I got up this morning with nothing on my plate. My better half is away for the weekend, and despite a looming deadline or two I had decided to take the day off. After breakfast, instead of heading out into the sunshine, I picked a DVD from the pile next to the TV, and popped it in.
The film was Mozartballs, by one of Canada's most interesting filmmakers, Larry Weinstein.
Mozartballs was an unexpected contribution to the celebration of Mozart's 250th birthday a couple of years ago. Instead of making yet another earnest bio, Weinstein decided to focus on the fans - Mozart's wackiest, most devoted fans. A woman in Oklahoma who is convinced she's the reincarnation of Wolfgang himself, and her lesbian partner, who is apparently the reincarnation of the love of Mozart's life, one of his generation's leading sopranos. (Hurray! They found each other in this life!) A man who believes that Mozart spoke to him and saved him from suicide. A fellow who writes music "in the style of Mozart" with the help of a computer. And an Austrian cosmonaut who took Wolfgang with him into space.
The thing that most impressed me about this film was how much respect Weinstein showed his wacky subjects. There isn't a single shot in the film that suggests he's making fun of them, and yet the film is full of hilarious moments. In this respect it reminded me of of Gates of Heaven, Errol Morris's great film about a pet cemetery. But just as importantly, the film is beautifully constructed and visually rigorous. It's not just a series of profiles of wacky eccentrics; the characters have an emotional arc, both individually and collectively. By the end of the film, we get it - Mozart helps keep these people alive. May we all have something that we care about so deeply.
Finally, a note about the shooting, by one of Canada's best documentary cinematographers, John Tran. There are two shots I will remember for a long time: a shot starts on black, then pans over to some kids playing in the back yard, seen through a glass door. The shot then moves up, and reveals that the black and the reflection were both parts of a grand piano played by the Mozart-loving astronaut. The kids were seen in a barely distorted reflection in the piano. The other shot puts Ms. Mozart on a ladder, face to face with a painting of the real Mozart and his family. As she reflects on the painting - and gets quite emotional - she's seen in a reflection, framed perfectly in a triangle of black that makes her face clearly visible. John Tran rocks.
So that's number one. A pretty enjoyable beginning.
P.S. I just put in a link to the Amazon page for the film, and as I was browsing through that page, I read a review of the film by one of the subjects, who talks about why she loved the experience and the result. It's quite instructive.
2 comments:
This is a wonderful blog entry. We loved meeting and working with John, who is absolutely brilliant. Both his sympathetic camera treatment of us and his sincere and caring nature helped to make a difficult shoot a truly remarkable experience. It was both emotionally and physically difficult as we tentatively allowed Larry Weinstein to put us under his microscope for all the world to see. Until 2005 we'd kept our beliefs to ourselves, fearing how the world would treat not only us, but our children. The entire Rhombus crew put us at our ease and encouraged us to share our "wacky" story.
Anyway, thank you for this entry. Give my love to John when you see him!
"Mozartballs" is a perfect match of a great premise, fascinating subjects and a fine documentary team. Larry Weinstein directing, David New editing, John Tran DOP and collaborators. Thanks Doc Holiday for an astute review!
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