The film disposes of many of those faults and replaces them with new ones. For instance, to dispense with the cramped filmed-in-studio feel of the earlier film, in the newer one, outside shots are clearly shot outside, with beautiful faux-Japanese scenery. On the other hand, with those outside shots connecting Butterfly's house with the city of Nagasaki, we lose the sense of isolation which is a crucial element of the opera. While Ponnelle's film filled the screen with an irrelevant dream pantomime during the humming chorus, Mitterand's use of historical stock footage is just as inscrutable.
The story of the film, for those of you who are not fans of opera (if so, why are you reading this?), revolves around B. F. Pinkerton (Richard Troxell), a junior naval officer who marries a fifteen-year-old geisha girl, Cio-Cio-San (Ying Huang) with the intention of abandoning her after a bit of carnal fun. Sharpless (Richard Cowan), the American consul, warns him that the girl believes in the callow young man's love, and is taking the wedding seriously. So much so, that she abandons the family's traditional religion, and is thus publicly disowned. Years later, Cio-Cio-San waits for Pinkerton to return, spurning all suitors brought to her by Goro (Jing Ma Fan), the local procurer. Finally, Pinkerton does come back, but with a "real American wife." Unable to deal with her grief of losing her man, as well as her son (who Pinkerton and his new wife are taking with them), Cio-Cio-San commits ritual suicide.
Except for one scene, Mitterand seems to be aiming for ultra-realism. Then, suddenly, the Buddhist priests who condemn Cio-Cio-San are portrayed walking on air. Why is this? No explanation, no further use of supernatural elements, nothing but this one "whimsical" scene.
Ying Huang makes a lovely, delicate Cio-Cio-San. Though her voice is small for the role (she sounds closely miked), she makes up for it by caressing the music rather than attacking it Valkyrie-like. She is a fine actress who charmingly seems to be listening and reacting to what her fellow performers are singing: an all-too-rare quality for operatic performers. The Pinkerton, Troxell, is a less-happy coincidence of actor and voice: while the singer has a bland look about him that suits the role better than the magnetism of, say, Domingo, the voice is not equal to the part. His tenor is smallish, more fit for a performance of Donizetti or early Verdi than the demands of Puccini. Richard Cowan, a Howard Keel lookalike, makes little impression in the potentially very sympathetic role of the consul, while Ning Liang does somewhat more with the part of Cio-Cio-San's maid, Suzuki, making her a mannish, no-nonsense creature. The orchestra conducted by James Conlon sometimes sounds rushed: was this Conlon's fault, the fault of short-of-breath singers, or a victim of Mitterand's directorial vision? The world may never know.
All-in-all, a mixed bag, inferior to the Ponnelle film which presents Puccini's opera in a more confident production, starring a number of old pros who may not necessarily look the parts they play, but are already deeply familiar with the idioms of the opera and the composer.
Two-and-a-half stars
Copyright 1997 by Dale G. Abersold
