With an opening montage that lands on Lincoln Center Plaza, Puccini for Beginners quickly announces its milieu. For non-New Yorkers, that translates to "the realm of the acculturated Manhattanite" — the sort of people who use words like milieu. Actress Elizabeth Reaser plays Allegra, a little-known lesbian novelist whose girlfriend breaks up with her because she can't commit. On the rebound, Allegra, much to everyone's surprise, falls for a man, and then, unwittingly, for his girlfriend. And so the stage is set for this screwball comedy where intellectualism meets carnality, which, when you think about it, ain't a bad definition of opera.

In a Sundance year when melancholy or outright depressing films are a dime a dozen, Puccini's zany take on brainy New Yorkers and light-hearted lambaste of gender politics feels as airily refreshing as a glass of seltzer after so many cups of black coffee and regrets. We sat down with director Maria Maggenti (The Incredibly True Adventures of Two Girls in Love) to talk about finding the perfect cast, how New York has changed, and why it took her seven years to make this three-act comedy.

All clip intro music courtesy of Nortec Collective.

Download Standard Video
For PCs, right-click Save As | For Macs, ctrl-click Save Link As

Download High Definition Video
For PCs, right-click Save As | For Macs, ctrl-click Save Link As