Mozart’s Sister

Review by Anthony Morris

Didn't know Mozart had a sister?

That’s pretty much the point of this elaborate costume drama about the musical genius’ sibling, who was just as overlooked by the wider world back when she was alive.

The story begins with the Mozart family on tour across Europe, dazzling audiences of the great and the good with their musical ability.

Wolfgang (David Moreau) might be the name we recognise but it’s obvious his older sister Nannerl (Marie Feret, the daughter of the director Rene) is at least as talented as he is.

Even against the backdrop of seemingly endless touring it’s all happy families for a while – Wolfgang adores Nannerl, and their parents, while hard taskmasters, are also loving – but Nannerl is increasingly eclipsed by both her brothers fame and society’s requirements that she give up the music she loves and become someone’s dutiful wife.

As the story progresses she’s presented with a number of ways around this (none of which, let’s point out right here, have any solid basis in historical fact), but it’s to this film’s credit that it doesn’t skirt around the dire situation for creative women in 18th century Europe, and those after a happy ending will most likely not find it here.

What they will find is a visually impressive and often stunning film that does a first-rate job of re-creating the past without letting it overwhelm Nannerl’s story.

As you’d expect with a film about Mozart, the music (and its creation) is at the heart of this film, and while none of the music that Nannerl (almost certainly) composed survives, the film’s soundtrack does a solid job of filling the gaps – and giving us a taste of what we might have lost.

3.5  out of 5

Mozart’s Sister
Australian release: 7th July, 2011
Official Site: Mozart’s Sister
Cast: Marie Féret, Marc Barbé and Delphine Chuillot
Director: Rene Feret