In 1997, Oscar-winning documentarian Allan Miller embarked on a film project with renowned conductor Zubin Mehta and celebrated Chinese film director Zhang Yimou as they joined forces in a production of Puccini's opera Turandot in Florence. Before the year was out, an extraordinary opportunity arose: to stage Turandot in its original setting in the Forbidden City of Beijing. The outdoor production was an undertaking on an epic scale. A fascinating chronicle of an unprecedented cross-cultural collaboration, THE TURANDOT PROJECT combines the pageantry of this opulent opera production with a spectacular cinematic portrait of the struggles and triumphs of Zubin Mehta and Zhang Yimou to mount their production in this most historic venue of China. (Source: Amazon.com)
Production
900+ costumes, massive outdoor Forbidden City staging
Direction
Miller captures artistic tension without picking sides
Director
Allan Miller
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Zhang Yimou had never directed opera before this; his only stage experience was choreography for the 2008 Beijing Olympics opening ceremony years later.
The production marked the first Western opera ever performed in the Forbidden City — a political gamble during a tense period in US-China relations.
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