Bluebeard's Castle

An intriguing rarity for Powell completists, this straightforward performance film of Bartok's opera was shot only after the score had already been recorded in Zagreb. As a result, Powell was free to indulge himself with the look of the film, so long-term collaborator Hein Heckroth went to town on the cobwebby gauzes and nets. And indeed, it does look terrific, if rather too busy, a brooding tapestry of browns, blues and greys. That said, it's inevitably of limited interest only, and finally something of a footnote from (two of) the men behind The Red Shoes and The Tales of Hoffmann.