The only thing that would have made Richard Wagner's life complete is for his friend and patron King Ludwig of Bavaria to have become the Kaiser of a united Germany rather than that Hohenzollern bunch from Prussia. He'd have had it made if that was the case.Wagner was a genius not only in the composition of music, but in the production end as well. He might well be regarded as the Cecil B. DeMille of grand opera, the themes he wrote about were epic in nature requiring productions that were also epic. Wagner was constantly in need of money to support his grand style of living that he felt a genius ought to indulge in, but also for his productions. He searched for years before lighting on the King of Bavaria who had grand ideas about high living and felt it an honor to be the grand patron of the foremost German composer of his time.Richard Burton in this long mini-series has plenty of time and plenty of dialog to capture the character of Wagner in all its aspects. Good thing the man was a genius because no one else would have put up with his bad behavior. Friends were there to serve him, even giving up their wives for his occasional passion and in one case for his great love, second wife Cosima played by Vanessa Redgrave.The three classical acting knights, Laurence Olivier, Ralph Richardson, and John Gielgud are all ministers to King Ludwig played by Hungarian actor Laszlo Galffi. They turn in fine performances of men driven to their wit's end serving a king who bungles into a war with Prussia that he loses and at the same time bankrupts his country both in creating grand palaces as his ancestors lived and in bankrolling the genius of Wagner. Richard Wagner's ideas of German superiority of raving anti-Semitism and of the unshakable belief in his own genius for good or ill reflected a lot of the bad in German culture. He was the Nazi's favorite composer and knowledge of that puts many off from his work today. Still his music does transcend the man and the one thing the mini-series Wagner has in abundance is his music. That and the multi-layered performance of Richard Burton is enough reason to watch Wagner even though it does bog down occasionally.

I hadn't seen Tony Palmer's epic film 'Wagner' since 1985 when it was screened in the original 9 hour version at the War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco as part of its production of Wagner's 'Ring' cycle. I recall the film being a seemingly endless, excruciating experience and I don't remember if I made it back after the 2nd meal break to see the end.Over the years I have wondered if my memory did justice to this film and so have wanted to see it again. Finally I found a copy of the 9 hour version at a fairly reasonable price and have just sat through a seemingly endless, excruciating experience.I happen to love Wagner's music and wanted to like this movie enough that I was able to pry out the few good aspects of it. There are two, count 'em, two excellent performances out of a cast of many; Gemma Craven is very touching and visceral as Minna Wagner, Richard's first much put-upon wife. The other fine acting comes from Richard Pasco as Otto Wesendonck, husband of Mathilde, Wagner's most important mistress. For the rest, the usual suspects show up in the roster, notably the ubiquitous, though always entertaining, trio of John Gielgund,Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier, doing an upper crust Three Stooges routine. They at least offer some comic respite from the heavy-handed, galumphing script that sinks the rest of the cast; a cast that is by and large horribly MIS-cast. Richard Burton was too old, tired and infirm to bring any energy at all to the title role. He seems comatose most of the time and is an utter bore. At the time he mentioned this as the worst film he'd ever made. Vanessa Redgrave hasn't a clue as to Cosima Wagner's nature and consequently turns in one of her petulant-rebel performances that is more suitable to 'Isadora' or 'Blow Up' than to a 19th century Baroness. Redgrave is further in a scene involving her and the great Wagnerian soprano Gwyneth Jones, who acts far more expertly and believably than her famous co-star.Some vapid Hungarian puppy plays King Ludwig II and is ghastly. By the way, Palmer buys into the incorrect notion that King Ludwig II drowned himself after murdering the psycho-analyst who had him imprisoned in one of the castles. In point of fact, when an autopsy was performed on Ludwig's body they found no water in his lungs. His death remains an unsolved mystery. But details don't concern Tony Palmer. I often found myself wondering if he bothered to direct his all-at-sea cast. The editing is sloppy and the terrible cutting of the musical score is jarring and carelessly done. Some of the acting is horrendously bad, especially when they are trying to conduct an orchestra or play a piano. The actor playing Hans von Bulow is especially bad in this regard. All in all a typically shallow Tony Palmer production full of "powerful" visions, like burning horses galloping out of a fiery barn, and dripping, severed limbs during the battle of Dresen. The usual Palmer attempt to wrench gasps from his glazed-eyed audiences.Wagner was a fascinating person, the kind of creature that happens once every 150 years or so and deserves a first class bio-pic. This isn't it. By all means rent this if you are a die-hard Wagnerian, otherwise skip it, and by no means buy the dvds.One thing I would like to know is the name of the very beautiful choral composition that accompanies the credits.

What can say about this epic apart from the word, 'Magnificent'. To see such great actors in one film is really quite extraordinary. This is the only time Gielgud, Richardson and Olivier ever acted together on film. To see this is sheer heaven in its brilliance. The world is a sadder places without these geniuses. In the lead is Richard Burton who is really a magnificent Wagner. The young actor who plays Ludwig II is also wonderful. Vanessa Redgrave as Cosima is really superb as is Joan Plowright and many, many other performers such as Barbara Leigh-Hunt, Gemma Craven and the beautiful Martha Keller. Sit back and let it all wash over you. The creation of period is absolutely sensational as is the sheer beauty of Germany and Switzerland and other places. This is truly a glittering gem and should be screened more often.

Wagner (1983): Starring Richard Burton, Vanessa Redgrave, Laurence Olivier, John Gielgud, Ralph Richardson, Lazlo Galfi, Franco Nero, Gemma Craven, Ekkehard Schall, Ronald Pickup, Miguel Herz-Kestranek, Marthe Keller, Vernon Dobtcheff, Daphne Wagner...Director Tony Palmer Released in 1983 for BBC television, this is an extremely long miniseries rich with historic details about the 19th century German composer Richard Wagner. While there were times when I felt this was overly and unnecessarily long, often feeling like we are watching a Wagner opera itself, it has genuine moments of brilliant drama and is exciting and sensational, even if at times inaccurate to the actualities of Wagner's life. For the most part, what we see is truthful. Richard Burton performs his final great role. As Wagner, he becomes the self-proclaimed Prophet of the Music of the Future, a bombastic musical genius and zealous German nationalist. The film opens with his Venetian funeral ceremony as Siegfried's Funeral March plays in the background. Gemma Craven portrays his long-suffering first wife Mina, who endured his continuous infidelities with prominent women, including Mathilde Wessendock (Marthe Keller) who served as his Muse during the making of Tristan and Isolde, and the wife of his patron. He befriends the pianist Franz Liszt (Ekehard Schall, who looks just like the real Liszt!) but eventually marries his daughter Cosima (Vanessa Redgrave). It's delightful watching this drama unfold, and especially satisfying to those familiar with Wagner's life and career and fans of his music. The soundtrack/score loaded with Wagner's music, as conducted by George Solti with the Vienna Philharmonic, and includes Tanhauser and Lohengrin music, The Liebestod finale from Tristan and Isolde, Meistersanger Von Nuremberg Overture, excerpts from his Ring cycle. The constant imagery of the Lohengrin swan-boat, at times gently flowing into a cave or at times burning, represents innocence lost and Wagner's vision of a grand German Empire. Actor Lazlo Galfi portrays the young and eventually insane King Ludwig of Bavaria, who sponsored Wagner and made it possible for him to live richly and to build his Bayreuth Theater. Ronald Pickup is the famous philosopher Nietzche, who suffers Wagner's insults and radical ideas silently until their friendship finally falls apart. Tenor Peter Hoffman and soprano Gwyneth Jones, both Wagnerian singers, play Malvina and Schorr Von Carolsfeld who first sang Tristan and Isolde. Miguel Herz-Kestranek portrays Wagner's favorite conductor, the long-forgotten 19th century maestro Hans Von Bulow. I can't praise this miniseries enough. It's truly a work of art in itself. It was filmed in various European locations associated with Wagner's life, such as the Paris Opera House, Bavaria, Dresden, Venice and other parts of Germany. This film seems to glorify Wagner as one of his own opera heroes, despite the fact that he lead a violent revolt during the 1848 revolution (the people's chanting of "Wagner! Wagner!" sounds disturbingly like "Hitler! Hitler!". Wagner's Anti-Semitism, in its sheer ignorance, is presented here without holding anything back. He has children he names after characters in his own operas- Isolde and Siegfried, whom he claims will be the hero of Germany. He loathes and is envious of Meyerbeer, the famed Jewish composer of grand opera. But also, its interesting to note how he had several Jewish conductors working for him. The final scenes are particularly moving. Wagner, now sickly and old, composes his final work, Parsifal,engages in an affair with a British Flower Maiden in the opera, is abandoned by all his friends and dies in his home with Cosima watching.The movie is designed especially for fans of Wagner. It's overwhelming but rewarding to see in its entirety.