This film was prepared as a introduction to a series of opera broadcasts on German television. It depicts the behind-the-scenes manoeuvrings in preparation for the annual opera festival in Bayreuth.
Direction
Herzog treats opera like jungle expedition — reverent yet predatory.
Production
Bayreuth's sacred architecture vs. backstage fluorescent-lit mundanity.
Editing
Juxtaposes Wagner's mythic grandeur with petty human negotiations.
Director
Werner Herzog
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Herzog shot this between 'Lessons of Darkness' and 'Little Dieter Needs to Fly', treating Bayreuth like another alien landscape.
The festival's Wagner family control (still in 1996!) mirrors the very dynastic power structures the operas critique.
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