Interlude in Prague (2017)

The incredible tale of Mozart's Prague years.

Director:

John Stephenson

Writers:

Brian Ashby, Helen Clare Cromarty

Stars:

Aneurin Barnard, James Purefoy, Samantha Barks

Cast

Credited cast:
Aneurin Barnard	...	Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
James Purefoy	...	Baron Saloka
Samantha Barks	...	Josefa Duchek
Morfydd Clark	...	Zuzanna Lubtak
Adrian Edmondson	...	Herr Lubtak
Anna Rust	...	Hana
Dervla Kirwan	...	Frau Lubtak
Ruby Bentall	...	Barbarina
Charlotte Peters	...	Constanze
Edmund Kingsley	...	Henry Novy
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ian Bonar	...	Laporel Bloch
Alena Doláková	...	Maria
Martin Espandr
Anita Espandrová
Trent Garrett	...	Ferdinand

Storyline

Prague, 1786. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart spends a few turbulent months escaping the frustrating, privileged elite of Vienna. However his unconventional presence soon unleashes a series of dramatic and tragic events. Overwhelmed by the tangled web of violence and intrigue that surrounds him and with his mind affected, Mozart creates the astonishing music and drama that becomes 'Don Giovanni'.

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Plot Keywords:

central europe | prague | composer as protagonist | 1780s | year 1787 | 

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | Romance

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Japan]

Country:

Czech Republic UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 May 2017 (UK)

Also Known As:

Mozart in Love

Filming Locations:

Prague, Czech Republic

Box Office

Budget:

£5,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Stillking Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Soundtracks

Don Giovanni, a cenar teco - From Don Giovanni
Written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (as W A Mozart) (1787)
Arranged by Hybrid
Performed by The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus
Vocals performed by Jonathan Lemalu, George Von Bergen and Richard Wiegold
Additional arrangements for Piano by Hybrid
Harpsichord and Piano performed by Charlotte Truman
Solo Violin performed by Lucie Svehlova

User Reviews

Well acted, beautifully sung, fanciful drama based on composition of Mozart's Don Giovanni

I'm not usually a fan of films which place real historical figures into imaginary situations, but I'll make an exception for this inventive fable about how Mozart's Don Giovanni might have been inspired/influenced by people he meets while on a trip to Prague. The film's central characters are the man himself (Aneurin Barnard), beautiful and gifted young soprano Zuzanna Lubtak (Morfydd Clark), and Baron Saluka (James Purefoy), who from the very first scene does his best to live up to the inevitable adjectives that apply to all barons worthy of the title: cruel & wicked. If I tell you that Zuzanna's parents also feature prominently (played by Dervla Kirwin and Adrian Edmonson, channelling his earlier role as Count Rostov) I've told you almost everything you need to know to work out most of the plot without even seeing the film. Other notable characters are Josefa Duchek (Samantha Barks) and Barbarina (Ruby Bentall), a half feisty, half put-upon servant girl and Mozart admirer, who is unsurprisingly more than a little reminiscent of Poldark's Verity at times.

Great operas manage to be great in spite of melodramatic characters and implausible but predictable plots, and this film manages the same trick comfortably thanks to the energy of the main performers. But we're nowhere near "Amadeus" - Mozart here is a strangely sympathetic character despite some all too obvious moral lapses. But predictable and preposterous or not, I was gripped almost throughout, only becoming impatient at two points where I was confused as to whether what I was seeing was supposed to be real or Mozart's imagination.

Prague is such a perfect setting for a period drama of this type, that it perhaps made it a bit too easy not to ask questions about the makeup and costumes. Once again, the operatic theme possibly helped here. At this point I should perhaps warn potential viewers that this film thoroughly deserves its 15 certificate - this isn't cosy family-friendly period drama.

It would be remiss to end this review without mentioning the music, which is of course wonderful. Samantha Barks does a great job with her songs, but a special mention should go out to singer Christina Johnston, who takes over from Morfydd Clark when the going gets opera, and does so brilliantly. I must say I felt this was handled very well technically, because I wasn't ever disturbed by the transition between voices or particularly conscious that I was watching something dubbed.

Overall mark 9/10 - just those couple of scenes that left me wanting more clarity lost a mark for me - I was totally willing to forgive everything else some may see as shortcomings, because it just felt so right for this film's theme.