A case for the nut cases
>> Friday, October 5, 2007
This is a response to a review of Mozartballs that I found on Amazon.com where Steph and I were referred to as two "plain" women seeking their fifteen minutes of fame. It has now appeared above hers, on Amazon.com.
As a member of the cast of this film, and one of the “plain women” who has enlivened my “dull” life by “writing herself into Mozart history”, I feel compelled to respond.
Although, for obvious reasons, I can’t give this film a completely objective review, what the previous reviewer failed to mention is that they are biased by the fact that they are well acquainted with the two plain women to whom they attach the motive for being in this film as that of seeking after our fifteen minutes of fame. I refuse to defend myself, my motives, my beliefs, or this film. They are what they are and the film is what it is, and only those who choose to experience this film with an open heart and an open mind will truly get its message. There will be those who scoff for various and sundry reasons. That is to be expected. Believe me, we weighed that fact very heavily before we ever agreed to be in it, but the accusation that we sold ourselves out for “fifteen minutes of fame” is rather judgmental indeed, and speaks more of the accuser than those who are accused. I would hardly risk my reputation and credibility, nor would I place my family and my children in a position where they could be embarrassed and humiliated for such a shallow and selfish motive. My motives came from a much deeper, even spiritual place inside of me, and for another to believe that they have the right or even ability to judge my motives, especially someone who doesn’t know me, (except for what they have encountered of me over the internet), is rather insulting.
I will say that Mozartballs was, for me, more about the experience than the final product, and it will go down in the annals of my history as probably the single most life-changing event of my entire life. What you see captured briefly in this film is only a fraction of what took place. It would be impossible for the writer, director, and editors to put into a film, even twice its length, what was seen, felt, and experienced by each and every member of the Mozartballs cast and crew. Larry Weinstein did a brilliant job, in my humble opinion, of presenting each person’s story without interjecting his own personal judgment or bias, letting the film speak for itself, and the viewer to come to his/her own conclusions regarding each character and their story. It is the intelligent and wise viewer who will dive into this film, quirky as it is, reserve judgment of its participants and their eccentricities, and look for how and why Mozart and his music and life has profoundly affected them.
In the end, I will quote Herr Rich, (the melancholy but delightful Swiss school teacher who was also featured in this film), “The world would be a better place if there were a few more nut cases in it.” That, to me, sums up the entire essence of what Mozartballs is about, and how, if we will but search a little deeper into ourselves, each of us would find our own quirky eccentricities and outrageous beliefs, and learn to celebrate them and allow them to shine forth rather than fearfully hide them from a world that is desperately searching for less conformity and more eccentricity. I know of no better way to celebrate the memory of the composer, who more than any other composer in history, bucked and defied the established system, was well-known for his eccentricities, and lived his life in such an outrageous and flamboyant fashion. Many of Mozart’s peers believed him to be a “nut”. Go ahead. Call me a nut case. I stand with an illustrious company.
