Glyndebourne's Saul stole the summer and had critics raving. The Guardian (****) applauded virtuoso stagecraft from director Barrie Kosky in his debut production there, calling the show a theatrical and musical feast of energetic choruses, surreal choreography and gorgeous singing. For The Independent, which ranked it amongst five top classical and opera performances of 2015, there was no praise too high for the cast. The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment under Ivor Bolton sparkles from the pit with period panache, and designer Katrin Lea Tag's exuberant costumes (The Times ****) set the Old Testament story in Handel's time, with a witty twinge of the contemporary.
Reviews
Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.
This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.
This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.
One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.