Reviewed by Simon Sweetman

JANUARY 2006 marked the 250th anniversary of Mozart’s birth; In Search of Mozart arrives in this same anniversary year and, somewhat surprisingly, is the first feature-length commentary on Mozart’s life and work.

Milos Forman’s Amadeus is a well-known film, a classic – many would say, but it is ultimately a work of fiction. It is a shaky biopic based on half-truths, rumours and wild and wilful speculation. It makes for good cinema – as is so often the case – and it certainly helped Forman to make a great film, but it is not a reliable telling of Mozart’s tale.


Grabsky is no stranger to debunking the myths of the famous (2001’s Muhammad Ali: Through The Eyes Of The World) and his documentary-making skills means that even the Crusket-dry subject matter of In Search of Mozart is served with an engaging eye and plenty of passion, and for all the subjectivity of what to include and what not to include in a documentary, Grabsky is somewhat of a neophyte in the worlds of classical music – and by his own omission, this helped him hugely. It’s easy to see this objective approach in the film; Grabsky wants to document the life of Mozart as a person – and wants to let the experts dissect his work as a composer.

The young Johannes Chrisostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart (note the lack of Amadeus in his formal birth-certificate title) was something of a child prodigy. He was composing music at five years old, but more impressive was his performing ability. His father was a court musician and Mozart served his apprenticeship peddling his wares amongst the courts, performing to royalty – and eventually composing for royalty also.

Grabsky is not interested in a rose-tinted glasses approach; some of the young Mozart’s compositions were simply unexceptional – sure, it’s impressive to see a five year old actually creating original music and the uncluttered lines remain enjoyable. But Grabsky’s search – as a filmmaker – is to discover the true Mozart. This search leads him and the film crews across countries, flitting between continents and interviewing some of the foremost modern classical conductors, performers and critics. It’s very academic stuff – but fascinating; and no one ever comes across as too high-brow, nor too patronising.

The real magic of this film is in the very simple, elegant filming of some superb performances of some of Mozart’s most glorious pieces of music; modern renditions of timeless music.

And in the recitation of Mozart’s letters we learn that he was, even when his name was established, still – and always – a struggling artist (he certainly viewed himself that way). It might be somewhat grim to think of one of the most influential composers as a starving performer and a tortured artist – but I took great satisfaction in learning this; great comfort and influence from hearing it. You have to work for the privilege of being called an artist. It is not just a job-title awaiting someone to write its job-description and until then any applicant may apply. You have to work – and you have to want to do it. It might hurt, but that’s life. And that’s work. And in this case - that life and work became art.

This documentary goes in search of Mozart – and finds him in almost every frame: his sound, his feel, his look, his touch, his very being.

In Search of Mozart manages to be a must-see film for classical music and Mozart devotees, but it is also a worthy introduction to an intriguing life. If you’re not in it for the music you might find it’s a little long towards the end – but if approached in the right frame of mind, this is a thoroughly rewarding, revealing portrait of a genius. And Grabsky’s own genius-stroke is to actually delve behind that idea of genius where he finds a vulnerable human being, anxious and eager to provide for his family and to keep himself sane and happy. That’s what we all want after all, isn’t it?