Farinelli
The prologue begins with Carlo Broschi, the famous castrato "Farinelli", reminiscing about his childhood as a singer in the church choir. A newly castrated boy runs in and warns Carlo to stop singing, warning that his voice will result in castration, before leaping to his death. Carlo is so traumatized by this that he is then unwilling to sing when told to by his voice teacher, Nicola Porpora later during his voice lessons. He runs off crying and asking why this the castrato had to die. Carlo's father runs after him, and after comforting him, makes him promise that he will never refuse his voice to his brother Riccardo ever again.
The film opens in Madrid, Spain, at the palace of King Philip V. Riccardo Broschi (Enrico Lo Verso) demands to see his younger brother, the Italian castrato Carlo Broschi (Stefano Dionisi)—better known by his nickname, "Farinelli". Carlo refuses.
The rest of the film is told in flashback. Eighteen years earlier, Carlo and Riccardo watched as an itinerant trumpet player humiliated a young castrato. Angered, Carlo humiliates the trumpeter in turn. The crowd gives Carlo the nickname "Farinelli". When Carlo attempts to have sex with a local woman, Riccardo interrupts, pushing Carlo aside and making love to the girl himself. Meanwhile, George Frideric Handel (Jeroen Krabbé) has heard Farinelli sing from his carriage. He asks Carlo to come to England and perform, but Riccardo demands to be included. Handel sneers at Riccardo as a hack, and humiliates Carlo as a freak, leaving Carlo despondent and Riccardo angry.
Several years pass, and Carlo is now famous. He even impresses the Comtesse Mauer (Marianne Basler), a beautiful and rich young woman more interested in books than opera. The brothers maintain their sexual accommodation: Carlo seduces the comtesse, but Riccardo consummates the sex act. Carlo receives a letter from Handel, who says he intends to hear Carlo sing in Dresden. Before arriving, Carlo suddenly falls ill with a fever. While he is ill, Riccardo tells him the story Carlo has always believed about how he became a castrato—that he had been injured in a fall from a horse, making the castration surgery necessary to save his life. In Dresden, Handel meets with Carlo just before the curtain rises, and tells him the King of England wants him to sing. Unnerved by Handel's offer, Carlo faints on stage. A self-satisfied Handel leaves, leaving Carlo waiting for him in vain.
Carlo is soon thereafter contacted by the young Alexandra Hunter (Elsa Zylberstein), and asked to come to London. Handel's Covent Garden opera house is bankrupting the nearby Nobles Theatre, which is run by Carlo's old vocal teacher, Nicola Porpora (Omero Antonutti). Carlo and Riccardo journey to London. Carlo meets Margareth Hunter (Caroline Cellier), Alexandra's mother, and Benedict (Renaud du Peloux de Saint Romain), Alexandra's crippled younger brother. Carlo begins to fall in love with Alexandra, and dotes on Benedict. Carlo desperately wishes to impress Handel, and Alexandra steals some of Handel's music for Carlo to perform. Carlo realizes that Riccardo's music is vastly inferior to Handel's, and the relationship between the two brothers deteriorates. Searching the Nobles Theatre for his stolen music, Handel hears Riccardo composing. He confronts Riccardo, insinuating that the composer would be better off without "Farinelli". Beguiled by Handel, Riccardo reveals (in a flashback-within-a-flashback) that Carlo was a superb singer as a child. Carlo witnessed a young castrato leap to his death, however, and was deeply traumatized by this. To preserve Carlo's voice before it changed in puberty, Riccardo drugged Carlo, who was seriously ill at the time, and castrated him illegally.
That evening, Handel meets with Farinelli backstage. He reveals that he knows Carlo stole his music, and that he knows the secret of Carlo's castration. Instead of being overcome by doubt, Carlo sings Handel's music (the aria Lascia ch'io pianga ) so beautifully that Handel faints.
The flashback ends. The audience learns that Carlo fled from Riccardo with Alexandra, and has not sung in public since his triumph at the Nobles Theater three years earlier. Carlo has never forgiven Riccardo for castrating him, but Alexandra urges Carlo to do so. Carlo does not do so, but does permit Riccardo to sleep in the horse stables. Carlo sings for King Philip during a solar eclipse. Riccardo realizes his obsession with Carlo has been driven by his own guilt, and decides to ends his pursuit of "Farinelli". Overwhelmed by the pain of his guilt and the broken relationship with his brother, Riccardo slashes his wrist in a suicide attempt as he listens to Carlo sing during the solar eclipse. After falling unconscious from blood loss, he is brought to the house Carlo and Alexandra share, where he recovers. Carlo, realizing his has "eclipsed" his brother, forgives Riccardo for castrating him. Together, the brothers make love to Alexandra.
Some months pass. Alexandra is now pregnant with Riccardo's child, which Carlo and Alexandra treat as their own. The film ends as Riccardo leaves Madrid to seek his fortune as a composer, taking comfort in the fact that in leaving Carlo with a child to father, he has given his brother back his "share of humanity."
romantic, flashback