Imagine you are one of Europe's most celebrated composers and that you have been invited to Paris to conduct a production of Richard Wagner's "Tannhauser" for the Opera Europa. You will be given a multinational cast of singers, musicians, and strong, bold sets which are meant to elevate the opera to its biggest heights. You arrive, feeling a little inadequate since Parisians are known for being artistic elitists, the Germans believe only they can produce such a magnificent masterpiece and you. Although you are accepted with applause, the pressure is on.And then imagine that anything and everything that could possibly go wrong takes place with the increasing craziness of a domino dance. Musicians and singers both have unions and demand having more controls over the schedules. Artistic vanity runs amok within the actors, singers, and pretty much everyone else who has their own over-inflated self-importance. One young singer falls, has an accident, and cannot continue with the rehearsals. Another one, an American, receives a visitor from what seems to be an ex-lover, causing not only an inflamed jealousy in his current partner but a screaming match that ruins the American's voice. And on top of this, you, the composer, are not only at odds with your leading lady, but somehow have found yourself doing an about-face and initiating a torrid love affair with her. And your wife finds out. Which may ruin your marriage.Not a good thing, if Tannhauser is to be produced. Istvan Szabo brings this elegant farce of love and opera as if he's been there himself: as a director, he could be telling this story as if he himself were Zoltan Szanto (Niels Arestrup) the composer. His view of Szanto is one that looks like compassion: this is a man who is trying, against all odds, to create something unearthly beautiful, but the very humanity surrounding him is the main obstacle and at times seems like it will succeed and Tannhauser will not survive. And then when he falls for Karin (Glenn Close in a role tailor made for her), he completely and irrevocably falls for her, but at times I wonder, does she feel the same for him too? A Diva has been known for creating a web of romance around her composer/director more than once. It's as if Istvan Szabo were telling us that probably the love she feels may be a well-practiced pose to ensure her moment in the spotlight. That all Divas do are make themselves available for the sake of their own vanity.MEETING VENUS is a rarity of films because it never tries to be an easy farce and is too eccentric in its intertwining, very European characters. Plots aren't solved in the satisfying way that most ensembles would require: that is up to Tannhauser to do, itself as much a character as its human counterparts, to reveal itself like the flower that suddenly blooms at the tip of Szanto's bow despite the intrigues, the near-misses, and even the last-minute inability to even open the stage which reduces the performance to just that. And this is what makes a performance soar: its very presence, its own transcendence, the symbolic meeting and revelation of Venus among the audience.

Lord, how I love this movie! I have been a Wagnerphile for most of my adult life. The entrance music at my wedding (30+ years ago) was from Parsifal. I hum leitmotifs when I'm feeling good. And when I really want an emotional catharsis, I put on "Meeting Venus." I watched it again, after several years' hiatus, a few nights ago. I laughed out loud time and again and sat with tears streaming down my face during the finale. What a wonderful film! I recommend this time and again to my music-loving friends. Imagine "Best in Show" and "A Mighty Wind," set in Paris, produced by the BBC, and with an international, stellar cast of both performers and voice talent. (Not to put down the Christopher Guest ensemble, but consider Glenn Close, Kiri Te Kanawa, et. al., - really!) Raise the curtain!Spiritus ex MachinaThe universe is not only stranger than we imagine, it's stranger than we CAN imagine!

This film is much more than a customary movie about opera, though opera lovers get first-rate extracts from Wagner's Tannhauser as well. The action takes place in an imaginary "Opera Europe" in Paris. István Szabó, the excellent film director is really interested here in fanatic people of the theater who came from several countries of Europe to unite their talent in order to create a successful performance of Wagner's youthful masterpiece. The ensemble is a mixture of multinational people: the head of the company (a Spaniard, a former hero of the Spanish Civil War,) her private secretary and mistress (descendant of a noble Russian family,) the conductor (a talented young Hungarian who suffers from inferiority complex because of his East-block origin,) the singer who plays Tannhauser (a permanently offended dumpy man from the DDR with beautiful voice,) the French theatrical technician (a pig headed trade unionist who causes much trouble,) etc. They carry with themselves all good and vicious habits and traditions of their origin which cause many conflicts but humorous episodes as well during the rehearsals. There is a remarkable scene when at a dinner party the protagonists put aside all of their conflicts and sing together a song called "Suliko" which was once Stalin's favorite. (They sing it not because they love Stalin, but because of a certain nostalgia for their youth.) In the center of the story stands the Hungarian conductor's and a Nordic singer's (played by Glenn Close) stormy love affair which ends in diminuendo (using here deliberately this term of music.) Strongly recommended for everyone who loves art and theater.

This movie is really something different. It's all about music. It is about the desperate attempt of an idealistic hungarian conductor to perform "Tannhaeuser" in the opera house of Paris. The problems he encounters are unbelievable... and for us viewers, unbelievably funny.What really is wonderful about this movie is of course the music. It shows how much passion and love lies within classic music, and how much work there is to do until the staff of such a big production is finally in synch.This film also offers a chance to get an insight into classical music pieces. Some of the most splendid passages of Wagners "Tannhaeuser" can be listened to in full beauty, and thus the film might tempt some people to overcome their inhibitions and to dive into the world of opera.For those more interested in characterization there are a lot of weird persons playing in this story, showing different kinds of European lifestyle and tackling topics like prejudice, bureaucracy and of course love.