Showing posts with label Mozart. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mozart. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Nannerl, la soeur de Mozart



René Féret's French film Nannerl, la soeur de Mozart is elegant and refined; with richly exquisite costuming and detailing. 'A speculative account of Maria Anna 'Nannerl' Mozart (Marie Féret), five years older than Wolfgang (David Moreau) and a musical prodigy in her own right. Originally the featured performer, she has given way to Wolfgang as the main attraction, as their strict but loving father Leopold (Marc Barbe) tours his talented offspring in front of the royal courts of pre-French Revolution Europe. Approaching marriageable age and now forbidden to play the violin or compose, Nannerl chafes at the limitations imposed on her gender. But a friendship with the son and daughter of Louis XV offers an alternative.'

Dreamy and wonderful, this film is a brilliant fictional account of the famous Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's family, with particular focus on his sister. The story-line is somewhat slow and languid, but is more than made-up-for by the beauty of the cinematography.












Thursday, March 8, 2012

Io, Don Giovanni



Io, Don Giovanni is a breathtakingly beautiful Italian film directed by Carlos Saura about Lorenzo da Ponte, Mozart's librettist for 'The Marriage of Figaro', and 'Don Giovanni'. The costuming is rich and decadent, reflective of both Lorenzo da Ponte and opera's indulgent lifestyle; and famed cinematographer Vittorio Storaro works his magic once more.

'Venice, 1763. Writer Da Ponte is leading the life of a debauched libertine. Under the tutelage of Giacomo Casanova, he devotes himself to the art of seduction - incurring the wrath of fathers, husbands, and brothers of Venice. Banished to Vienna, Da Ponte meets a newcomer to the music scene, one Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and is given the task of collaborating with the composer on his latest opera. Using his own life as inspiration, Da Ponte revises the tried-and-tested formula of the Don Giovanni story, revelling in the lusty subject matter. But after meeting the angelic Annetta, Da Ponte is compelled to abandon his playboy lifestyle, and decides to give Don Giovanni a dose of morality...'