The Perfect American

The Perfect American (Blu-Ray) (*)

~~$51.99~~ $45.97

Language Selections:
English ( Dolby Digital 2.0 )
English ( Dolby DTS-HD Master Audio )
English ( Dolby Linear PCM )
English ( Subtitles )
French ( Subtitles )
German ( Subtitles )
Japanese ( Subtitles )
Korean ( Subtitles )
Spanish ( Subtitles )

Product Origin/Format:
United Kingdom ( Blu-Ray/Region A/B/C )

Running Time:
120 min

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen (1.78:1)

Special Features:
Interactive Menu
Photo Gallery
Scene Access

Movie filmed in 2013 and produced in:
France ( France, Benelux )
Germany ( Germany, Central Europe )
Japan ( India, Eastern Asia )
Spain ( Spain, Portugal )

Directed By:
János Darvas
Phelim McDermott

Written By:
Rudy Wurlitzer
Peter Stephan Jungk

Actors:
Coro y Orquesta Titulares del Teatro Real ..... Coro y Orquesta
Coro Intermezzo ..... Coro
Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid ..... Themselves - Orquesta
Dennis Russell Davies ..... Himself - Musical director
Christopher Purves ..... Walt Disney
David Pittsinger ..... Roy
Donald Kaasch ..... Dantine
Janis Kelly ..... Hazel George
Marie McLaughlin ..... Lillian Disney
Sarah Tynan ..... Sharon
Nazan Fikret ..... Diane
Rosie Lomas ..... Lucy / Josh
Zachary James ..... Abraham Lincoln
John Easterlin ..... Andy Warhol
Juan Noval-Moro ..... Chuck / Doctor

Synopsis:

At the age of 75, one of the leading figures on the 20th century music, Philip Glass, is composing a new work for the Teatro Real. "The Perfect American", imagining the final months of the life of Walt Disney - the person who has, more than any other, influenced the current world of consumers. Children nowadays only see mice and ducks as Mickey Mouse or Donald Duck, thanks to the image invented for them by Walt Disney factory. In opposition to the world of happiness he devised, the existence of this perfect American was marked by an unhappy youth and a personality whose 'political correctness' outdid that of even Richard Nixon. From the hand of Dennis Russell Davies, who has conducted almost all the premieres of Glass's operas, and the stage director Phelim McDermott, we will be penetrating into the nightmare of a happy world. World Premiere, commission of the Teatro Real De Madrid and English National Opera of London.

The Perfect American is a fictionalized biography of Walt Disney's final months. We discover Walt's delusions of immortality via cryogenic preservation, his tirades alongside his Abraham Lincoln talking robot, his utopian visions and his backyard labyrinth of toy trains. Yet, if at first Walt seems to have a magic wand granting him all his wishes, we soon discover that he is as tortured as the man who crosses his story, Wilhelm Dantine, a cartoonist who worked for him, illustrating sequences for Sleeping Beauty. Dantine fascinated by the childlike omnipotence of a man who identifies with Mickey Mouse desperately seeks Disney's recognition at the risk of his own ruin. Walt's wife Lillian, his confidante and perhaps his mistress Hazel, his brother Roy, his children Diane and Sharon, his close and ill-treated collaborators, and famous figures such as Andy Warhol, all contribute to the opera's animation, its feel for the life of the Disney world.

Philip Glass - one of the most sought-after American contemporary composers - presents his latest opera, The Perfect American, telling the story of a 20th-century character of huge cultural influence, Walt Disney.

This product was added to our catalog on Wednesday 02 October, 2013.