Julianne Moore plays an American opera singer who, along with high-society guests at a rich businessman’s birthday party, is held hostage by a South American guerrilla group.
Set for a September release in theaters and then through on demand services, “Bel Canto” stars Julianne Moore as an opera singer caught up in a hostage situation.
Arriving at the mansion of a South American vice president, she sings for the assembled guests celebrating the birthday of Japanese businessman Katsumi Hosokawa (Ken Watanabe of “Godzilla”, “Batman Begins”).
But a guerrilla group (led by Tenoch Huerta of Mexican hits “Blue Demon” and “Here on Earth”) take control of the lavish mansion and, in a bid to have their comrades freed from prison, keep the party’s guests hostage for weeks on end.
Red Cross negotiator Joachim Messner (Sebastian Koch of “Homeland” season 5) enters the mansion as a go-between between the rebels and government forces assembled outside, while relationships develop between Roxane and Hosokawa on the one hand, and the businessman’s translator and a disguised rebel fighter on the other.
Based on the prize-winning 2001 novel by Ann Patchett, itself was inspired by the 1996 Japanese embassy hostage crisis in Lima, Peru, “Bel Canto” has since been adapted into a multilingual work for the Lyric Opera of Chicago.
Also seen in the trailer is Renée Fleming, a frequent collaborator with the opera company, as well as its creative consultant. Fleming provides Roxane’s singing voice throughout the film.
“Bel Canto” opens September 14 in US theaters.
