Moving, enthralling, and musically rich.
In early 90s, teenager Zahia, lives in the suburbs outside Paris, plays the viola, and dreams of becoming an orchestral conductor. Meanwhile her twin sister Fettouma is determined to become a great cellist. With the support of their parents, they gain entry to a prestigious conservatory program, only to find they are battling sexism, racism (they are of Algerian background) and classism, on the way to realising their dreams.
This sounds like the standard young-artist filmic trope, yet this is the true story of renowned conductor Zahia Ziouani and cellist Fettouma Ziouani.
Director and co-writer Marie-Castille Mention-Schaar has crafted an emotionally fulfilling movie, using the struggling-artist narrative to great effect. Zahia’s challenges are portrayed without having them take over the story, leaving us to enjoy watching her development as both a person and an artist. Mention-Schaar does not make the mistake of turning this into a full bio-pic, choosing instead to give us the few years of Zahia’s early movement from music student, to musician, along with the founding of her orchestra.
Oulaya Amamra is simply divine as Zahia, ably supported by Lina El Arabi as Fettouma. The wonderful Niels Arestrup delivers an extraordinary performance as Romanian conductor Sergiu Celibidache who became Zahia’s mentor. Casting Director Christophe Istier does a gold-class job of pulling together an ensemble to play Zahia’s fellow students and orchestra-members, many of whom appear to be actual musicians.
The great star of this movie is, of course, the music. Ziouani creates her own orchestra, Divertimento, in a bid to bring quality music to the suburbs, and to bring people of varied backgrounds together. Music, for her, is about community-building, and should never be socio-economically elitist. Both Ziouani sisters consulted on the music for the film, ensuring both authenticity, and some heart-rending moments, using pieces by composers such as Ravel, Prokofiev, and Saint-Saëns.
Divertimento is a warm, engaging, joyful, piece of cinema, yet one with some important things to say. Final credits, which bring us up-to-date on the sisters’ careers, also points out that still only 6% of orchestral conductors around the world are women; and only 4% in France.
If you love classical music, you will wallow in the film. If you do not consider yourself a classical music fan, this film may just change your mind. But above all, Mention-Schaar has crafted an exciting, and moving, piece of cinema that anyone can enjoy.
Divertimento opens on June 20th.
