Mozart's Sister

Director: René Féret, Rene Feret René Féret

Overview

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's older sister, Maria Anna "Nannerl" Mozart, rebels against the limitations imposed on her by society in this historical biopic from director Ren? F?ret. As a young girl, Nannerl (Marie F?ret) was a musical prodigy. Subsequently bumped out of the spotlight by her virtuoso younger brother, Wolfgang (David Moreau), Nannerl watches as her sibling is groomed for greatness by their father, Leopold (Marc Barb?), and performs for royalty. Nannerl's musical career takes an even greater hit, however, when she comes of age and finds herself forbidden from writing or playing music. The passionate young musician finds a means of rebelling against the sexist mores of her time, however, after striking up a close friendship with Louis XV's children.

Product Details

Release Date:	02/14/2012
UPC:	0736211214652
Original Release:	2011
Rating:	NR
Source:	Music Box Films
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	2:00:00
Sales rank:	55,205

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Marie Féret	Actor,Louise de France,Actor
Marc Barbé	Actor
Delphine Chuillot	Actor
David Moreau	Actor
Clovis Fouin	Actor
Adele Lepretre	Actor
Valentine Duval	Actor
Dominique Marcas	Actor
Mona Heftre	Actor
Salomé Stévenin	Actor
Julien Feret	Actor,Actor,Actor
Nicolas Giraud	Actor
Arthur Tos	Actor
Oceane Jubert	Actor
Marie-Jeanne Serrero	Composer
Marie-Jeanne Séréro	Composer

Technical Credits

René Féret

Rene Feret

René Féret	Director,Screenwriter,Producer,Producer
Agnes Szabo	Sound/Sound Designer
Emmanuelle Villard	Sound/Sound Designer
Hervé Guyader	Sound Mixer
Rene Feret	Producer,Screenwriter,Producer,Director

Editorial Reviews

René Féret's period drama Mozart's Sister is a marvelous work of speculative fiction -- speculative because, although a good deal of historical evidence corroborates the notion that Maria Anna "Nannerl" Mozart (1751-1829) authored her own musical compositions, none of the scrolls are currently extant, so we have no firsthand knowledge of them. As adapted from Alison Bauld's 2005 novel of the same title, the Féret picture examines the tumultuous events during Nannerl's adolescence that shaped and guided her adult years. The film opens with ten-year-old Wolfgang (David Moreau) and 15-year-old Nannerl (Marie Féret) traveling through the European countryside via carriage with their parents. Recognizing the outstanding musical ability of both children (especially the genius of Wolfgang), Leopold (Marc Barbé) and Anna-Maria (Delphine Chuillot) have devoted most of their lives and energy to touring the continent as a "musical family" and entertaining various palaces. Unfortunately, Nannerl repeatedly gets held back in her abilities and roles by virtue of her gender -- she's discouraged from performing on the violin (perceived, at the time, as a man's instrument) and repeatedly reminded that musically inclined women can't even begin to compete with men in the arena of composition. In defiance of this, Nannerl confides to her father that she composed pieces publicly attributed to Wolfgang. Naturally, the incredulous fellow keeps the news to himself. The story takes an even more interesting turn when the Mozarts receive an appointment to perform at the French royal court, and due to the gender restrictions of the day, Nannerl must approach the Dauphin (Clovis Fouin) in disguise as a man. Though she soon reveals her ruse to him, he's completely swept away by her preternatural ability as a composer, musician, and vocalist, and enables her to dazzle the court with her compositional skills, while in male drag. Recalling John Fowles' French Lieutenant's Woman and other revisionist period narratives, the film takes a contemporary perspective and grafts it onto a historical framework. In terms of theme, it isn't all that different from more contemporary-set feminist dramas such as Francis Ford Coppola's The Rain People or Barbara Loden's Wanda, and like those films, it operates on a defeatist trajectory. We see the hope and the passion and the beauty in the female character, but she's fighting a losing battle -- taking a quixotic stand against impossible social restraints. Everything around her is built to engender her failure. This is very rocky, risky territory, given the fact that it could easily make the audience feel defeated and hopeless along with the main character. But, here, it really works. It stays involving for many reasons -- especially because director Féret and production designer Veronica Fruhbrodt have taken such time and care to establish a visually detailed period world; because lead actress Féret gives such an emotionally nuanced, sensitive portrayal; and because the filmmakers so convincingly and persuasively establish the gender restraints of 18th century Europe. The film isn't perfect -- it could use more clarity, for example, in some of the narrative developments surrounding the Dauphin, and in a supporting role, Lisa Féret (the director's daughter and the lead actress's sister) is so hopelessly wooden and artificial that she stops the movie cold in her handful of scenes. On an emotional level, though, the picture delivers such a wallop that when Nannerl commits a final act of such extreme self-effacement that it causes her own spiritual death, the film gives the concept of tragedy a whole new meaning.