This fanciful biopic casts light on Mozart’s older sister Maria Anna “Nannerl”, a fine singer and instrumentalist in her own right whose ambitions naturally took a backseat to the boy wonder’s prodigious gifts. Based in part on the correspondence of their demanding father Leopold Mozart, the account is a quintessentially French one set in the 1760s when the children are aged 10 and 15, following the imagined events that unfold during performing tours to Paris and Versailles. Nannerl’s journey centres on two fictionalised encounters with French royalty. The first, with the cloistered, illegitimate 12-year-old daughter of Louis XV, echoes the tragedy of her own thwarted potential. As Louise de France, Lisa Féret is blandly benign and monochrome, making it difficult to care about the rapport between the two young girls, who are in fact real-life sisters. Meanwhile, the teenage Nannerl’s sexual awakening becomes a focus with the help of the brooding Dauphin’s smouldering gaze (Clovis Fouin). The attraction is inextricably linked with his intense admiration of her music, freeing her creative spirit – temporarily, at least. She is forced to dress as a boy in order to consort with the prince in public, but this narrative tool, again designed to…

At first glance this disc of chamber music might appeal exclusively to film music buffs.

It’s easy to see why Julia Leigh’s Sleeping Beauty was invited into the Cannes film festival’s prestigious official competition.

A compassionate and deeply moving account of a controversial period in British and Australian history.

The Chinese filmmaker talks about his love of Peking opera and why he has directed Turandot. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

Priscilla Queen of the Desert and The Book of Mormon win big. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

At the Movies co-hosts choose their favourite film scores... Will they agree at last?

Depardieu and Kingsley rumoured to star in rival flicks about the Baroque composer. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

Baz Luhrmann’s chooses Sydney to premiere stage adaptation of his iconic film. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

A soap opera and Hollywood starlet will explore the great soprano’s love life. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

This film has real heart, buoyed by surprisingly strong performances from a mostly inexperienced cast.

This documentary could just as easily have been called “monomania”. It is a character study of obsessive Steinway technician Stefan Knüpfer, a virtuoso among piano tuners. He prepares the instruments for the actual virtuosi, responding with inexhaustible patience to their often nebulous requests. Pierre-Laurent Aimard, for instance, wants a piano with two contrasting soundworlds for a recording of The Art of Fugue – an effect Knüpfer attempts to realise, in a rather Chaplinesque episode, with the help of removable sound absorbers and glass sound mirrors. Knüpfer’s mishaps continue when Lang Lang announces that the piano tuned especially for his solo concert is better suited for chamber music. Comedy duo Igudesman & Joo draw a welcome spark of levity from the technician, whose implacable earnestness does grow a bit dull at times. In fact, the film’s only shocking moment is when we learn Knüpfer has a family. What? A life away from Steinway?  Knüpfer is not the… Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in