A pure soul sings his way to the gallows. Melville + Britten = devastating.
A version of Benjamin Britten's opera based on the Melville story. Will the virtuous young sailor Billy Budd be hanged for murder?
Score
Britten's ambiguous chords haunt like foghorns.
Acting
Pears makes Vere's agony almost unbearable.
Cinematography
Black and white rigging becomes moral prison bars.
Director
Basil Coleman
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
GB
