Aria is a 1987 British film produced by Don Boyd from Virgin Group's visual section consisting of ten short films by a variety of directors.
Each segment features its director's visual accompaniment to arias and scenes from operas. Each film has minimal dialogue (some none at all), with most of the spoken content being the operas' lyrics (libretto) in Italian, French, or German.
The music archive source was RCA Records (which at the time included Erato Records, but later that label went to Warner Music; RCA is now a part of Sony BMG, so this film's music rights are complicated).
Ten short pieces directed by ten different directors, including Ken Russell, Jean-Luc Godard, Robert Altman, Bruce Beresford, and Nicolas Roeg. Each short uses an aria as soundtrack/sound (Vivaldi, Bach, Wagner), and is an interpretation of the particular aria. Written by Ed Sutton
A young oriental woman has a one-night stand with a blond sailor. The result: a girl, who makes her first appearance as a fish and later as a sort of kite. She remains attached to her mother by a thread. One day, the sailor returns, with a fast car and a blonde girl. He takes the girl and adds it to their multi-ethnic brood. The mother, crushed, walks off the stage and disassembles herself. Written by Jon Reeves
An animated version of Madame Butterfly, with a soundtrack of the sea and of Natalie Choquette singing Puccini's "Un bel dì." The handsome, blond U.S. Navy sailor makes love on the strand to Madame Butterfly. He gives her his hat and portable phonograph and leaves the island the next day. She stays by the sea waiting for his return, giving birth to a daughter whom she raises and loves. A few years later, a ship returns. Butterfly dons the sailor cap, adjusts the phonograph, and waits for her lover to join his little family. He has a different plan, one that sends her into despair as the aria comes to an end. A butterfly and the sound of the sea remain. Written by
