Mozart's Sister

René Féret's period drama finds mischievous 11-year-old Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (David Moreau) being carted around Europe by his father, Léopold (Marc Barbé) to show off the boy's prodigious talent. Actually the focus here is not on little Wolfgang, but rather his older sister Nannerl (Marie Féret, the director's daughter), whose opportunities to express her own talent were constrained by the social conventions of the time. A heavily-fictionalized story told with elegance and grace, the film portrays the Mozarts as a happy, supportive clan with a patriarch who, while stern, is obviously also loving—even though he insists that his daughter accept her place as a woman and cease her efforts to become a composer in her own right. The centerpiece of the narrative is the leg of the Mozarts' odyssey that took them to the French court, during which—according to the screenplay—Nannerl developed a close friendship with the king's youngest daughter (real-life sister Lisa Féret) and the recently-widowed Dauphin (Clovis Fouin), who admires her musical ability (although Nannerl must dress as a young man in order to spend time with him). Mozart's Sister paints a portrait of a young girl's struggle to become a musician at a time when even male artists were completely dependent on powerful patrons. Deliberately paced but elegantly produced, this is a lovely, quietly affecting film. Recommended. (F. Swietek)