MOZARTBALLS
**** out of *****
Reviewed by Mandroid3000

Screening in the 2006 New Zealand Documentary Film Festival
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This film screens with Piano Man

Genres
Documentary

2006
Directed by
Larry Weinstein
Written by
Thomas Wallner
Featuring
David Cope
Lynette Erwin
Konrad Rich
Franz Viehböck
Steph Waller

Mozartballs is a nice addition to the obsessive fan documentary genre; it covers Mozart fandom the way Trekkies covered Star Trek and Starwoids covered Star Wars. We meet a cross-section of compulsive admirers, all drawn to Mozart for very personal reasons. This is not dry documentary about classical music, or as the name may suggest, a distasteful one about Vienaese nut sacks. No the only nutsacks in this film are the rather delicious pistachio filled chocolates covered in the foily visage of Herr Mozart that the film takes its name from (Thanks for that - Ed.).

We meet is Konrad Rich, a retired Swiss schoolteacher who seems to have some sort of numbers-related obsessive compulsion. He also takes regular trips to Vienna and tells his wife he won't be back because he's going to commit suicide in the city of Mozart (a threat he hasn't followed through on yet). Then there’s Steph Waller and Lynette Erwin, who claim to be housing the souls of Mozart and Anna Storace, an opera singer Mozart had a love affair with. The souls have rekindled their romance in the present day and they too travel to Vienna and revisit the scenes of their old lives.

In the fields of science are Franz Viehböck, the first Austrian in space, and David Cope, a Professor of Music at UC-Santa Cruz (the school with Karate Party readers’ favourite nickname in the UC system: The Banana Slugs).  David Cope has made a computer program that can analyse and then mimic the musical styles of composers. We get to hear one of them being performed by live musicians; it seems to have style down, but not surprisingly lacks the spark of inspiration. However, he does raise some interesting points about music and artificial intelligence (his faculty page is here, if you want to find out more about him).

I enjoyed the film’s style, which well suits the subject matter; film interesting subjects and only let the editing do any editorialising. There’s no comedic host or narrator to bung up the proceedings with lame cracks, the editing creates a lot of comedy. But, it also reveals a lot of charm. As a result, even the people I thought were pretty mad at the start I still thought were mad at the end, but I grew pretty fond of them. Being mean-spirited and snarky loses it appeal after about fifteen minutes, by my vague estimate, so kudos for letting the subjects speak for themselves.

Amidst all the fun, we do take away interesting insights (making me absorb insights has to be done this way, just like I have to hide the dog’s worming tablet in ice cream): the way people are drawn to transcendental genius and fame to ignore as a way to disengage from the world, which in ways lumps Mozart in with current celebrities; if musical genius can be replicated by a machine, and if you say “No” what do you say if a computer actually produces a work of undisputed genius; and the way that music can get people through times in their lives that they may not otherwise survive emotionally. I offer no conclusions on these (the worm tablet needs some time to work, damn it).

This film is good viewing even for people who, like me, don’t have Mozart CDs on regular rotation; much like non-Star Trek fans watched Trekkies. It’s a fun documentary about obsessives. And importantly, the film makers found subjects who were likeable obsessives. Even the morose Swiss guy.

Bonus fact: Microsoft Word thinks Mozart is a misspelling, and suggests “Mazard” instead.

Screening in Wellington on Sunday October 1 at 2:50pm at the Paramount Theatre.
Screening in Christchurch on Sunday October 15 at 6:00pm at the Rialto.
Screening in Dunedin on Friday October 27 at 7:00pm and Saturday October 28 at 4:40pm at the Rialto.
Refer to the Documentary Film Fest homepage for more information.

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