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Aria
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Robert Altman Bruce Beresford Bill Bryden Jean-Luc Godard Derek Jarman Franc Roddam Nicolas Roeg Ken Russell Charles Sturridge Julien Temple
Produced by	Don Boyd
Written by	Robert Altman Bruce Beresford Don Boyd Bill Bryden Louis de Cahusac Derek Jarman Philippe Quinault Franc Roddam Nicolas Roeg Ken Russell Charles Sturridge Julien Temple
Starring	Theresa Russell Beverly D'Angelo Elizabeth Hurley Bridget Fonda Tilda Swinton
Music by	Giuseppe Verdi Gustave Charpentier Giacomo Puccini Erich Wolfgang Korngold
Cinematography	Christopher Hughes
Editing by	Neil Abrahamson
Distributed by	Miramax Films
Release date(s)	September 15, 1987
Running time	90 min
Country	United Kingdom
Language	Italian French German
IMDb profile

Aria is a 1987 British film produced by Don Boyd from Virgin Group's visual section consisting of ten short films by a variety of directors.

Each segment features its director's visual accompaniment to arias and scenes from operas. Each film has minimal dialogue (some none at all), with most of the spoken content being the operas' lyrics (libretto) in Italian, French, or German.

The music archive source was RCA Records (which at the time included Erato Records, but later that label went to Warner Music; RCA is now a part of Sony BMG, so this film's music rights are complicated).

Contents 1 The ten segments of the film 1.1 Un ballo in maschera 1.2 "La Vergine Degli Angeli" from La Forza del Destino 1.3 Armide 1.4 Rigoletto 1.5 Die Tote Stadt 1.6 Abaris ou les Boréades 1.7 "Liebestod" from Tristan und Isolde 1.8 "Nessun dorma" from Turandot 1.9 "Depuis le Jour" from Louise 1.10 "Vesti la Giubba" from I Pagliacci 2 External links

The narrative chronicles the attempted assassination of Albania's King Zog in 1931.

• Music composed by Giuseppe Verdi
• Directed by Nicolas Roeg
• Starring Theresa Russell

Three London teenagers skip school, steal a car and die in a traffic accident.

• Music composed by Giuseppe Verdi
• Directed by Charles Sturridge

A look at French bodybuilders.

• Music composed by Jean-Baptiste Lully
• Libretto by Philippe Quinault
• Conducted by Philippe Herreweghe
• Directed by Jean-Luc Godard
• Starring Valérie Allain

At San Luis Obispo's famous Madonna Inn, a movie producer cheats on his wife unaware that she, too, is there with a clandestine lover of her own. Finally, both philanderers are revealed to each other via security-camera footage.

• Music by Giuseppe Verdi
• Directed by Julien Temple
• Starring Buck Henry and Beverly D'Angelo

A look at the seemingly-dead city of Bruges, Belgium. A beautiful virgin is stripped naked by her lover and, after she expresses her affection for him, she loses her virginity to him.

• Music composed by Erich Wolfgang Korngold
• Sung by Carol Neblett and René Kollo
• Directed by Bruce Beresford
• Starring Elizabeth Hurley

A re-creation of opening night at Paris's Ranelagh Theater, in 1734. The audience is filled with a raffish (and, perhaps, diseased) assortment of lowlifes and the decadent.

• Music composed by Jean-Philippe Rameau
• Libretto by Louis de Cahusac
• Conducted by John Eliot Gardiner
• Directed by Robert Altman
• Starring Julie Hagerty, Geneviève Page, Sandrine Dumas, Chris Campion

Two young lovers arrive in Las Vegas. After driving down Glitter Gulch, they check into a cheap hotel room. There they make love and, after that, commit suicide.

• Music composed by Richard Wagner
• Sung by Birgit Nilsson
• Directed by Franc Roddam
• Starring Bridget Fonda, in her first "credited" film role.

A lovely young girl imagines her body is being adorned by jewels until she wakes up in an operating room, where she is receiving emergency care after a car crash.

• Music composed by Giacomo Puccini
• Sung by Jussi Björling
• Directed by Ken Russell
• Starring Linzi Drew

A veteran opera singer gives her final performance, intercut by 8mm home movies of an early love affair.

• Music composed by Gustave Charpentier
• Sung by Leontyne Price
• Directed by Derek Jarman
• Starring Tilda Swinton

A has-been virtuoso remembers his happier days while arriving at an opera house, visiting the dressing room, and performing the aria for his audience of one. (This story provides a framework for the rest of the movie.)

• Music composed by Ruggero Leoncavallo
• Directed by Bill Bryden
• Written by Don Boyd
• Starring John Hurt and Sophie Ward

• Aria at the Internet Movie Database

v • d • e Films directed by Robert Altman

The Delinquents (1957) • The James Dean Story (1957) • Countdown (1968) • That Cold Day in the Park (1969) • MASH (1970) • Brewster McCloud (1971) • McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971)• Images (1972) • The Long Goodbye (1973) • Thieves Like Us (1974) • California Split (1974) • Nashville (1975) • Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson (1976) • 3 Women (1977) • A Wedding (1978) • Quintet (1979) • A Perfect Couple (1979) • HealtH (1980) • Popeye (1980) • Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean (1982) • Streamers (1983) • Secret Honor (1984) • O.C. and Stiggs (1984) • Fool for Love (1985) • Beyond Therapy (1987) • Aria (1987) • Vincent & Theo (1990) • The Player (1992) • Short Cuts (1993) • Prêt-à-Porter (1994) • Kansas City (1996)• The Gingerbread Man (1998) • Cookie's Fortune (1999) • Dr. T & the Women (2000) • Gosford Park (2001) • The Company (2003) • A Prairie Home Companion (2006)