Mozart's Sister (Nannerl la soeur de Mozart) (2010)

As the title suggests, the movie centres around the character of Mozart's sister. It shows approximately a year from the life of the Mozart family as they are travelling through Europe with their two musically talented children who give concerts mainly for the members of the aristocracy. The whole film takes place in France and shows the events from Nannerl's point of view. We see how she develops friendships with some members of the royal family and also how she is suffering from her father's (and society's) preference of her brother over her. She is also a talented musician but as a woman, she is not allowed to play the same instruments as her brother, or to take the same lessons (or lessons at all).

I wasn't familiar with her story. In  fact, I didn't even know that Mozart had a talented older sister. I think this is exactly the  message of the movie: had she lived in another time, or been born a boy, there is quite a chance that her character would be known world-wide today.

Since I knew nothing about her figure I expected a completely different movie. A much lighter one. I wouldn't say that this film is a particularly heavy one, but it is not a light comedy either. It is quite slow-paced, I actually found myself skipping some parts, I confess, and well, I think if I say that it's very French I said everything. It wasn't bad though. I'm not really familiar with famous composers' lives (shame or not) so it was interesting and informative for me. On the other hand, though, I must say that I was not amazed by some of the actors' work. If you look at the cast and crew list, the name Féret appears quite a few times. In some cases, especially one, it was obvious that the person was casted not exactly for their talent but because of their name.

Coco avant Chanel (Coco before Chanel)

As the title indicates the film focuses on Coco Chanel's life previous to the foundation of the Chanel brand. I didn't really think into it before I started watching the film so I was a bit disappointed. It really doesn't show much of how she and her brand became what they are today, which I expected to see. Rather it focuses on her personal life (mainly in her twenties) and on how she got in touch with the upper classes, which eventually helped her career. Anyway, after taking a closer look at the title it completely makes sense as this was the aim of the film after all. Another thing that has to be mentioned in connection to the movie (in my opinion) is the resemblance between the actors and the people they portray. After finishing the film I looked for some pictures and on the basis of what I saw it's clear that the creators made an effort to find actors who somewhat resemble to the characters they portray. In my view it is a plus, I've seen movies where it was obviously not a factor. I think it goes without saying that Audrey Tautou was great as Coco Chanel, I always liked her acting, natural yet powerful; the other actors did a great job, too. Although it wasn't exactly what I expected, I really liked the film.