I saw Temptation at the New York Musical Festival and it was like nothing I've ever seen before. It tells the familiar tale of "Faust", a story of making a deal with the devil. This may seem like many other films, but Temptation retells it in a very unique way. First of all it's a "Rock Musical" with the vast majority of the dialogue and story being conveyed through song. With the recent success of "Chicago" and "Moulin Rouge!", Temptation is the next logical step in the progression of the modern musical. In my opinion the biggest flaw in the musical genre is pacing. Sometime films get lost in the songs and the plot is put on hold for five minutes while the characters sing and dance. That doesn't happen here, everything is well paced and the story continually progresses.
The most unique aspect of Temptation is its stunning visuals. It combines real people with animation and surreal sets/backgrounds to create a world never seen before. The colors are vibrant and I was in awe throughout the screening. I really don't know how to describe it other than amazing and even if I could I wouldn't want to ruin it for other viewers.
The performances were also all great. Zoe Saldana (Drumline, Pirates of the Caribbean) did a wonderful job as "Annie" the lead of the film. She looked and sounded great. There were also stellar performances from Adam Pascal, Michael Cerveris, Alice Ripley and my personal favorite Orfeh.
The biggest flaw with the film is its lack of camera movement. There was some wonderful movement within the film, but overall I don't think it was quite enough. I'm not sure if there were too many limits because of the backgrounds and visuals, but I think probably more could have been done. Overall though this is a minor detail and would most likely be overlooked by the audience.
This is a great film and I highly recommend it. Director Mark Tarlov came up with a wonderfully original concept and executed it perfectly.
