“Opera Meets Film” is a feature dedicated to exploring the way that opera has been employed in cinema. We will select a section or a film in its entirety, highlighting the impact that utilizing the operatic form or sections from an opera can alter our perception of a film that we are viewing. This week’s installment features the 2018 French Film, “Une Vie Violente.”

“Une Vie Violente” takes us to Corsica where we experience the violence of the political world on the island. Its chief protagonist is Stéphane, who actually starts the film as an outsider, only to get dragged into circumstances that will threaten his life.

Halfway through the film, we are shown a scene between Stéphane and his treacherous girlfriend moments before they head to a fateful wedding. The two are in a full-fledged argument, rather reminiscent of their entire relationship throughout the movie. It’s a relationship built on miscommunication, deceit, and ultimately, betrayal. This will be the final scene in which we see them “together” as the subsequent scene featuring the two is violent and essentially ends their relationship.

As they argue over their differing values and ideas, we hear, rather faintly, Barbarina’s aria from “Le Nozze di Figaro.” It’s the only aria in the entire opera in a minor key, the character mourning the loss of a pin. Some speculate that there is something far more sinister going on in the context of the aria and that Barbarina’s plight is far more potent emotionally. It’s this potential subtext that is at play in the use of the aria in this film. The relationship is spiraling toward disaster, but the reasons for it are far deeper than what is being presented to us. The two are arguing over differing values, but the truth is that Stéphane’s girlfriend is not only seeing another guy, but she is seeing a guy that is among those seeking to kill Stéphane.

As we watch this scene, the aria itself haunts the moment with its weeping mood, making the argument seem rather pathetic in the context. We have been seeing the relationship dwindle from the start of the film and by this point, all we can ask is why they are even together anymore. The musical choice here only adds to that sense of questioning, making the argument feel empty and vapid, the relationship clearly lost like Barbarina’s pin.