Watch Cineb. Oscar-wining director John Schlesinger orchestrated this filmed recording of composer Jacques Offenbach's final operetta as performed by the Royal Opera in 1981. World-renowned tenor Placido Domingo stars as Hoffmann, a love-struck poet whose foolish romantic pursuits become tragic folly when he falls in love with a singing robot (Luciana Serra), a woman who sings herself to death (Ileana Cotrubas) and others who are destined to deceive him.