Peter Auker’s meticulous study Britten, Opera and Film offers a fascinating exploration of the cinematic qualities embedded within Benjamin Britten’s 1954 opera The Turn of the Screw, based on the novella by Henry James. Auker investigates a question that has tantalised critics for decades: what makes this work so frequently described as “cinematic”, and how did Britten’s experiences with film influence his compositional approach?

The book hinges in part upon the remarkable rediscovery, in the early 2000s, of an archival copy of Peter Morley’s 1959 ITV production of The Turn of the Screw, which provides invaluable insights into the earliest screen interpretation of the opera. Britten’s involvement with this pioneering television project signals a more nuanced relationship with visual media than the prevailing narrative of the composer’s apparent disdain for cinema would suggest.

Auker convincingly dismantles this misconception, tracing Britten’s engagement with film from his early cinemagoing experiences to his work as a composer for the GPO Film Unit in the 1930s. These formative experiences profoundly shaped his compositional language, particularly his approach to orchestration and dramatic pacing.

What emerges most powerfully is how Britten’s compositional...