Mozart

Thoroughly enjoyed the movie! Not everyone's 'cup-of-tea' so be warned. It was a pretty long documentary (just over 2 hours) on the life of Mozart from the age of about 4 through to his death.

The highlight was definitely the cinematography... just amazing! Throughout the movie you went to all the places Mozart lived, worked and played but those scenes were kept modern day which had a great effect - it avoided the fake by trying to reconstruct what might have been.

There were voice-overs used as parts of his letters were read, amazing pieces of artwork were shown and snippets of his music were performed. Every time they focused on a piece of music being performed, the shot was amazing. Sometimes you would only see the fingers on the keyboard, othertimes just the face of the different performers. Everything was extremely close-up which I just love! Aside from an incredibly hard to watch opera singer and an over-the-top swaying violinist who nearly gave me motion sickness, it was all hugely effective.

To top it all off, I had the cinema to myself. MYSELF!! It was great - only one miserably funny moment. In trying to choose a seat, I turned to the manager who was busy starting the film and asked which was the best seat in the house for sound (he prides himself on his sound system.. Dolby Surround Sound... tens of thousands of dollars... ra-ra!) only to be left to my own thoughts - not to mention choices - as I figured out (perhaps a little later than others might have) that he was behind a sound-proof piece of glass!! ...I suddenly had an acute sense of self as I sunk into my arm chair not to mention an overwhelming sense of gratitude for the empty cinema! Things we do eh?!