I'm very surprised by the low ratings this film has received, particularly for those who found it boring. To the contrary, I did not want the film to end, intrigued by every twist and turn. I won't recount the plot. Instead, I felt the entire cast was excellent, each subtly, but powerfully, portraying the tensions their character face. In Barbé's Leopold Mozart we see a loving, but ambitious and selfish father, unwilling to challenge the social conventions of his time. In Marie Féret's Nannerl we see a young woman struggling with her desire to express herself and be recognised, but captive to her sense of obedience to the multiple characters to whom she is subordinate, and the challenges of coming-of-age in a domineering family. Her struggles are matched by her melancholy expressions in which even happiness comes at a bittersweet price.

There is no over-acting, but instead excellent direction. I don't believe that production values were low, given the costumes, the locations and the excellent cast. Instead I think the director chose to tell a real (although fictionalised) story rather than to glamourise and over-dramatise. The coldness of the European winters was brought to life, and gave the viewer some sense of what it would have been like without modern comforts and luxury for the Mozart family, and matched the sombre and sad story perfectly. I would like to see more films like this.

Stop me if you've heard this one before: Mozart, that legendary impresario, had an sibling who actually helped write a lot of his early work, and got precisely no credit for it... due to the sexist society at the time. She was also a brilliant violinist, but was forced to play the harpsichord by her father as the violin 'was no instrument for a lady.' Meanwhile, everyone mooned over her brother, the 'child prodigy', leaving her completely in the shade. In fact, a lot of what she could have achieved she didn't thanks to the patriarchal beliefs back in the 18th century, and by the sound of the epilogue she had a pretty miserable life after she gave up on all her hopes and dreams. Nice.

How much of this has a basis in reality I don't know, but I suspect there's a fair bit of airbrushing of history here. What can't be denied though, is this is a well acted drama of family ties and unfulfilled potential, full of wonderful classical music and handsome costumes. This is strictly a placid affair... You're not going to see any fireworks going off, and some people may find it all a bit too stagy. But Nannerl is a captivating lead, and while her story might not be 100% accurate as depicted here, it's well worth investing the nearly two hours to discover it. And isn't that really what matters, at the end of the day? 6/10

I saw this at the FilmFest DC in April 2011.

The story was complex on so many levels: the wonderful family relationship of the Mozarts as they travelled around Europe. The strong feminine influences; the strictures of society that allow the older sister's intellect to waste away; the daughters of the king who were locked away in isolation.

The costumes were authentic without being overly lush.

The relationship between the young Wolfgang and his older sister was quite touching.

The growth of the lead actress from barely a teen to a woman accepting her fate was written (all within a year or so) and acted very well.

There was an interesting subplot with the king's daughter that showed the two girls/women accepting the same fate albeit at different levels of society.

I found "Mozart's Sister" on Amazon Prime Video to stream for free. I'm a musician myself of almost a decade playing guitar, bass, and drums. Several years ago in high school I was in an advanced choir that covered some of Mozart's work. Since then I was always fascinated with Mozart. Who was he, why was he such a musical genius? Why did he die so young? The history and sound of Mozart continues to fascinate me and when I seen this film on Amazon Prime, I had to check it out.

Mozart's Sister revolves around the story of Nannerl Mozart (Maria Anna Mozart), the older sister of the musical genius that is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Despite my fascination and reading into Mozart, I knew nothing of him having a sister. I watched this film all in French with English subtitles, but that didn't hurt the quality of the film. Mozart's Sister is a great film. The camera work, costumes, music, and the works, all 110% authentic. There are no visible flaws of any kind in the film work.

The whole movie revolves around a teenage/young adult Maria Anna Mozart. We get to see how she herself was a magnificent instrumentalist and composer that nearly rivaled her brothers musical abilities. But because of sexism and social status in mid 1700's Europe, she was often pushed aside and disregarded in favor for her brother's work. We also get to see the rest of the Mozart family, Mozart's father who taught them music and his mother.

All and all I enjoyed this film. But I will say, it's not for everybody. If you're not into Mozart or his history, foreign films with subtitles, or movies about mid-1700 music, then maybe you should pass. This does feel like something you would watch in a schoolroom more than something you would watch on a Friday night. Also, "Mozart's Sister" has it's dull moments at times, and the movie never really evolves into anything more than Marianne's early years. We don't get to see her grow up, go through her brothers death later in life, or anything along those lines. I felt if we got to see more of her older life it would have been more grabbing. Still, good movie, average rating of 7/10, good movie with great cinematic/sound work, good acting, just had a few low points that stopped it from being a great movie.

It's difficult for me to see a film like this as a professional musician without seeing red at the same time. No, I'm not expecting a slavish rehash of history - far from it -but it wandered so far from reality as to remind me of films such as "Song to Remember" with Cornel Wilde swinging through the grapevines and playing the frail, tubercular Chopin at the same time.

Leopold Mozart, despite the general feeling that he pushed his children unmercifully, was actually trying to help his children become established in the world and to prevent his son from squandering his money as he was always tempted to do. In fact poor Wolfgang was buried in a pauper's grave after his father died.

The music in the film is another bone of contention. Instead of using something from the immense amount of music Wolfgang composed as background, it substituted a fake Classical imitation with romantic harmonies and orchestration that really wasn't good to begin with.

As for the ultra-low lighting we associate with "le film noir' or crime shows currently on television, we had to depend too often on dialog alone to guide us through what was happening. I realize that filming interiors with candles was period but even people sitting next to them were mainly in the dark. I know this is handy for not having to provide full period sets in detail but still I felt cheated.

This is a French work, nonetheless, and as so many French films are prone to do, it talks itself to death.

Curtis Stotlar

I didn't know what to expect with the movie Mozart's Sister, but I was surprised - it was very good - even watching it with subtitles.

The movie gives a very believable and intimate picture of father Leopold Mozart's young family - with prodigies Wolfgang at age 11 and older sister Anna Maria (Nannerl) at 14 - and mainly involves their travels seeking musical glory. It has all the stuff you'd expect in a 1760's family including musical practice, family fun and playful laughter, adventures, and also Wolfgang and Nannerl's wish to compose. Good script, well paced and interesting plot, and a focus on Nannerl make this a winner. I might watch it again!

My Rank: 8 / 10.

Wolfgang Mozart's older sister was exceptionally talented. And, as she grew, her family discouraged her and put all their energy into her brother and pushed her to marry and have a family. All this is shown in the film and cannot really be refuted. However, the filmmaker's have decided to take some liberties--to ASSUME certain things about Maria Mozart that we simply do not know to be true today. In that sense, it's quite a bit like "Amadeus"--fictionalizing history a bit here and there. The story has a strong feminist bent--and even goes so far as to attribute much of Wolfgang's talent to her! This is rather dubious, as Wolfgang clearly was insanely gifted. It's an intriguing idea--but there really isn't any basis for this assertion. Now this complete fiction COULD have worked--but the rest of the story is incredibly dull--very, very mannered, slow and lacking anything to hook the viewer. 'What if' just isn't enough to carry the rest of the film and I felt EXTREMELY restless as the film progresses. My butt also fell asleep--and it's a great judge of whether or not a film is too tedious!

The title explains all the things wrong with it I'll explain all of them in more specific detail First off this film ends in complete mid-air, this is not somebody asking for a "Happy Ending" like in so many of our movies today. The movie doesn't end happily like in American movies today nor does it have a sad ending and tie up all the loose ends (the one movie that immediately comes to mind is that German Nosferatu remake).

Second off The fact that Mozart fanatics will enjoy might make people say "what the hell? Isn't that what Mozart movies target audience is?" well, no the true signs of a good adaptation or any other style movie documenting almost true events is if the people behind it can turn audiences who don't know that much about it into fans.

Finally the Too long for it's own benefit, The movie has a refusal to be interesting in places and that made the movie seem much longer than it actually was and that made it seem too long for it's own benefit.

The plot to sound basic is that on a tour arranged by Leopold Mozart to show off his son's talent to royalty, eventually Nannerl falls in love with The Dauphin Of France, only problem is he's getting married. After some irrelevant scenes finally the wife says she loves him and he pretty much tells Nannerl to leave and never come back.

I have an Achronism I feel as if I should point out in this movie. Nannerl Mozart was born in 1751, Wolfgang in 1756. The movie is set in 1763 and throughout they say Nannerl is 15 Mozart is 10, in order to be correct this movie should be set in 1766.

I think that Amadeus would be a better film to watch than this.

Léopold Mozart promotes his musical children; Wolfgang and his elder 14 year old daughter Maria Anna 'Nannerl' Mozart (Marie Féret) to the royalties throughout Europe. He tries to restrict Nannerl's musical ambitions in the patriarchal society. She believes she may have contributed to Wolfgang's writing but Léopold dismisses her and forbids her from continuing to write. She befriends the daughters of the King especially Louise. She delivers a letter to Louise's brother Le Dauphin in mourning but she has to be disguised as a man to avoid a scandal. He encourages her to write. She meets him several times but only in disguised. He is conflicted about making her his mistress unwilling to repeat his father's debauchery.

This is an intriguing fictional biography. Marie Féret is the director's daughter and mostly fails to energize this costume period piece. The movie is two hours long and requires her to carry it on her shoulders. This has loads of potential for scandal and passion but none of it comes to pass. This does have a quiet beauty but is mostly a squandered opportunity.

This could have been a much better movie than it turned out to be. The premise is obvious from almost the very beginning: Mozart's sister Nannerl had talent as a musician and composer, but it was put under a barrel by her domineering father, who chose to devote all his energies to promoting the career of her younger brother, the unquestioned genius WA Mozart. Boring because obvious - unless something interesting had been done with it.

And that is the problem with this movie. Nothing was ever really interesting. The characters were almost all shy and retiring. That may be realistic, but it doesn't make for an interesting movie. Remember the very strong characters created in Amadeus, and contrast them with 1) Nannerl Mozart, 2) Mozart and Nannerl's mother, 3) the daughter of Louis XIV who befriends Nannerl, 4) Louis XV, etc. They were all of the shy, retiring type. That doesn't make for a dynamic movie.

There are never any great dramatic scenes between Nannerl and her father where she complains about the attention lavished only on her younger brother. Indeed, there is precious little real drama here. Just a lot of shy, unhappy characters caught in their shyness. It's hard to get involved with that.

There was nothing wrong with the acting, and everything wrong with the script. It should have been thrown out and replaced with one that created interesting, dynamic characters that made Nannerl's (perhaps) unfair treatment come alive and engage the audience. That didn't happen.

The costumes and sets are nice. But if the sound were turned off, you'd miss nothing of interest.

Half way through this film I started considering it as a student film that had some decent financial backing. The main lead who played Nannerl had little in the way of facial expressions and often stood around like she had been directed to stand around. The actor who played Leopold Mozart, however, was mostly effective in his portrayal of a man who believed in what he was doing, and believed it to be the best for his son and his family. The dialogue (as it was translated) was mostly without much flare, and the music score seemed to fill in the emotional gaps that neither the dialogue nor the acting was putting across. Direction fell flat most of the time with simple side-profile shots. The script itself seemed to give no indication as to where the film itself was going, as though the writer had determined that the basics of Nannerl's life was already known, so all they had to do was write some scenes around that - for me, this script just did not work. The idea that Nannerl was being eclipsed by her brother, though it was present throughout, never felt like a driving force that pushed the film forward and was a constant influence that determined Nannerl's emotions and feelings. As a result, every time a climax (with accompanying string motifs) arrived on screen, the film felt like it was preparing itself to end... and then would go on.

This isn't the worst film I've seen, and it wasn't joyless to the point of leaving the cinema; it was just simply quite boring, and non-involving for the viewer (me). I wanted it to end during several climactic moments but it didn't. Definitely far too long at 2 hours.

I found this to be an enjoyable period drama about the Mozart family. Remember it is a French made film, made in French language. Top notch English subtitles are necessary on DVD. I doubt the movie, released in the autumn of 2011, would have got worldwide cinema attraction.

Most of us watching would not know the story of Wolfgang Mozarts sister and I have no special interest in classical music, though as a tourist, yes, I did once visit Salzburg.

The film centres around the maturity of the young Nanna and her exploitable musical potential while in friendship at least with the French Dauphin.

The movie contains too much talking overall and I usually like French movies for that but not this time. I liked the acting and the costume drama and I liked the story itself, though two hours is definitely too long and for a non French speaking audience, not many are going to stay until the end. I nodded off the first time after 30 minutes and gave the film a late afternoon re-viewing earlier this afternoon.

Nothing offensive or conspiratorial about the movie. It simply dramatise a story from a book published a few years ago. Enjoy the movie for what it is and do not expect too much.

The music does come across as a little false and overdone but 6 from 10 is about right pitch for its rating.

I was unable to find any information about Marie Féret, the lead actress. However, she seemed to be in her mid to late twenties, not an adolescent girl. This greatly distracted from the credibility of the film. This is not to discount her abilities as an actress but rather to question the judgment of the casting director. The role of Wolfgang, however was very believable, down to the coordination of his violin fingering with the actual music - something often neglected in movies.

Another substantial irritant is the music throughout the film. For the most part it seemed to me as not 1760's. While non-contemporaneous music does not greatly impair Hollywood historical potboilers, in the case of this film which tries to re-imagine the psychological subtleties of talented musicians, not only the costumes and decor should strive for authenticity, but the music even more so. However, to be fair to the producer, perhaps I was simply unfamiliar with what were actually authentic pieces.

It seems very tempting, Mozart's Sister – the opportunity of another 18th century costume picture, this one from France – produced, written and directed by René Féret. For those who enjoy historical fiction, the film poses as yet one more chance to unlock the doors and peer into the family closets of composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. After all, it's been twenty-seven years since the spectacular emergence of director Milos Forman's Amadeus, which gathered eight Oscars, including Best Picture – as well as for the author of its screenplay, Peter Shaffer, adapting and shaping his multi-Tony Award-winning theatrical masterpiece into iconic cinematic genius. Since the 1984 premiere of Amadeus, business continues to boom in the Mozart industry; a chance at playing either of the Leading Roles of the so-called "rivals" – Mozart and (the nearly forgotten and second-rate) composer Antonio Salieri – continue to inflame the ambitions of many a stage actor; and a recent release of the film into Blu-Ray format proves that Amadeus is here to stay and guaranteed a re-incarnation into whatever format is on the horizon. Mozart's Sister is destined for landfill.

Amadeus and Mozart's Sister are both of the "re-imagined" variety. In other words, for its authors, Truth is but an adjunct to Creative License. Re-imagining the adventures of the Mozart family begins somewhere in a flurry of sheet music, ribbon-bound letters, yellowing diaries, and stories heard around any Music Conservatory. Somewhere in this reverie, René Féret and Peter Shaffer both employ the same controlling gimmick — "I coulda been somebody!" For Shaffer, Salieri knows his musical gifts are lacking, but the Viennese Court doesn't know it until Mozart suddenly shows up. According to Féret, Mozart's sister Nannerl believes that – had she been born as Wolfgang's brother – they might have become the first European Dynamic Duo. No need for Certitude here. "Re-imagined" needs just a few facts and figures, but the finished product requires the entertainment value of Barnum & Bailey. Mozart's Sister wouldn't qualify for a side show.

René Féret's shooting script of Mozart's Sister cannot avoid comparison to Amadeus. Peter Shaffer nurtured his idea through the disciplines of live Theatre. The structure and rhythm of his re-imagined Amadeus is developed through much rehearsal and three continuous years on Broadway before he re-vamps the script for Hollywood. By contrast, Féret's end product is a plodding, witless and gloomy bore. His treatment of the premise that Nannerl Mozart is a suppressed and thwarted genius composer with Box Office appeal similar to that of her brother's – is limp and void of artistic climax. Likewise, there's no satisfaction to be had in the tedious and anemic performances rendered by Féret's daughters – Marie as "Nannerl" and Lisa as "Louise of France".

Salieri, on the other hand, would applaud Mozart's Sister for its inherent mediocrity.

the beauty of costumes and music. the touching story of a great and obscure sacrifice. Marie Feret as lovely Nannerl. and Wolfgang as secondary character. important is not the historical accuracy or the legend's proportion. but the atmosphere. it is only a film about a little known biography , well made, nice to beautiful, recreation of a myth in new therms, seductive for the details and for the new perspective about a well known subject. a film about art and about a life in shadow. a film about success and about the truth. proposing a new hero. special for be not usual drawing portrait of an admirable woman. that could be all. or just the beginning for the viewer who rediscover the Mozart family in different light.

A widely fictionalized story of the Mozart family, focusing on Nannerl, Amadeus' older sister. The fictional events are supposed to take place during the Mozart's "grand tour" of Europe, from 1762 to 1773. On their way to Paris, the family gets stranded nearby an abbey, where the last three daughters of King Louis XV are staying. Nannerl makes friend with Louise, the youngest sister and she is entrusted with a love letter for Hugues, a guy Louise is in love with, to be delivered in Versailles.

The family arrives in Versailles when the Dauphin is in mourning for the death of his wife and Nannerl must wear men clothes to enter the Dauphin's circle, where Hugues is employed. This leads to the Dauphin and Nannerl falling for each other. But politics must prevail, therefore the Dauphin marries a princess and Nannerl goes back to Austria with her family.

The main point of the film is the miserable situation of women at the time.

• Nannerl was an accomplished performer as her brother, but being female she had no rights to pursue her studies or to have a "career" as a musician. - Louise was not even allowed to court and being the younger one, her only "escape" was to become a nun. - The Dauphine we do not even see, died in childbirth, a high risk activity at the time and yet, the only added value of a woman's life. - Her death was useless because she produced a female heir, completely useless for the monarchy, hence pushing the Dauphin to a hasty second marriage; etc....

Although the romance is purely fictional, what resonates disturbingly true is the submissive, second-rate quality of a woman's life in Mozart times.

The movie is slightly too long, with some unnecessary episodes (the porn book?). The costumes and lights are good and most acting, too. I did not like much Marie Féret as Nannerl, because her delivery was very flat – but maybe it was a way to suggest that women could not even express emotions…

I enjoyed the movie a lot. I was sad it ended. I enjoyed the clothing, acting, relationships, and the French. There was not much of a plot. The progress of events may not be to the liking of people supporting women empowerment --but again, this is a historical fiction movie.. I picked it because I wanted to listen to some Mozart music, but there were not much of that.

The movies gives a unique window to peek at how relationships among members of an immediate family looked like in 18th century France.

As always, I enjoy watching characters discover the talents of genius, and there was many such cases in this movie.

It is the first time I write a review of a movie here, and ten lines is lots of characters in these days and age!

…inasmuch as THIS is what it's good for - amongst the perhaps most obvious one of entertaining - i.e. the ability to take us on a trip through history and meet people within the context of what we know, rounded out with a good writer's imagination…and as a result, make us THINK about what really happened, and/or how it FELT to be the people portrayed, in those days; what other medium can do this as easily, really and truly? I adore film-making for this capacity but it's so often overlooked in the mad rush for box office profits, which puts movies firmly in the money-making Entertainment category, first and foremost, frequently regardless of content, characters, correct costuming…

So, I loved this movie and found it completely absorbing, though I'm well aware it won't appeal to 'the masses', basically because it's a quintessentially French ('foreign') film which lacks the overt Drama and character arcs of Hollywood and the colourful characters and quirky story lines of other U.S.A. movies. It's food for thought over food for entertainment (though I WAS entertained in the process, too - but then I possess an old-fashioned attention span of more than 5 minutes, and don't need a car-chase or anything to blow up in order to feel something!) ;) Especially telling were what are most likely the historical truisms; the fact that Nannerl was an older sister who almost certainly DID co-create (if not co-write, as she was refused tuition) her famously talented younger brother's early works, completely uncredited - and this of course is a perennial problem for female artistes everywhere, even today (if it's not their brothers, then for their boyfriends &/or significant others…who absorb their contributions as natural extensions of themselves, rather than acknowledging them at very least, as addendums given to them as gifts by another person other than themselves), along with the problem of not receiving sufficient support from their fathers for their innate talent, on the basis of being a girl. I really appreciated the fact that the entire problem of gender was shown throughout this film in a genteel and non-bombastic way, by comparisons and conversations void of overtly angry emotions - which, and we so easily tend to forget this fact - were within the context of the society(ies) shown in this particular time & place, INDULGENCES which really & truly only the most powerful (e.g. the Dauphin), could afford to show, far less, vent; we forget, the era of all-out Self-Expression in the West really only arose post-war across all classes & societies. This was not Italy, after all, nor America or Britain in the '60s or '70s+, but chiefly the priories and courts of France, a couple of decades BEFORE the revolution; best behaviour between family members so close-knit as the Mozarts, who for so many years shared such close quarters as coach carriages and bedrooms in the houses of hosts, was likely the norm; feelings festered under the surface because it wasn't safe to fully express them, and then they were complicated - painfully - by deep feelings of love, appreciation, and humility fostered by the awareness of how much humiliation the average person had to put up with during the course of their lives, just to survive; the waiting on a prince for 3 whole weeks while he indulged in excesses they could never afford, wasting this talented family's time, which they would have had to 'swallow' without a whimper, was a very good example. We in our (relative) freedom forget how self-expression is a part of being free - which most people were not. No matter how talented - which evidently, Leopold, Nannerl & little Wolfgang ALL were, back then, talent was the ticket but not the money-maker, per se…& women never owned any money anyway, no matter what work they did, nor even who they married. So they were the subjects of men, which feminist point is pointed out succinctly yet never with a big banging of any drums! The fact that Mrs. Mozart adored her talented, forceful and resourceful husband, was a bonus - and later in life, a model unconsciously copied by her famous surviving (remember, these were her only two children who lived, so death was an ever-present reminder to boot in the lives of these people and indeed most of the populace back then) son, but was not necessarily guaranteed in every marriage. The touching small scene of the ill-fated fifteen year old future Marie Antoinette already doting on pleasing her deeply troubled young widowed husband, speaks volumes to this - she was a woman of her time, determined to make the most of her lot in life, ergo, to become a good and dutiful wife…something which Nannerl simply cannot strive to do till the advanced (back then) age of 32 - and when we watch this movie in it's entirety, even setting aside the imagined/fictitious aspects of her story - we know, why.

few lines, not inspired role of music, a story with each ingredient for a nice French historical movie, correct acting and script. a portrait of a very special character. sketch of a victim of her time, pray of family and society, part of a strange love story, intelligent, talented, almost wise, Nannerl is, in many scenes, only a silhouette. and the sin remains ambition to present all - society, royal court, Mozart family tensions, status of woman, different image of Wolfgang. But result is only a number of fog slices.so, a great film as hypothesis is just a nice creation, not impressive - costumes are really remarkable, not waste of time, but only delicate circle of a life behind great name of a genius.