Sick Product of a Sick System

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

First, I apologize in advance for my English. Now, the filmmakers and professional musicians involved in this documentary doesn't seem to be aware of a little detail when they endlessly talk and fantasize: Mozart didn't write the libretto of his operas. He wrote the music. So when they started talking for like 15 minutes about how he took inspiration from the relationship with his own father to write "Idomeneo" (a Greek myth), how a character of "The Abduction from the Seraglio" is named Constanze like his girlfriend, so the story was representing their relationship, and discuss his philosophical thoughts in "The Magic Flute", I didn't know if laugh or cry. That's the most bizarre flaw of many in this documentary, which title is "In Search of Mozart". Well, you'll never gonna find him that way, my dear filmmakers. Basically, to hide their ignorance about musical facts, what they try to say all the time is: "Look, we've got every single letter Mozart wrote, and we're gonna read it to you in a funny way, even the more intimate ones, so you don't get too bored with all this classical music". Sure, the bad thing is that's all they got. Gossip. In order to "let me know" that he was a common man. They even seem surprised at the fact he didn't have Asperger Syndrome. Right, because to be a gifted person you must have a mental disorder... what a beautiful message. By the way, I don't mind if the man died 200+ years ago, reading ALL his private letters, especially the ones he wrote to his wife about their intimacy, seems totally disrespectful and unnecessary to me. Call me a puritan, I don't care. A cheap move to gain viewers, that's what it is.What came to my mind next watching this was: Shut up, dear musicians, conductors, opera directors and historians, and enjoy the music. And let me do the same. But no, Mozart's music alone is not enough for this people. They're so smart that they try to pretend they have found a logical explanation to it!!! So, what we've got are endless monologues of musicians explaining that Wolfgang wrote that note because his son just died, the other one because his wife was sick, and the last one because a mosquito bite him in that exact instant. For heaven's sake, how on earth could you know that??. What an ego does this people have, to pretend they can be inside of the genius head, just because they can play his music. And some of them couldn't even play a thing. Pathetic. I don't care about musician's fantasies, I wanted a musical analysis of the music itself, because in the end that's all that matters, and what makes Mozart immortal, the music. And I don't want to feel it anybody's way, I just want to listen to it. So please, shut up. Finally, Mozart's death is told in a rush, the Requiem is poorly mentioned, as if no one would care about his last work, and so are the death of his father, and the circumstances of his own death. Oh right, the filmmakers were too busy going against the movie "Amadeus" to prove it wrong. Well, at least that movie doesn't claim to be true to facts. This, instead, claims to be a documentary, and as I've mentioned, in my opinion fails miserably. If you watch it, of course you'll enjoy the music, but don't trust everything you hear. Or do. It's up to you, but I hope this helps somehow.

This stunningly shot film documents film-maker Phil Grabsky's search to find out who the real Amadeus Mozart really was. It follows his incredible journey around the world, recording almost 100 different opera and orchestral performances chronologically throughout his lifetime.The views of Europe are beautiful, especially when complimented by the fine sounds of one of history's greatest composers. I found this film to be not only a joy to watch, but also a highly informative expose of an incredible man. The musical performances were wonderful too.This is ideal for fans of Mozart and his work, or even just for those who would like some insight into the man behind the music.

For someone who would like to explore Mozart's music and/or learn more about his life, this documentary will be an excellent source of both. Except for Great G minor (K.550--on the selection screen on DVD) and Clarinet Concerto in A (K.622), which we hear at the very beginning, the viewers can listen to Mozart's compositions in a chronological order mostly and hear the progression of his composition skills. And how fast he progresses! As one of the interviewees in the film says, Mozart's life and the development of his musical talent were as if they had been on the fast-forward. The documentary showcases a wide range of musical genres--sonatas, concerti, symphonies, operas, motets, string quartets, and more. World-class musicians and conductors explain the technical aspects of certain pieces and talk about the emotions they evoke. We also journey through Mozart's life following some excerpts of his and his parents' letters and video clips of the cities he visited during his lifetime.If you are a Mozart aficionado and have been gathering any scrap of information on Mozart over the years, you won't find anything earth-shattering in the film. After all, Mozart's life has been well chronicled through his correspondence and other forms of documents. The information the documentary provides is on the conservative side. I could not help smiling when I read the producer's note at the end; that Mozart probably died of rheumatic fever and kidney failure, and that he was not poisoned. I get this feeling that Phil Grabsky doesn't approve of the portrayal of Mozart in Amadeus. Attributing Mozart's death to rheumatic fever and renal failure has been one of the main theories for decades, but what about other possibilities? Only a year or two ago, I read a newspaper article, which claimed Mozart might have died of trichinosis. The article was fascinating, but Mozart's death is one of many mysteries we will never be able to solve. For music connoisseurs, this film has a great appeal with Renée Fleming, Lang Lang, Sir Roger Norrington and others affectionately and passionately speaking of Mozart's music. And let's fact it, you don't get to hear Mozart's first compositions on keyboard or early operas often even if you listen to an all-classical format radio station. In addition, you get to hear the samples of well-known, and not so well-known pieces by Mozart.There's a Japanese proverb on prodigies that goes like this: A prodigy (literal translation: divine child) at age ten, a whiz at fifteen, just a man at twenty and over. I suppose Mozart himself, and In Search of Mozart to a certain extent, proved that even ancient oriental wisdom can be wrong every once in a century or two.

Stunning. Bought the DVD but loved seeing it in the cinema more. And hearing it too. I really liked the voices used - Sam West to read Mozart was smart but Juliet Stephenson narrating added a lovely tone (and a female side to a largely male film). The thing that impresses at first is the wide variety of interviewees and performers - I loved Ronald Brautigam and also the Orchestra of the 18th century. Lang Lang is funny and endearing too. Most insightful historians were Jonathan Miller and Cliff Eisen - but it's a cracking good story well told. I'd have liked it longer but that's because sometimes the music extracts seem a bit short but there's a lot to fit in. Beautiful camera-work but best of all is the editing - what a task that must have been. Best of all: no dramatic reconstructions apart from one or two stagecoach wheels turning here and there (not really needed but no big deal). Def recommend you make the effort to see it.