MOZART'S SISTER - NANNERL

Ma's View:

It is some time since we saw this movie but here goes...  unfortunately it confirmed my opinion that the French do not do period dramas very well and I can't help comparing it to Jane Eyre!

Despite the sumptuous costumes, fabulous sets (e.g Versailles) and wonderful music , the main characters do not rise to the realms of reality enough to engage the viewer.  Nannerl, is played by Marie Feret with a stolid woodenness that admits so little variation in emotional response that it is hard to conceive that she is the independent young woman who is portrayed as refusing to accompany her family to England, instead continuing against her father's wishes (and  masquerading as a boy) to learn how to write down the music she has composed in her head.  Her friend and supporter the Dauphine, Louise, is played by her younger sister, Lisa Feret, with equal woodenness.  It is only now when I come to note the details that I realise the director is their father Rene Feret - well, enough said!  Keep it in the family, doesn't matter if they can act or not!  The Dauphin, Louis, with whom Nannerl forms a friendship of sorts, is played by Clovis Fouin in a manner that is somewhat stilted and unreal as well.  Luckily, the supporting actors do a better job - Marc Barbe as the struggling Leopold Mozart and Delphine Chuillot as his long-suffering wife, Anne-Marie are very authentic and David Moreau as young Wolfgang is charming.

The story is certainly worth the telling and despite the acting we feel for Nannerl's frustration in having to cede priority to her younger brother and instead take on the role of a woman - always secondary to the male, not allowed to learn what he learns, not allowed to compose her own music, no longer allowed to play the violin.  As well, after years of being carted from one country to another performing for royalty, she is unfit for anything else, not having acquired the usual accomplishments of a young woman, the only role available to her in that society.

There are some delightful and touching scenes - where the 2 young muscians sing to each other over their breakfast and where Leopold plays the violin in a moving effort to rouse Nannerl from her illness.  But all in all, this film is overly long and under-acted!

My score:  6/10

Pepe's View:

Ma has said it all.  The only thing about this film that is enjoyable is the music which is absolutely beautiful.  I kept wondering if any of Nannerl's compositions have survived and were being used in the film but unfortunately no information regarding this was forthcoming.
We felt for the situation Nannerl found herself in and wonder at the society of the day that would not allow a girl to play the violin - it was never explained why!
However, Marie Feret (Nannerl) cannot act and as a result, never at any stage, evoked our sympathy  The other leads were equally poor.

I normally love French films but after this and "Princess of Montpensier" have decided that the French do not seem to be able to manage the period drama genre at all well.

My Score:  6/10 - for the music.