Review No.152: Mozart's Sister

Now it's time for a bit of culture with a look at the story of Mozart from another angle and no it's not Amadeus 2 but rather a look at Wolfgang's sister Maria Anna, nicknamed Nannerl, in the imaginatively titled Mozart's Sister. Rene Feret's coming-of-age drama sees his daughter Marie portray Nannerl who when we first meet her is in the midst of a family tour accompanying her supposedly more talented brother on the harpsichord and also singing while he plays the violin. In the film Feret seems to tell us that Nannerl was the more talented of the two however her father Leopold was more interested in presenting her brother as a child prodigy ignoring the fact that she had produced some of the compositions that had been attributed to Wolfgang. As the Mozarts seek refuge in an Abbey, Nannerl befriends a young girl who turns out to be Princess Louise Marie of France whose father has sent her to live with the nuns and who tells her to deliver a letter to her young lover when they get to court. As Nannerl slowly becomes a woman she at first has to hide her femininity from the young Dauphin however after she realises that he will hear her accompany Wolfgang he finds out that she is indeed a girl of his age. As the two continue to meet in private her love of music entrances him and it seems as if the two will embark on a grand romance however as this is the time of marriages of convenience he ends up having to marry for politics rather than love. Another meeting with Louise Marie sees the girls lament on their lot in life as they realise that neither will really be given the chance to love mainly due to their pushy fathers.

Mozart's Sister is an odd film on one hand it's a coming-of-age story of a girl who is becoming a woman and who isn't quite sure how old she actually is as her father seems to lie in order to create more hype around the Mozart siblings' performances. Nannerl's almost romance with the Dauphin is to an extent slightly odd as the two are never believable as anything other than friends if even Feret wants us to think that they have a connection between the music. The film is also partly historical biography looking at a female figure who isn't well known in most countries, save France and Austria, and another person who seemingly had more talent than Wolfgang Mozart but suffered from having a father who only saw that he had one talented child rather than two. One of the more powerful scenes in the film sees Nannerl tear up all of her composition sheets as she vows never to write or teach music again ultimately ending marrying a man much older than her before settling down as a housewife. The film's final theme is that of the friendship between Nannerl and Louise Marie, real life sisters Marie and Lisa Feret, who despite being related off screen don't have that much chemistry on screen which makes their scenes together a little stilted. Even though I've been a bit harsh on it Mozart's Sister does have quite a lot going for it namely the costumes and make-up in particular the spectacular wigs that the majority of the characters wear throughout the film. As you would imagine the music is also splendid and in some places adds historical context to those who are watching this primarily as a biopic. Marie Feret gives a good accounting of herself as Nannerl while Marc Barbe shines as the pushy Leopold and David Moreau is fun to watch as the petulant Wolfgang. While good in parts Rene Feret's screenplay struggles to stretch a very thin story across an almost two hour running time which makes the film feel baggy. Though very stylish Mozart's Sister ultimately suffers from a lack of chemistry between the main players and a running time which is far too long for this very small story.

Verdict: Good to look at with an impressive central performance Mozart's Sister is let down by being overlong as well as suffering from unconvincing chemistry between many of the main players so for those reasons it gets a 6/10