THE MAN WITH AN OPERA HOUSE IN HIS LIVING ROOM
Mira Erdevicki, UK, 2003
Sunday 11 July 2004 9.40pm-10.40pm; Tuesday 13 July 2004 2.20am-3.20am (Monday night); Friday 16 July 2004 2.40am-3.40am (Thursday night)
Richard White is determined not to allow parking restrictions or reclusive neighbours to stand in the way of his mounting a Mozart opera in his Norfolk living room.
Commissioner's
Comment Nick Fraser
Storyville Series Editor
Richard White has a dream. He wants to stage operas in his living room. But because this is Britain, and his neighbours are worried about such mundane things as traffic passing their cottages, he is in trouble with the council.
Mira Erdevicki's film is only in appearance a report from deep middle-England. Because Mira is central European, the film has another resonance. It's an outside view of the foibles of British middle-class culture.
You have to ask yourself at the end of the film whether Mira actually likes British culture. I think she does - in a way.
