Philip French 

Mozart’s Sister – review

Mozart's elder sister Nannerl remains an enigma despite this good-looking French biopic, writes Philip French
  
  

nannerl soeur de mozart
Marie Féret as Nannerl Mozart: thwarted in her ambitions by the attitudes of the age? Photograph: CAP/ NFS/ Capital Pictures Photograph: CAP/ NFS/Capital Pictures

Sad stories of artists overshadowed by relatives or lovers are common enough, and after films about TS Eliot's wife, Rodin's lover and Jacqueline du Pré's sister, we now have Mozart's gifted sibling, Nannerl, being sidelined by her conventional father in favour of little Wolfgang, five years her junior. A French film, mostly set in France when the Mozart family were close to members of Louis XV's court, it's a well-designed, tasteful affair. But as none of Nannerl's music exists, judgments on her talent, as opposed to the cruel way contemporary mores insisted on her being treated, remain moot.

 

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