64
Metascore
5 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 75Chicago TribuneChicago TribuneAn operatic rarity worth catching even if you don't happen to be an opera fan.
- 70VarietyRobert KoehlerVarietyRobert KoehlerWhile it creaks along at times, director Csaba Kael's new film version of a Hungarian opera masterpiece, Ferenc Erkel's Bank Ban, is ultimately an invaluable entry in the opera-on-film library.
- 70Los Angeles TimesKevin ThomasLos Angeles TimesKevin ThomasIt would take an opera expert to judge the merits of Bánk Bán and its renowned singers. But to the layman Erkel's music soars, and the singers' voices sound glorious.
- 50L.A. WeeklyHazel-Dawn DumpertL.A. WeeklyHazel-Dawn DumpertWhere Káel stumbles is in having his stars lip-synch, sometimes poorly, to a recording. It's a devil's bargain that allows for more natural staging, but that fails to convey that an opera's power lies less in cinematic shadings of character than in raw emotions refined by the spectacular art of a rigorously trained human voice.