Land of Gold (2021)
82 minNot rated yet
California history unfolds along with the making of an opera in Jon Else‘s entrancing documentary. Returning to the work of composer John Adams and librettist/director Peter Sellars, the subjects of his film Wonders Are Many, Else peeks behind the curtain as the pair prepare their collaboration Girls of the Golden West for its 2017 San Francisco Opera premiere. Ostensibly a look at the nuts-and-bolts of production from informal rehearsals to glittering opening night, the documentary also investigates the Gold Rush era that inspired the show. Soprano Julia Bullock is mesmerizing, as the opera’s star and the film’s narrator, employing passages from a real-life diary to make vivid the boom-and-bust of a rapacious time.
- Release date
- September 1, 2021
- Country of origin
- United States
- Music
- John Adams
Cast
- John Adams as Self
- Paul Appleby as Joe Cannon
- Paul Appleby as self
- Kai Brothers as Fayette
- Kai Brothers as self
- Julia Bullock as Dame Shirley
- Julia Bullock as self
- Lorena Feijoo as Lola Montez
- Lorena Feijoo as self
- Clarence King as Ryan McKinny
- Clarence King as self
- Hye Jung Lee as Ah Sing
- Hye Jung Lee as self
- Elliot Madore as Ramon
- Elliot Madore as self
- Peter Sellars as Self
- Davone Tines as Ned Peters
- Davone Tines as self
Crew
- Jon Else · Director
- Jon Else · Producer
- Camille Servan-Schreiber · Producer
- John Adams · Composer
- Jon Else · Cinematographer
- Gail Huddleson · Editor