The film “Amadeus”
Why does Mozart’s sister not appear in the film Amadeus? Why isn’t there even a mention of her anywhere?
The film is about the last few years of Mozart’s life in Vienna. At that time Wolfgang and his sister, Nannerl, were no longer in touch with each other. They lived in different cities and they knew nothing about each other’s lives. Neither of them ever saw the other’s house, or met each other’s children. Nannerl no longer had any place in Wolfgang’s life. She was no longer around, and maybe he tried to pretend she had never existed.
Those are objective facts. Then there are the subjective choices on the part of the filmmakers. Peter Shaffer’s narrative has nothing to do with sibling relationships. It talks about Salieri’s jealousy of Mozart, and how upset he was to discover that such a mocking and ill-mannered young man was a genius. Why, then, should he talk about Nannerl?
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