Dir: Robin Norton-Hale. UK, 2026, 106mins.
Cast: Lucy Hall, Matthew McKinney, Benson Wilson, Julia Marika
Review by Carlie Newman
The story remains the same: young Bohemian artists struggling to live with little money, facing poverty and coping with the tragic illness of a young woman. In this version Rodolfo (Matthew McKinney) falls in love with his young Ukrainian Cleaner neighbour, Mimi (Lucy Hall). She has a persistent very bad cough.
One of Rudolfo‘s flatmates, Marcello (Benson Wilson) has a tempestuous relationship with the singer, Musetta (Julia Marika) who seems carefree, but is really sympathetic and helpful at the end of the Opera when Mimi is dying.
The film is completely sung through and Puccini’s Opera uses a modern English libretto, but, importantly, has the original music. It is beautifully sung by all the cast, and particularly the four leads who are young and act and sing with full emotion and fantastic voices.
The cinematography shows a realistic picture of the Hackney area where this film is set. We see the characters inside and outside and the usually rather static opera thrives in this new setting. Director, Robin Norton- Hale has captured the essence of Puccini‘s work. It’s recommended for people who don’t usually ‘get’ Opera as well as those who are very familiar with the originally La Boheme.
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