celyn100. Somehow amid the sorting process when I chose the films I wanted to see, I managed to miss the fact that this was an opera. *laugh* I was thinking "costume drama" - which fits, but wouldn't have been the primary descriptor I would have chosen if I were paying better attention. I have a suspicion there was more going on with the plot than made it into the subtitles, if only because of one particular Iago-like character who spent the whole time slinking around and causing trouble, and who calls himself 'slighted' at one point. What did come through was a combination of fairly stodgy attitudes toward women's comportment and choices, and a large dose of Magyar homeland patriotism. (I also learned it is pronounced "may-ar" not "mag-yar" with a silent 'g'. I'd been mispronouncing it ever since reading Kate Seredy's The Good Master in grade school.)
It is a glorious tragedy, in the operatic tradition: life is cruel - not only are you a regicide, but your wife drowns herself over her besmirched honor when the queen's brother refuses to take "no" for an answer. *rolls eyes* Ah well, it is a period piece after all.
