Speaking of opera and film in the broadest possible terms, with their shared preference for larger-than-life characters and outsized emotions, more qualities unite the art forms than divide them. Still, transitioning opera to film has never been easy. Most efforts end up stagebound, sacrificing cinematic possibility for musical fidelity. In this respect, the new adaptation of Puccini's Tosca by the prolific and varied director Benôit Jacquot (A Single Girl, Sade) doesn't prove much of an exception, but that does little to diminish the stirring performance of the work in all its lurid beauty. Romanian soprano Angela Gheorgiu stars as Floria Tosca, the jealous, gentle-hearted singer whose love for a painter (Roberto Alagna) is jeopardized when he shelters a political refugee from the forces of a baron (Ruggero Raimondi). A loathsome Jabba The Hutt of a man, Raimondi plays the lovers against each other, then twists Gheorgiu's affection in an attempt to take advantage of her sexually. Using a single set for each act and cutting minimally, Jacquot seems to recognize his limited ability to make the opera cinematic, and he opts instead for the occasional cutaway to the cast recording session that serves as the largely overdubbed film's soundtrack. The technique works surprisingly well, creating the feeling of watching the performance and being aware of the orchestra pit at the same time. (More questionable is Jacquot's choice, used sparingly, to place spoken dialogue over the music or to have his lovers kiss while "singing" a love duet.) The minimal interference and heavy use of close-ups only intensifies the spotlight on the performances. Married in real life, Gheorgiu and Alagna have a famed chemistry that translates easily to the screen, and Raimondi is a villain of frightening intensity. Of the three, Gheorgiu's work stands out the most, as she invests her character with a hidden reserve of anger and force that almost seems a response to the standard criticism of Puccini's heroines. Though not quite a night at the opera, Jacquot's film works as the next best thing, at least until someone figures out a better way to bring the two worlds together.