REVIEW: Bocelli's 'Because I Believed' launches CineArts 2025 with song and style
As streaming continues to take a bite out of global box office, cinemagoers have become increasingly in need of reasons to make the trip out to their local movie theaters. Where multiple chains have taken to elevating their in-cinema experiences—resorting to everything from recliners, playgrounds, and 4DX, to actual beds—the challenge remains in convincing people that there’s anything worthwhile to see on the big screen beyond major studio blockbusters.
Thus, it was with a great deal of interest that we attended the premiere of CineArts Season 2 at Opus Mall’s Premiere Cinemas.
The latest edition of a program bringing world-class ballet, opera, and concert performances from the prestigious Royal Opera House in London directly to the big screen, CineArts gives Filipino audiences a way to enjoy high culture from the comfort of their local cinema. Beginning Sept. 23 and running through June 2026, theater fans can look forward to screenings of classic operas, Tosca, La Traviata, Siegfried, and The Magic Flute, as well as acclaimed ballets, Cinderella, The Nutcracker, Woolf Works, and Giselle.
The debut presentation was a screening of Because I Believed, an in-depth documentary on the life and career of famed tenor Andrea Bocelli, the voice behind such hits as The Prayer and Con Te Partirò (Time to Say Goodbye). Presented in Italian with English subtitles, the film presents audiences with a candid look at one of the world’s most beloved vocalists, away from the limelight of the global stage.
The film opens with Bocelli preparing for a concert at Rome’s Terme Di Caracalla, where he will be staging a tribute to the Three Tenors’ legendary 1990 performance. Adopting a fly-on-the-wall approach, director Cosima Spender immerses the audience in Bocelli’s world. Meticulous in his craft and serving as his own harshest critic, the so-called pop-tenor stays grounded through a tightly knit inner circle comprised of his wife Veronica and select collaborators.
A fascinating aspect of the film is how it depicts the singer’s everyday activities; with Bocelli having famously lost his sight at a young age, several scenes are devoted to showing how he refuses to be an invalid, engaging in activities such as horseback riding, bicycling, and dining with friends.
Following the introductory section, Spender touches on Bocelli’s upbringing and early career, showing how being made to attend a boarding school for the visually impaired at the age of eight instilled in him a desire to never again leave his family vineyard and the people he loved. It is a preference that has followed the singer his entire life, stating multiple times during the documentary how much he hates being away from home.
While his family’s wealth could have easily kept Bocelli from pursuing a career, it was his parents’ insistence that he make something of himself that set him on the path to worldwide fame. Granted, his father wasn’t enthused with the idea of him becoming a singer, but the young man’s love of music won the day.
Tracing Bocelli's rise from a local piano bar to his breakthrough on Italian television, the film frames his life as a fairy tale, though it avoids some of the tougher parts. Granted, few documentaries with this much access to the subject in question would discuss such matters, but it’s important to note that the story being told is Bocelli’s approved version of events.
Safe thought it may be, the story is nevertheless compelling, as present-day sections are intercut with vintage footage and photographs, bolstered by an excellent selection of Bocelli’s most famous recordings. Through international collaborations, industry recognition, and worldwide fame, Spender makes sure to humanize her subject, weaving in testimonials from lifelong friends, conversations with Bocelli’s youngest child, Virginia, and even behind-the-scenes shots of Bocelli combating his lifelong anxiety about being onstage. Short of the inevitable biopic, this is probably as close as we’ll get to knowing the man.
Towards the end of the film, we see footage from the Teatro del Silenzio, constructed in Bocelli’s hometown under the logic that, after a lifetime of travelling the globe to perform, people would gladly come to see him in his beloved Italy.
Set against the breathtaking backdrop of Tuscany’s rolling hills, the venue is every bit the masterpiece as any of Bocelli’s performances. With his wife and daughter backstage, Bocelli goes on to do what he does best, his every hardship, accomplishment, and insecurity be damned.
After the final note is sung, Bocelli mounts his favorite horse backstage to ride home through a darkened landscape he knows by heart; even as the audience cheers for an encore, Bocelli determinedly heads out in much the same way he’s conducted much of his career: on his own terms, to be sure, to his own tune, definitely.
We should all be so lucky.
Andrea Bocelli: Because I Believed is now showing at Opus Mall in Quezon City and The Mall-NuStar in Cebu. For upcoming CineArts titles, please see official schedules.