Film Review
In his most ambitious film to date, auteur director René
Féret casts some long-overdue light on one of the greatest
tragedies in the history of music, not with the grandeur and posturing
that prevails in today's big budget period dramas, but with the
introspection, intimacy and cool detachment that characterises his
idiosyncratic approach to filmmaking. That Wolfgang Amadeus
Mozart had a sister who was equally as talented as the genius who
composed 41 symphonies by the age of 35 will come as a surprise to most
people. How is it that we have never heard of this other child
prodigy? Given the era in which Maria Anna Mozart,
nicknamed Nannerl, lived, an era in which the only thing expected of
women was to make good wives and even better mothers, it is not hard to
see why this musical genius was destined for obscurity, her talents
shunned by a society that could not appreciate them and eclipsed by her
younger brother's success. In his imagined account of the life of
Mozart's older sister, Féret does not have to strain credulity
too hard. Guided by letters and other written accounts of the
time, he offers a plausible interpretation of events that is
nonetheless moving and rich in character detail.
Nannerl, la soeur de Mozart is
a very different kind of historical drama to the one that modern
audiences have come to expect. Although its production values are
on a par with the most lavish of today's period films, making effective
use of real locations such as the Château de Versailles and
offering a veritable feast for the eyes with its elaborate costumes and
sets, the film is far less concerned with making a visual
impression. The work it most resembles is Roberto Rossellini's
La Prise de pouvoir par Louis XIV
(1966), a film that accentuates the ordinariness of life in the past
whilst eschewing the kind of wishy-washy romanticism which inevitably
makes the past look like a grotesque theme-park of the
imagination. Whilst Féret's film falls somewhat
short of the sustained brilliance of Rossellini's, its pared-back
approach and sublime lack of artifice suit its subject matter admirably
and the result is a refreshing alternative to the prevailing trend in
costume dramas, which nowadays tend to overlook the human part of the equation.
The slow pace of the film and its lack of stylistic hutzpa ensure that
it was never going to be a mainstream success. There are no big
name actors (Féret cast his two daughters, Marie and Lisa
Féret, in two of the most important roles, in spite of their
obvious lack of experience), no grandiose set-pieces (apart from the
beautifully staged concert scenes), none of the usual cinematic pomp
and circumstance that has become
de
rigueur in period dramas. Rather,
Nannerl, la soeur de Mozart has a
Bergmanesque minimalism and simplicity to it, and is a film that you
either instantly hate or gradually learn to fall in love with. It
is not a masterpiece (the film's uneven pace and the limited range of
some of the actors are blemishes that are hard to overlook), but it is
a film that, for all its flaws, manages to engage the emotions in a
subtle and profound way.
To its credit, the film has no difficulty conveying the full tragedy of
a life that was cruelly diverted from its natural course in order to
conform with the conventions of the day. If its heroine had had the
good fortune to have been born a boy, she would most probably be as
famous today as her younger brother (and, as the film points out, it is
through her selfless efforts that Wolfgang Amadeus's music secured its
longevity). Nannerl's misfortune was to have been a girl and her
talent had to be sacrificed so that she could do what society expected
of her, which was to serve as a nursemaid for her beloved father and
marry a man she could never love. At least, thanks to René
Féret, we are now aware that she existed and we know something
of both her personal tragedy and her contribution to the history of
music. If it were not for her, we may never have heard the name
Mozart...
© James Travers 2011
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Film Synopsis
In a rickety carriage, a family of musicians are making their way
across a wintry landscape, snuggled together for comfort as they await
their arrival at the next palace on their itinerary. The Mozarts
are on tour, performing exclusively before the crowned heads of
Europe. The star of the troupe is 11-year-old Wolfgang Amadeus, a
child prodigy who has already composed his first symphony. His
sister Nannerl, three years his senior, is just as talented, but her
father does little to encourage her musical ambitions. At
Versailles, disguised as a man, Nannerl makes a deep impression on the
dauphin Louis, the son of the present king of France, Louis XV.
The dauphin has no doubts about Nannerl's genius and encourages her to
write music. But this is not an era that respects the genius of
women and Nannerl is destined not to share her brother's good fortune...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.