The Update - March 22, 2016
Florence Foster Jenkins
Why is bad singing so funny? Why do missed high notes induce such hilarity? Is it all vaudeville or a case of Schadenfreude? Curiously, we have two new films about the egregious soprano par excellence, Florence Foster Jenkins (whose awful recordings are legendary and who died soon after giving a disastrous recital in Carnegie Hall in 1944). The first – Marguerite, directed by Xavier Ziannoli – is screening during the current French Film Festival, and it is not to be missed. Arts Update hasn't laughed so hard since it read public defences of Tony Abbott's intervention in the Prime Minister's Literary Awards in 2014. Catherin Frot deserved her César Award for Best Actress as the Jenkins-like singer manqué Marguerite Dumont.
Next up is Stephen Frears's much-anticipated Florence Foster Jenkins (Entertainment One, May 5 release), with Meryl Streep as Jenkins. Arts Update regular Ian Dickson will review the new film.
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