics are always tricky; condensing someone’s life into a feature length film almost never does that person’s story justice. Stanley Tucci once told me , “I don’t like [biopics], I never liked them; you can’t cram somebody’s life into – you could do six episodes, or eight episodes of a life – but you couldn’t do two hours, it’s just stupid.” The Music Of Silence certainly doesn’t provide any arguments against his theory.

There are plot points that are introduced throughout the film that are set up as a seemingly important part of the story going forward but are never addressed or nurtured further, such as Amos’ friendship with Adriano ( Alessandro Sperduti ), Amos’ ignoring of his wife, Eleonora ( Nadir Caselli ) while he pursues his career, and the subplot of Amos and Eleonora’s quest to conceive a child.

Radford’s narrative time jumps in The Music Of Silence are off-putting and done without finesse. When put together, they don’t tell an emotive story worthy of Bocelli’s hardships that he endured to get where he is today as one of the most respected artists. The story doesn’t focus enough on Amos’ blindness, or rather, his struggle adjusting to his loss of sight to give The Music Of Silence the emotional payoff it needs. Perhaps most baffling is the film’s abrupt ending. The best part is the compilation of pictures and videos of Andrea Bocelli through the years after the film ends.

It is clear that the secondary cast didn’t connect to the source material enough to be completely present in each scene. They don’t leave an impact, and characters come and go, reappear later in the story, aged. It’s an odd juxtaposition the central figures in Amos’ life that doesn’t have much rhyme or reason to it. Il Maestro, played by Banderas , a resoundingly important figure in Bocelli’s life is introduced towards the end of The Music Of Silence , which is rather odd. If the film had not focused so much on banal parts of Amos’ childhood, then it could have centered in on the important relationship between Amos and Il Maestro. For what it’s worth, Sebastian as Amos gives a career-best performance, and is the clear standout in the film.

The Music of Silence : A Disjointed And Inferior Biopic

It’s rare to see so much talent involved in a creative project, but have the collaboration fall short of success. The screenwriting duo behind Il Postino , Michael Radford and Anna Pavignano needed to polish the script considerably more before Radford brought Bocelli’s story to life. It is certainly nice to see the humble beginnings that Bocelli arose from, and the new songs that the audience is introduced to are enjoyable, but the film just doesn’t stick. The Music Of Silence lacks emotional weight, developed characters, a coherent linear story, and sufficient enough acting to make a passable biopic of a living legend.

Are you a fan of Andrea Bocelli’s music? Have you read his autobiography? What did you think of Radford’s film adaption? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!

The Music Of Silence was released theatrically and on VOD on February 2, 2018 in the US. For all international release dates, see here .

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Alex Arabian is a freelance film journalist and filmmaker. His work has been featured in the San Francisco Examiner, The Playlist, Awards Circuit, and Pop Matters. His favorite film is Edward Scissorhands. Check out more of his work on makingacinephile.com!

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The Music of Silence (2017) Review

I was able to see an early screening of The Music of Silence thanks to my friends at AIM Publicity , ahead of today’s release.

The film is based on the 1999 novel by Andrea Bocelli which was freely adapted from his real life experiences, and directed by Michael Radford (Dancing at the Blue Iguana). Radford co-writes the film, alongside Anna Pavignano (Casomai) and they do a marvellous job with this writing, something I will bring up again later. Using the alter-ego of Amos Bardi, a character that is fully inspired by Andrea Bocelli himself, the film follows the life of Bocelli, and is enlightening and insightful, and shows us sides of the man that many, including myself, would be unaware of.

What struck me immediately about The Music of Silence was the incredibly beautiful cinematography from Stefano Falivene (Just Like My Son). It looks absolutely glorious and doesn’t stop looking this way for its delicate, powerful and poignant 115 minutes. The sheer fitting poetry of the surroundings and locations that we see in the film act as a visual reminder of the real beauty of the world that Amos is missing out on, yet is able to counter and find beauty and passion in the areas locked away for many of us.

The film begins at the beginning of Amos’s life. His parents are immediately aware of a discomfort that the baby seems to be in, and when tested they find he was born with congenital glaucoma which required surgery. The surgeries are unable to cure the issue, and the vision of Amos only deteriorates. He is, for a while during his young years, able to see slightly out of one of his eyes. It is during this time that we see Amos going through life at a school for those with sight disabilities. This is where, with the nudging and nurturing of his uncle, Amos discovers his true passion for singing. While he had found a love for opera earlier, his passion for singing, and dream of becoming an opera singer, truly begins here as he sings in the choir and goes on to win a local singing competition. These early moments of seeing him discover his passion and the people around him reacting to his amazing talent are moving and really enjoyable, they offer an insight into the early life of Andrea Bocelli. Seeing the things he had to go through, the hardships and frustrations that came with his visual impairments, is very powerful. There is a scene in which Amos eventually loses the sight in the one eye he could previously see from somewhat. This scene, in which his mother reacts with heartbreak and Amos is stunned at his sudden loss of total sight, is incredibly strong and one of the most moving parts of the whole film. The parents of Amos, Sandro Bardi (Jordo Molia) and Edi (Luisa Ranieri) are excellent, especially Ranieri who offers a number of moments, like the one I mentioned above, that are really sad and done with a rich subtlety.

We move on to the teenage years of Amos and his growth as a person and singer. He meets Adriano (Alessandro Sperduti) and the two boys begin a strong friendship together, even starting a band with Amos singing in his operatic style and Adriano playing acoustic guiatar. With the help of a tutor he graduates high school and begins singing and playing piano at a piano bar in the evenings. The band with Adriano isn’t getting the response that he wants, with people confused by the sound of opera and folksy guitar together. He is frustrated but eventually unleashes the passion he has inside him and the response from the audience in the bar is very strong. It is here that Amos meets Eleonora (Nadir Caselli) and a relationship begins between them. This portion of the film follows his growing relationship with Eleonora. He is also told by a buffoonish opera critic that he is without talent and would never make it as a singer. This brings him down and puts a hold on his passion for opera. He studies law and with the help of his old tutor he graduates. His love for music taking a back-seat, his confidence not what it once was.

Amos, while at a period of merely playing piano for some extra cash, is introduced to Maestro (Antonio Banderas) and his life changes. With dedication and focus he helps Amos train his voice and it is here that the title of the film, The Music of Silence, begins to make sense.

“Music of silence will be your guide through the interior of yourself”, the Maestro says, and we are given insight into Amos’s training, and how the true passion and relentless will to succeed will push him forward. This changes his life, and the final act of the film follows him down his path, an up and down one, to success and becoming one of the most famous tenors in history. I won’t go too deep into the how’s and why’s and what’s here, because seeing it all unfold is wonderful and it’s nicer going into it without much knowledge of the order of things or the exact happenings.

I have to speak about Toby Sebastian (Game of Thrones) who plays Amos from his early teen years until the final moments of the film when Amos in in his 30s. His performance is the heart and soul of this film. He brings a real emotional depth to the character of Amos Bardi, and the likeness and resemblance to Andrea Bocelli in so many scenes is uncanny. He brings a realism to the role, and his dedicated and wonderfully realised portrayal made this film more than “just a movie” for me. I thought he was absolutely brilliant. The cast are generally very good, with Banderas also excellent as the Maestro, but it is Sebastian that shines above all others. Spectacular.

This is perhaps an enlightening fact in the sense that many of the other characters aren’t given a great deal of attention and the relationship between Amos and Eleranora, while explored somewhat, isn’t perhaps explored enough. It could have gone deeper into the frustrations and hurdles that they would have had to overcome during the course of their relationship, but it only does this a small amount. I would have liked more. There aren’t many friendships explored either, and I thought there would be a deeper bond shown between Amos and his uncle that began but didn’t necessarily lead anywhere on screen. These things though are only slight issues, because I enjoyed this immensely, and with the cinematography, music, performances and story, it was an invigorating thing to watch.

The writing is something I also liked. There’s a real music to the words many of the characters utter at times, and I appreciated this. The dialogue is just wonderfully written and makes the whole thing feel high quality. Without this writing and the outstanding lead performance, this might not be as good as it turned out to be, but with those elements, and sequences that are moving and beautiful, the film becomes a great thing, an exceptional portrayal of an artist and musical genius.

I have seen countless biopics through the years and this stands among them as a fine film that really shines with the heartfelt tale of tragedy, overcoming obstacles, passion, love and music. It’s a joyous slice of cinema that I recommend to anyone who enjoys opera or wants to discover more about the life of Andrea Bocelli.

Dear Veronica, my dear children, Every life is a wonderful story worthy of being told. Every life is a work of art, and if it does not seem so, perhaps it is only necessary to illuminate the room that contains it. The secret is never to lose faith, to have confidence in God’s plan for us, revealed in the signs with which He shows us the way. If you learn to listen, you will find that each life speaks to us of love. Because love is the key to everything, the engine of the world. Here is the secret behind every note that I sing. And never forget that there is no such thing as happenstance.

The Music of Silence is available from today on DVD.

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Film Review: ‘The Music of Silence’

I met director Michael Radford while serving on a film festival jury in Monte Carlo last year, and I found him to be as erudite and charming as they come: Unlike so many filmmakers, he was not a born cinephile, and did not see his first movie until he was nearly 20 years old. In the space where other directors so often distract themselves with a single-minded obsession for cinema, Radford is a more broad-ranging cultural omnivore, and his work is rich in its love of language (he is perhaps best known for “Il Postino,” about Cuban poet Pablo Neruda’s years of exile in Italy) and literature (his adaptation of George Orwell’s “1984” found fresh relevance upon its re-release last year).

Radford speaks fluid Italian, which explains why he returns again and again to the country in his films — from his debut, “Another Time, Another Place” (of which he joking remembers New York Times critic Bosley Crowther’s diss: “that is what people who go to see it would probably like it to be”), to 2004 Shakespeare adaptation “The Merchant of Venice” — and may have something to do with his choice of projects in “The Music of Silence,” a lugubrious and all-around joyless work of hagiography by any measure. If I seem less interested in Bocelli than I do in Radford (who comes to this project following the scandalous implosion of a film called “The Mule”), that’s simply because the movie gives us no reason to care about young Amos’ uphill struggle.

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Toby Sebastian Reveals What ‘Terrified’ Him About Playing Andrea Bocelli In New Biopic & More

HollywoodLife.com talked EXCLUSIVELY with actor Toby Sebastian about taking on the role of legendary opera singer Andrea Bocelli in the biopic 'The Music of Silence.'

The Music of Silence is now in theaters and VOD/Digital HD. The film is based on the true story of Andrea Bocelli , who overcame all obstacles as a young blind boy to become one of the world’s best opera singers. Toby Sebastian , who played Trystane Martell on Game of Thrones , tackles the role of the music icon with ease. In addition to Toby, the movie stars Luisa Ranieri , Jordi Mollà , Ennio Fantastichini , and Antonio Banderas . The Music of Silence is directed by Academy Award nominee Michael Radford . The Music of Silence will feature songs that Bocelli composed when he was young that have never been released.

HollywoodLife.com talked EXCLUSIVELY with Toby about playing Andrea, who has sold over 80 million records worldwide. Toby got the opportunity of a lifetime to meet and talk to Andrea before filming the biopic. He admits there was a pressure in playing a real person, but working with Andrea helped ease his fears. Toby also talks working with his childhood hero — Antonio! Check out our Q&A below!

How did you research and prepare for the role of one of the greatest singers our all-time? Toby Sebastian: There are so many factors involved in playing anyone, a real person is a huge one, let alone the fact that he’s still alive. Then of course there’s trying to show the ages of 15 to 34 in an authentic way and show him becoming more mature. I had seven weeks before we started filming. The good thing about someone famous and current is that there’s YouTube. There’s thousands of videos and tons of articles to read on him. Best of all, before I even started filming, I flew off to Tuscany to Forte dei Marmi, where he lives. I basically spent five days with him, which was just an absolute dream. I got to watch him, watch the way he moves, and see who he really is as a person and with his family in his home. Those few days that I had with him… without that I couldn’t have done the job that I did. He was incredibly welcoming and invited me into his home with open arms.

There is such a responsibility taking on a real person and one who was still alive. I’m sure spending that time with him alleviated a lot of that pressure. Toby Sebastian: Yeah, it did. I was terrified in a good way, though. I feel like, as an actor, if I’m not a little scared or on my toes, it’s not as exciting and I feel like there’s something wrong. It felt right and felt fantastic, but that fear was definitely there and healthy. I remember calling up my parents before I started filming and just going through the several Italian songs I had to sing, and I basically watched him sing those songs to me and I thought, “Wow, have I bitten off more than I can chew?” This is such a big thing and everyone is going to watch it because it’s Andrea Bocelli. He calmed me down completely, and I had a lot of confidence after I met him because I got to film him, watch him, and talk to him. It was wonderful.

Did you have to learn music for the role? Toby Sebastian: I had to learn the songs that I sang in the film, but they obviously had someone better to sing them: Andrea Bocelli. I sang them for real, but they just took the sound off and played his actual recording. I had to learn those songs in Italian and that was pretty difficult because I don’t speak any Italian. Just a tiny, tiny bit of Spanish.

You’ve worked with tons of great actors on Game of Thrones , what was it like working with Antonio Banderas in The Music of Silence ? Toby Sebastian: It was wonderful. He’s incredibly giving as an actor, and I really got a lot from him. He went beyond meeting me halfway. I also have to admit, which I did to him after a few days of playing it cool, that he was my childhood hero, Zorro. I’d be standing next to him and tell my family, “I’m working with Zorro.” But he was lovely. He just upped my game hugely. I think that’s what it’s really with a lot of great actors. It only makes you better.

What was it like having him on set? Toby Sebastian: I never worked with him [filming his cameo] because I obviously wasn’t in any shots with him, but he did come onto set. I would like to say that it was kind of scary and intimidating, but it wasn’t. I’d already had those few days with him and had kind of become friends with him, which sounds crazy, but it’s true. By the time I had started filming, I was in a good place.

With Game of Thrones coming to an end what was your experience like on that show? Toby Sebastian: It’s such a huge show, and there’s a lot of people involved. There’s a real feeling of pressure because you don’t want to screw anything up really. To come and play a part in something that’s been wonderful for several seasons, and considering this is the first time the fans have seen a character from the books that they love so much come to life, you feel like you’re potentially going to step on people’s toes. But they’re a wonderful group of people, the scale of it is huge, and once you get over that, it’s kind of plain sailing. It was a life-changing experience. I’ll never forget it.

HollywoodLifers , are you going to go see The Music of Silence ? What do you think of Andrea’s music? Let us know!

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The Music of Silence

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Mark Leeper's Reviews Mark R. Leeper Michael Radford directs, but his effort is more to show off the music than to delve into the souls of his characters with much complexity.
Common Sense Media Michael Ordoña Mild Andrea Bocelli biopic lacks momentum.
Movie Nation Roger Moore Slow and corny musical biography of superstar blind tenor Andrea Bocelli
Mark Reviews Movies Mark Dujsik The Music of Silence is the story of a talented man ... who simply waits for success to come to him.
Cinema Crazed Emilie Black The Sound of Silence is a stunning film visually about a singer with a fantastic voice, but the story is not all that exciting.
Variety Peter Debruge A toothless ode to a still-living celebrity, it's a film that may appeal to very young children and very old ladies, but seems sure to bore everyone in between.
Los Angeles Times Robert Abele A range-constricted slog through the dreariest of showbiz-ascension clichs.
Hollywood Reporter Frank Scheck It's the cinematic equivalent of listening to opera in an elevator.
New York Times Jeannette Catsoulis This blah trudge from cradle to stage will be catnip to his fans and Ambien to everyone else.
Film Inquiry Alex Arabian The Music Of Silence lacks emotional weight, developed characters, a coherent linear story, and sufficient enough acting to make a passable biopic of a living legend.
Cinemalogue Todd Jorgenson ... takes a mostly hagiographic approach, eschewing subtlety while traversing familiar territory about overcoming obstacles.
Film Journal International Shirley Sealy Even the true fan will become bored.
Birth.Movies.Death. Leigh Monson The assemblage of scenes that allegorically portray Andrea Bocelli's life are devoid of overarching meaning, making the film boring in a way that isn't even rectified by the constant overacting.

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Silence 2: The Night Owl Bar Shootout

Release date: 16 april, 2024.

Silence 2: The Night Owl Bar Shootout Movie

Silence 2: The Night Owl Bar Shootout is scheduled to be released on 16 April, 2024. ACP Avinash Verma (Manoj Bajpayee) and his SCU are called upon by the Commissioner of Police to investigate a mass shoot-out at the Night Owl Bar in Mumbai. Layers begin to peel at something ... bigger, deeper, and darker at play.

Manoj Bajpayee: “Compliments or criticism, you can’t take it to your head because…”

Articles (4).

Photos: Manoj Bajpayee and Prachi Desai snapped shooting for Silence 2: The Night Owl Bar Shootout in Bandra

Silence 2 The Night Owl Bar Shootout

Photos: Manoj Bajpayee and Prachi Desai snapped promoting Silence 2: The Night Owl Bar Shootout

Silence 2: The Night Owl Bar Shootout | Official Trailer | A ZEE5 Original | Premieres 16 April 2024

Photos: Manoj Bajpayee, Prachi Desai and others snapped at Silence 2: The Night Owl Bar Shootout trailer launch

Manoj Bajpayee Leads Silence 2: The Night Owl Bar Shootout Premiering Soon on ZEE5 Global

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'Abigail' Review: Radio Silence's Vampire Flick Is All Guts, No Glory

Alisha Weir and Dan Stevens shine in a shallow if bloody new monster movie.

The Big Picture

Abigail offers a mix of horror subgenres, keeping audiences on their toes with twists and turns.
The film shines with a zany cast of characters and intense action sequences directed by Radio Silence.
Melissa Barrera's portrayal falls flat, lacking depth compared to the rest of the cast.

If there’s one vampire movie that’s poised to take the world by storm, it’s Radio Silence ’s Abigail , the story of a sweet little ballerina hiding a monstrous facade underneath. The film is highly anticipated not just for fans of the Ready or Not directors, but for horror fans in general, as the duo behind the last two Scream films helm their very own Universal Monster movie. The new film, starring Melissa Barrera , Dan Stevens , Kathryn Newton , and more joins a long legacy of monster movies, adding yet another vampire to a long and storied canon.

Anyone familiar with horror films knows that it’s beyond stupid to kidnap a monster — including the audience at Overlook Film Festival, where I attended the film’s world premiere — but that’s not the case for the crew of Abigail , who spirit the young ballerina ( Alisha Weir ) away to a country estate, in hopes of trading her for fifty million dollars. Naturally, things take a turn as fast as you can say Nosferatu , and there’s no shortage of twists and turns as the lights go out and bodies start to drop .

After a group of criminals kidnap the ballerina daughter of a powerful underworld figure, they retreat to an isolated mansion, unaware that they're locked inside with no normal little girl.

The film plays with a lot of subgenres — locked door mystery, slasher film, haunted house, alongside the obvious vampire story — that it almost seems like Radio Silence couldn’t decide what their favorite was and opted for a taster menu of everything. That works in its favor occasionally, especially since its monstrous little ballerina, surprisingly, takes up so little of its screen time. Turning such a zany cast of characters against each other House on Haunted Hill style is an inspired if oft-overused idea, especially considering the level of talent Universal managed to wrangle.

'Abigail's Crew Is Delightfully Quirky for a Horror Film

Kathryn Newton follows up her overlooked performance in Lisa Frankenstein as Sammy , the crew’s bimbo (I say that with affection) techie, tied with the late Angus Cloud for best comedic relief. (It’s devastating to know that we’ll never get more from the latter, and that we didn’t even get more from him in this specific film, hilarious as he is.) The two pair with Kevin Durand to make up the standard brainless half of the crew, while Barrera and Stevens make up the qualified serious side. Stevens is, naturally, as unhinged as ever as the ruthless and intelligent Frank, echoing bits of his performances in Legion and The Guest to spectacularly entertaining effect.

In fact, Abigail is at its best when it pits the Downton Abbey alum against Weir’s vampire , with both operating on a level of batshit the rest of the cast can only dream of. Neither has any qualms about biting into the material they’re given (pun intended) with relish, and it makes me grateful that Stevens has seemingly bypassed the traditional action hero/male lead career path in favor of playing what I can only describe as fucked up little guys with severe God complexes. Similarly, Radio Silence are at their best as directors when they lean hard into the gore of it all, imploding vampires like pop bottles someone stuck a pack of Mentos into.

Melissa Barrera Doesn’t Quite Reach Final Girl Status in 'Abigail'

Barrera, unfortunately, is the only snag in the film’s otherwise pleasantly schlocky fabric . Her performance, compared to the rest of her castmates, is uninspired and flat, reminiscent more of a first read-through than a final film. From moment one, it’s obvious to the audience that she’s the Important Character, but not in any way that allows her to earn any amount of sympathy. She is simply there to be conventionally attractive and fill the final girl role, and doesn’t seem like she’s even interested in doing that, a hard one-eighty from her performance in Scream .

It’s entirely unsurprising where the story goes for her, which becomes all the more predictable given her rote "straight-man" routine. At least Stevens gets to go a little apeshit — she just passively snarks and acts above it all . She’s the robot in a crew of Roger Rabbit characters, reading out exposition and monologues with a stiffness that would make even C-3PO jealous. She has very little life to her, and I never fear for her even once over the course of the film in the way I mourn the other characters who find themselves being picked off one by one. If nothing else, her being thrown around like a ragdoll by the film’s vampires is a welcome respite from learning anything more about what’s already a cardboard cutout of a character.

I’m not sure if it’s the Riverdale -adjacent Gen-Z style of acting or if I just keep watching movies with building block scripts that make for stories that don’t push the limits nearly as much as they could. There are points of Abigail that feel very much like paint-by-numbers horror , filled with exposition dumps that effectively took me out of the gooey, bloody narrative in their need to cut tension. It’s symptomatic of big-budget studio horror, which feels the need to hold the audience’s hand so they aren’t too scared at the end of everything.

To their credit, Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett do their best with that limited narrative palette , and it does make me wonder if Stevens will become a frequent collaborator of theirs, given how much fun he seemed to be having soaked in fake blood. Their action sequences are perhaps the best and most entertaining of all the films I saw at Overlook, and I can’t disparage anyone too much when they’ve admitted to using a blood cannon to achieve their desired level of gore.

While their trademark meta-ness might not land in Abigail , for a Friday night popcorn movie, there’s a lot to enjoy, especially Weir, who makes such a sharp turn away from her role in Matilda that she nearly seems like an entirely different person — or vampire. She’s a solid addition to the canon of vampires, and if nothing else, she gives little old Claudia a run for her money.

Abigail is a vampire movie at its best when it leans into the gore and a delightful performance by Dan Stevens.

The film's comic relief, brought to life by Kathryn Newton and Angus Cloud, is effectively hilarious.
Dan Stevens and Alisha Weir are each spectacular, proving to be the chaotic duo the film benefits most from.
Directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett craft some great action sequences that never skimp on the gore.
Melissa Barrera doesn't bring the same depth to her performance with the character ultimately falling flat.
With a building block script, the film doesn't push the limits nearly as much as it could.

Abigail had its World Premiere at the 2024 Overlook Film Festival. It comes to theaters in the U.S. starting April 19. Click below for showtimes.

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In the romantic comedy “Música,” Rudy is a young man who experiences the world through sound. In his ears, everyday noises become symphonies of life, a daily rhythm that distracts him from class and his girlfriend Haley ( Francesca Reale ). His mother Maria ( Maria Mancuso ) suggests Rudy date someone from their Brazilian community in Newark, New Jersey. After rebelling against these demands, he meets a fellow Brazilian American named Isabella ( Camila Mendes ) at a local fish market, and with that, Rudy starts to hear a new tune, one that’s music to his ears.

“Música” delivers what it promises: a love story, musical numbers, and a celebration of Brazilian culture, starting with the movie’s color-coded poster that reflects the country’s green, yellow and white flag. Through Rudy, a character based on the film’s writer and director Rudy Mancuso, we get a sense of his experience with synesthesia, a condition where sensory stimulus leads to a second sensory stimulus, i.e. a person can taste colors or hear something that triggers a visual response. Rudy experiences the latter, where everyday sounds of traffic, airplanes, kids playing in a park, people talking, and going about their lives are loud enough to disrupt his thoughts, and in the film, his experience is illustrated by musical numbers that use everyday objects as instruments in the style of the recently departed off-Broadway show “Stomp.” It’s a little “All That Jazz” in the way that Mancuso uses song and dance to illustrate his struggles to connect with others and live up to their expectations. Mancuso, who composed the music behind “Música,” uses puppetry, animation and innovative production design to further his creative vision. Some songs and sequences don’t always hit the right notes—the songs the busker sings at the train station are among the movie’s weakest points. But then there are show-stopping moments—like a long take of Rudy running around town to keep the three women in his life happy using different settings and props—that are truly impressive, elevating this romantic comedy a cut above the straightforward “boy-meets-girl” setups that treat visual style like an afterthought.

Despite a few unfinished edges and missteps, there’s much to savor in Mancuso’s feature debut. In addition to the film’s romantic plot, Mancuso, who co-wrote the film with Dan Lagana , explores his own connection to Brazilian culture. He easily slips between speaking English and Portuguese on several occasions; even on a date, he saves room for his mother’s home cooked feijoada; bossa nova beats and samba dance moves are woven seamlessly into the film’s musical fabric, and in one hilarious sequence at a restaurant, he gulps several rounds of cachaça, perhaps the most in any American movie. Mancuso also addresses some of the thornier sides to sticking so close to home, like how his mother Maria (played by Mancuso’s real mother) insists he settle down with another Brazilian girl. He also faces Haley’s parents’ ignorance about his country when they assume he speaks Spanish like their Central American housekeeper, and Rudy has to consider whether to correct them or let it slide to keep the peace. It’s likely that more than a few second and third generation children of immigrants will find something to relate to in Mancuso’s film, but at the same time, it feels so unique because of how rarely we see the Brazilian-American experience on screen.

That celebratory spirit extends to Mancuso’s relationship with scene-stealing co-star, his mom. Their dynamic in the film is even livelier than Rudy’s dates with Isabella, which feel more like a glowing idealized version of what could be, and Haley, the girlfriend whose goals and plans for the future no longer align with what our main character wants. He wonders about leaving his mother after college and is clearly very close with her despite her dismissal of his artistic pursuits and disapproval of his dating choices, which may sound like familiar feedback from some of our own parents. Over the credits, Mancuso’s childhood photos unfold alongside the names and titles of the cast and crew, making “Música” feel as much of a love letter to her as it is to the music that inspires him and the culture that shaped him. Right to the end, “Música” becomes more than just another bland romcom. It’s about finding love when living with a disability, it’s about finding music wherever it may be, and it’s about our connection to our culture and our family.

On Prime Video now.

Monica Castillo

Monica Castillo is a critic, journalist, programmer, and curator based in New York City. She is the Senior Film Programmer at the Jacob Burns Film Center and a contributor to RogerEbert.com .

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Música (2024)

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Camila Mendes as Isabella

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What Silence Means To Manoj, Prachi

When Silence: Can You Hear It released in 2021, it got some good reviews . The song-less thriller, by ad-woman-turned-film director Aban Bharucha Deohans, starred Manoj Bajpayee and Prachi Desai.

If you missed it, you can catch it on ZEE5.

Now, the film gets a sequel with the same team, as the original characters ACP Avinash Varma (Bajpayee) and his team of cops get together again to unravel yet another murder mystery.

Silence 2: The Night Owl Bar Shootout will release on April 16 on ZEE5.

Hitesh Harisinghani/ Rediff.com and Afsar Dayatar/ Rediff.com bring back some interesting moments from the film's promotional event.

"Cinema alone cannot change anything. Cinema can only be a part of an andolan. Woh samay ko dikha sakta hai. When Amitabh Bachchan came as the Angry Young Man, there was unemployment and a feeling of hopelessness. At that time, the common man did not know how to vent out. They saw themselves in Amitabh Bachchan, and they got a vent by watching his films," Manoj Bajpayee takes the stage to make a powerful point.

Manoj Bajpayee and Prachi Desai play cops in Silence 2 .

Bajpayee shares his experience with the police in his personal life: "I used to live in a village. The darogasaab was the biggest man in the village. Even if he came home to have tea, hamari sabki ki fatti thi. Pata nahin kyun ," he says with a laugh.

Then, on a serious note, he shares, "Oshiwara ki police station mein main kabhi-kabhi chai peene jaata hoon. And there I have seen the different kinds of crime and the different ways they deal with it. That's when you realise how tough their lives are."

What does Silence mean to Prachi?

"I'm very comfortable with my silences. There are many silences but the most important one that I learnt over the years was to silence the voice and and noise of everybody else. Once you start doing what you want to do and what is true to you, that's when you have more fun with it," she says.

Manoj Bajpayee cannot get enough of chicken lollipops. Watch the video to know why!

'Quiet on Set': Watch the New Episode Tonight From Anywhere

Episode 5 of the documentary series continues to focus on Nickelodeon kid stars and Dan Schneider's reign.

Though Kourtnee hasn't won any journalism awards yet, she's been a Netflix streaming subscriber since 2012 and knows the magic of its hidden codes.

Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV is releasing a new episode, and viewers will hear more from former Nickelodeon cast members and their reactions to the docuseries. The first four parts of the documentary delved into TV producer Dan Schneider's time at Nickelodeon and the hit shows he created. In a tweet , Investigation Discovery said more than 16 million people watched the series.

Titled Breaking the Silence, the new installment includes Drake Bell and other former child actors, and Soledad O'Brien will lead a discussion on kids in the entertainment industry.

Even if you never watched Nickelodeon's biggest hits during the Schneider era, you're undoubtedly familiar with shows like iCarly, All That, Zoey 101, The Amanda Show and Drake & Josh. Stars of those shows have either gone on to further the stars' careers in acting and music or encountered obstacles in their personal lives.

Quiet on Set features interviews from writers, actors and crew who worked on some of Schneider's shows, including cast members such as Alexa Nikolas, Giovonnie Samuels and Kyle Sullivan. According to Investigation Discovery, the doc has "additional cast and crew from iCarly, Sam & Cat, Victorious and other iconic series such as Marc Summers from the popular game show Double Dare. Poignantly, the series will also offer emotional testimony from parents of cast members who attempted to advocate for their children on these sets." Schneider has since responded about the documentary via video.

Find out where and when to stream episode five in the docuseries without cable, and learn how a VPN may aid your viewing experience.

Read more : What to Watch in 2024: 50 TV Shows We're Excited About

crowd of people stand on stage at awards ceremony

Dan Schneider at Nickelodeon's 2014 Kids' Choice Awards, with Nathan Kress, Victoria Justice, Drake Bell, Maree Cheatham, Noah Munck, Leon Thomas III, Chris Massey, Ariana Grande, Daniella Monet and Josh Peck.

Watch 'Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV' on Max

Episode 5 of the docuseries will air live on Investigation Discovery, and will also be available to stream on Max on Sunday, April 7, at 8 p.m.ET/7 p.m. CT. You can also watch the first four parts of Quiet on Set on the streaming service.

Carries Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV

If you aren't already subscribed to Max (formerly HBO Max), you can get it for $10 a month (with ads) or $16 a month (ad-free). To watch in 4K, you can also sign up for the Ultimate plan for $20 per month.

Read more: Best Streaming Services of 2024

Watch 'Quiet on Set' on a live TV streaming service

Several live TV streaming services carry the ID channel, with Philo and Sling TV being among the least expensive. Watch the new episode during its live broadcast at 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT on April 7.

Carries ID channel

Philo costs $25 a month and provides access to the ID channel. The platform also comes with a seven-day free trial.

Sling TV offers the ID channel on all three of its plans: Sling Orange, Sling Blue and Sling Orange + Blue. The Orange plan starts at $40 per month in most regions ($45 in others) as does the Blue plan. For the beefier Sling Orange + Blue, the price starts at $55 per month. New subscribers can sign up and get half off their first month.

How to watch 'Quiet on Set' from anywhere with a VPN

Maybe you're traveling abroad and want to stream the docuseries while away from home. With a VPN, you can virtually change your location on your phone, tablet or laptop to access it from anywhere. There are other good reasons to use a VPN for streaming, too.

A VPN is the best way to encrypt your traffic and stop your ISP from throttling your speeds. Using a VPN is also a great idea if you're traveling, find yourself connected to a Wi-Fi network and want to add an extra layer of privacy for your devices and logins. Streaming TV can be a bit smoother with a reliable, quality VPN that's passed our tests and security standards.

You can use a VPN to legally stream content as long as VPNs are allowed in your country and you have a valid subscription to the streaming service you're using. The US and Canada are among the countries where VPNs are legal, but we advise against streaming or downloading content on illegal torrent sites. We recommend ExpressVPN , but you may opt for another provider from our best list, such as Surfshark or NordVPN .

Best VPN for streaming

ExpressVPN is our current best VPN pick for people who want a reliable and safe VPN, and it works on a variety of devices. It's normally $13 a month, and you can sign up for ExpressVPN and save 35% -- the equivalent of $8.32 a month -- if you get an annual subscription.

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Movie Reviews

'la chimera' is marvelous — right up to its most magical ending.

Justin Chang

Carol Duarte and Josh O'Connor in La Chimera . Neon hide caption

Carol Duarte and Josh O'Connor in La Chimera .

The wonderful 42-year-old filmmaker Alice Rohrwacher practices a kind of cinema that I've come to think of as "Italian magical neorealism." She gives us portraits of hard-scrabble lives in poor rural communities, but they're graced by a whimsical, almost fable-like sense of enchantment.

Rohrwacher's 2014 film, The Wonders , was a lyrical drama about a family of Tuscan beekeepers. She followed that in 2018 with Happy as Lazzaro , about a group of sharecroppers on a tobacco farm whose story moves from picaresque comedy to aching tragedy.

'The Wonders' Of Family And Change

Her marvelous new movie, La Chimera , follows in much the same vein, with one key difference. While Rohrwacher has generally worked with non-professional Italian actors, this time she's cast the English actor Josh O'Connor , best known for his Emmy-winning performance as a young Prince Charles on The Crown .

But O'Connor's character here doesn't give off even a whiff of royalty, even if his name is Arthur. When we first meet him, he's asleep on a train bound for his old stomping grounds in Tuscany. He's just been released from prison after serving some time for the crime of grave robbing.

Arthur has a mysterious archeological talent: Wielding a divining rod, he can detect the presence of buried artifacts, many of which date back to the Etruscan civilization more than 2,000 years ago. Arthur works with a group of tombaroli , or tomb raiders, who rely on him to figure out where to dig.

Upon his return, many of those old friends welcome him back with a parade — one of several moments in which Rohrwacher briefly channels the vibrant human chaos of a Fellini film. Arthur is a little reluctant to rejoin his old gang, since they let him take the rap after their last job. But he doesn't seem to have anything else to do, or anywhere else to go. He may be an outsider — his Italian throughout is decent but far from perfect — but it's the only place in the world that feels remotely like home. And O'Connor plays him with such a deep sense of melancholy that it feels almost special when his handsome, careworn face breaks into a warm smile.

It's not immediately clear what Arthur wants; unlike his cohorts, he doesn't seem all that interested in making money off their spoils. The answer turns out to lie in his dreams, which are haunted by a beautiful young woman named Beniamina — the love of his life, whom he's lost under unclear circumstances.

And so Arthur's determination to go underground becomes a metaphor for his longing for an irretrievable past: Beniamina is the Eurydice to his Orpheus, and he wants her back desperately.

Arthur is still close to Beniamina's mother, Flora, played with a wondrous mix of warmth and imperiousness by the great Isabella Rossellini. Her presence here made me think of her filmmaker father, the neorealist titan Roberto Rossellini — a fitting association for a movie about how the past is forever seeping into the present.

One of the pleasures of Rohrwacher's filmmaking is the way she subtly blurs our sense of time. La Chimera is set in the 1980s, but it could be taking place 20 years earlier, or 20 years later. Rohrwacher and her brilliant cinematographer, Hélène Louvart, shot the movie on a mix of film stocks and sometimes tweak the image in ways that evoke the cinematic antiquities of the silent era. As sorrowful as Arthur's journey is, there's a playfulness to Rohrwacher's sensibility that keeps pulling you in, inviting you to get lost in the movie's mysteries.

One of the story's most significant characters is Italia, played by the Brazilian actor Carol Duarte, who works in Flora's household. Italia is a bit of an odd duck with a beguiling bluntness about her, and she might be just the one to pull Arthur out of his slump and get him to stop living in the past.

I won't give away what happens, except to say that La Chimera builds to not one but two thrilling scenes of underground exploration, in which Arthur must finally figure out his life's purpose — not by using a divining rod, but by following his heart. And it leads to the most magical movie ending I've seen in some time, and also the most real.

Screen Rant

The beast review: the world is always ending in this sweeping sci-fi romance.

A centuries-spanning romantic odyssey that is equal parts strange sci-fi and melodrama, Bertrand Bonello's The Beast is unclassifiable and refreshing.

The Beast examines past lives' influence on the present, focusing on a central pair's history.
The film mixes genres excitingly, with horror constantly looming in each story.
The fear depicted in The Beast reflects contemporary anxieties, emphasizing the importance of feeling over forgetting.

The Beast is an apt title for a film that often feels untamable. A centuries-spanning romantic odyssey that is equal parts strange sci-fi and high melodrama, Bertrand Bonello's film is unclassifiable, wild, and refreshing. The French director examines how the past never stays in the past and how the baggage we attempt to rid ourselves of from moment to moment, or even from life to life, will inevitably rear its oft-ugly head.

The year is 2044: artificial intelligence controls all facets of a stoic society as humans routinely “erase” their feelings. Hoping to eliminate pain caused by their past-life romances, Gabrielle (Léa Seydoux) continually falls in love with different incarnations of Louis (George MacKay).

Though spanning centuries, The Beast brings modern fears into the story
Léa Seydoux and George MacKay are excellent
The Beast knows how to balance its sci-fi and romance
The film lovingly highlights the importance of feelings and not forgetting

The Beast Moves Through Time To Unveil The Past Lives Of Its Central Pair

How they influence the present is just as important.

In 2044, Gabrielle ( Léa Seydoux ) is trying to rid herself of that baggage through a procedure that purifies a person's DNA, purging the patient of leftover emotions from their past lives. This procedure will rid her of these past traumas that cause Gabrielle to feel a lingering sense of doom in the present day. What that doom entails remains a mystery, but she's not the only one hoping to temper feelings of disquiet.

Gabrielle encounters Louis (George MacKay) while prepping for the procedures, and she is drawn to the man with an air of familiarity about him. When she finally dives into her past lives, we see her encounter different versions of Louis that change the course of her various lives. First, the pair meet in Belle-Époque-era Paris. In another life, Louis is an incel stalking Gabrielle as she house-sits a Los Angeles mansion while working as an actress.

The Beast Plays With Genre In Increasingly Exciting Ways

But the inevitability of horror lies around every corner.

In all of these lives, Gabrielle is near fatalistic in her conviction that some bad thing will befall her. The Beast 's real terror, though, comes from actualizing this feeling in its various tales. Whispers of Paris flooding follow Gabrielle and Louis in the early 20th century. Misogyny and violence hover over Gabrielle's life in 2014 Los Angeles. The threat of control follows her everywhere in 2044. The film's score and sound design are unsettling as they mimic or even impact what's happening onscreen.

All of these disparate elements feel like they shouldn't work together, but it's their discordant qualities that allow The Beast to coalesce into a symphony of anxiety.

Tight string arrangements follow Gabrielle as she's stalked through the Los Angeles mansion. Sweeping orchestral music accompanies Louis and Gabrielle's outings in Paris and deep synths serve as a backdrop for the film's minimalist future. All of these disparate elements feel like they shouldn't work together, but it's their discordant qualities that allow The Beast to coalesce into a symphony of anxiety.

In The Beast, The Apocalypse Is A Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

The end is just the beginning.

The world is always ending in The Beast, and it's easy to see our own world reflected in the ones portrayed by Bonello. Seydoux's dialed-in performance — detached but all too aware — ensures that we are never too comfortable. Gabrielle's anxieties are much like our own — sea levels rising, political unrest, the erosion of the truth and empathy. Ironic detachment is the mode of our times, but when the irony disappears and all that remains is indifference, the world starts to feel a lot like the future in The Beast .

Even the film itself begins with detachment personified. In 2014, Gabrielle films a scene for what appears to be a horror movie, but in place of the empty house and horrifying monster, the floor and background are green screen. The director asks if she can be afraid of something that isn't really there. Gabrielle says she can. The fear we create in our heads is just as real as the fear created by a world in disarray. Those fears can manifest in people, in world-ending events, or in ideologies.

12 Best Sci-Fi Movies Of 2023

By the end, The Beast knows that this fear — Gabrielle's and our own — is not something that can be purged. It is this fear that allows Gabrielle to be sincere, to search for meaning in a world where it is being sucked out of the air. In 2044, Artificial Intelligence rules the world after an unspecified catastrophe.

This catastrophe isn't the one Gabrielle is afraid of, but it is one that perhaps influenced her fear of the future. Our minds are always searching for something to be afraid of. Sometimes we need that fear. Bonello posits that, even in fear, feeling is more important than forgetting, and every little death is a door to another future.

The Beast opens in select theaters on Friday, April 5, expanding to more theaters on April 12.

IMAGES

The Music of Silence (2018) Poster #1
'The Music of Silence' Review
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The Music of Silence (2017)
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THE MUSIC OF SILENCE: A Squandered Opportunity

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The Silence
The Sound Of Silence
The Silence (2019) Full Movie Explained In Hindi/Urdu
The Sound of Silence
Tim Allhoff
The Sound of Silence

COMMENTS

Review: Andrea Bocelli, From Cradle to Stage in 'The Music of Silence
Feb. 1, 2018. How much of "The Music of Silence" is true and how much fiction, only its inspiration, the singer Andrea Bocelli, knows for sure. Adapted from Mr. Bocelli's 1999 novel of the ...
'The Music of Silence' Review
"The Music of the Silence" is the exception, and it's no pleasure to report that the film makes nearly every wrong decision imaginable, beginning with its source material — a mushy third ...
The Music of Silence
Watch The Music of Silence with a subscription on Prime Video, rent on Vudu, Apple TV, or buy on Vudu, Apple TV. Rate And Review. Submit review. Want to see Edit. Submit review ...
The Music of Silence
The Music of Silence is a fascinating story, given a by-the-numbers telling. Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Jan 25, 2018 Roger Moore Movie Nation
The Music of Silence Movie Review
The Music of Silence has a compelling story at its center: A boy with failing eyesight, later completely blind, goes on to become one of the world's most popular opera singers. But the film, directed by Michael Radford, meanders from vignette to vignette, never building momentum or really making us feel Bocelli's struggle.
The Music of Silence (2017)
The Music of Silence: Directed by Michael Radford. With Antonio Banderas, Jordi Mollà, Toby Sebastian, Luisa Ranieri. Born with a serious eye condition that eventually leads to his blindness, Bocelli nevertheless rises above the challenges, driven by great ambitions towards his passion. The silent pursuit of his daily mission continues.
'The Music of Silence' Review
'The Music of Silence': Film Review. Toby Sebastian plays a thinly disguised Andrea Bocelli in 'The Music of Silence,' Michael Radford's biopic based on the opera singer's autobiographical novel.
The Music of Silence (2017)
8/10. Blind prodigy. skbreese-771-924487 10 July 2018. Music Of Silence chronicles the life of world famous opera singer Andrea Boccelli, from his beginning as a singer in Italian piano bars to his phenomenal success on the world stage. The film features magnificent panoramic scenery of Boccelli's native Tuscany and a superb musical score, as ...
The Music of Silence (2017)
Born with a serious eye condition that eventually leads to his blindness, Bocelli nevertheless rises above the challenges, driven by great ambitions towards his passion. The silent pursuit of his ...
The Music of Silence
The Music of Silence (Italian: La musica del silenzio) is a 2017 Italian biographical film directed by Michael Radford, based on the 1999 novel of the same name written by the tenor Andrea Bocelli and freely inspired by his childhood life until the beginning of his great career. Bocelli is played by Toby Sebastian with the alter ego of Amos Bardi. The Italian tenor physically appears in a ...
The Music of Silence
The Music of Silence Metascore ... Find release dates for every movie coming to theaters, VOD, and streaming throughout 2024 and beyond, updated weekly. ... an indie comedy with terrific early reviews, and more. To help you plan your moviegoing options, our editors have selected the most notable films releasing in March 2024.
Movie Review: Bocelli learns to sing "The Music of Silence"
The writer and director of "Il Postino" turn their hands to the life of the world's most popular tenor, Andrea Bocelli, in "The Music of Silence," an old fashioned, corny film hagiography that may please the most ardent fans, who will be more tolerant of its lax pacing and high cheese content. It's based on Bocelli's ...
Review: Andrea Bocelli biopic 'The Music of Silence' hits all the wrong
The new authorized biopic "The Music of Silence," however, is a range-constricted slog through the dreariest of showbiz-ascension clichés. ... Movies. Review: 'The First Omen' plays to ...
THE MUSIC OF SILENCE: A Squandered Opportunity
Based on Bocelli's autobiography, La musica del silenzio, and in collaboration with Bocelli himself, Michael Radford (Il Postino, Merchant of Venice), directs and co-writes along with Anna Pavignano (Elsa & Fred) The Music Of Silence.Starring Antonio Banderas, Toby Sebastian (Game of Thrones, BarleyLethal), Luisa Ranieri (Letters to Juliet), Jordi Mollà (Bad Boys II, Blow), and Ennio ...
The Music of Silence (2017) Review
The Music of Silence (2017) Review I was able to see an early screening of The Music of Silence thanks to my friends at AIM Publicity , ahead of today's release. The film is based on the 1999 novel by Andrea Bocelli which was freely adapted from his real life experiences, and directed by Michael Radford (Dancing at the Blue Iguana).
The Music of Silence critic reviews
Metacritic aggregates music, game, tv, and movie reviews from the leading critics. Only Metacritic.com uses METASCORES, which let you know at a glance how each item was reviewed. ... The Music of Silence Critic Reviews. Add My Rating Critic Reviews User Reviews Cast & Crew Details 25. Metascore Generally Unfavorable positive. 0 (0%) mixed. 0 (0 ...
Film Review: 'The Music of Silence'
"The Music of the Silence" is the exception, and it's no pleasure to report that the film makes nearly every wrong decision imaginable, beginning with its source material — a mushy third ...
Andrea Bocelli Biopic Interview With Star Toby Sebastian
The Music of Silence is now in theaters and VOD/Digital HD. The film is based on the true story of Andrea Bocelli, who overcame all obstacles as a young blind boy to become one of the world's ...
The Music Of Silence
THE MUSIC OF SILENCE tells Andrea Bocelli's life story. Born in a small village near Tuscany with the gift of a beautiful voice but an illness which leaves him almost blind. Music gives him passion and guides him. Eventually Amos's incredible voice wins adulation locally, and ultimately worldwide. A heartwarming true story about a man who discovers himself and others against the odds through ...
Watch The Music of Silence
The Music of Silence. Based on the extraordinary true story of Andrea Bocelli, a blind boy, who against all odds, becomes one of the most world renowned opera singers. 483 IMDb 6.6 1 h 55 min 2018. X-Ray 13+. Drama · Arts, Entertainment, and Culture · Emotional · Gentle.
Silence movie review & film summary (2016)
Powered by JustWatch. "Silence" is a monumental work, and a punishing one. It puts you through hell with no promise of enlightenment, only a set of questions and propositions, sensations and experiences. It is no surprise to learn that the film's director, Martin Scorsese, has been working on it for decades, since he first read the 1966 source ...
Watch The Music of Silence (2017) Full Movie Free Online
Watch The Music of Silence (2017) free starring Antonio Banderas, Jordi Mollà, Toby Sebastian and directed by Michael Radford.
Sylvan
Visit the movie page for 'Sylvan - Posthumous Silence: The Show' on Moviefone. Discover the movie's synopsis, cast details and release date. Watch trailers, exclusive interviews, and movie review.
Silence 2: The Night Owl Bar Shootout Movie
Read More Silence 2: The Night Owl Bar Shootout news and music reviews (2024). Find out what is Silence 2: The Night Owl Bar Shootout box office collection till now.
'Abigail' Review
REVIEW. Abigail is a vampire movie at its best when it leans into the gore and a delightful performance by Dan Stevens. 6 10. Pros. The film's comic relief, brought to life by Kathryn Newton and ...
Música movie review & film summary (2024)
Powered by JustWatch. In the romantic comedy "Música," Rudy is a young man who experiences the world through sound. In his ears, everyday noises become symphonies of life, a daily rhythm that distracts him from class and his girlfriend Haley ( Francesca Reale ). His mother Maria ( Maria Mancuso) suggests Rudy date someone from their ...
What Silence Means To Manoj, Prachi
When Silence: Can You Hear It released in 2021, it got some good reviews.The song-less thriller, by ad-woman-turned-film director Aban Bharucha Deohans, starred Manoj Bajpayee and Prachi Desai. If ...
'Quiet on Set': Watch the New Episode Tonight From Anywhere
Watch 'Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV' on Max. Episode 5 of the docuseries will air live on Investigation Discovery, and will also be available to stream on Max on Sunday, April 7, at 8 p ...
'La Chimera' review: This Italian fable features a magical movie ending
Carol Duarte and Josh O'Connor in La Chimera . Neon. The wonderful 42-year-old filmmaker Alice Rohrwacher practices a kind of cinema that I've come to think of as "Italian magical neorealism." She ...
The Beast Review: The World Is Always Ending In This Sweeping Sci-Fi
A centuries-spanning romantic odyssey that is equal parts strange sci-fi and melodrama, Bertrand Bonello's The Beast is unclassifiable and refreshing. George MacKay and Lea Seydoux in The Beast. Summary. The Beast examines past lives' influence on the present, focusing on a central pair's history. The film mixes genres excitingly, with horror ...

Review: Andrea Bocelli, From Cradle to Stage in ‘The Music of Silence’

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Film Review: ‘The Music of Silence’

Peter Debruge

Reviewed online, Feb. 2, 2018. Running time: 115 MIN.

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