AT, DE 2015–17, D Barbara Albert, SC Kathrin Resetarits based on the novel Am Anfang war die Nacht Musik by Alissa Walser, C Christine Anna Maier, E Niki Mossböck, M Lorenz Dangel, S Dietmar Zuson, P Michael Kitzberger, Wolfgang Widerhofer, Nikolaus Geyrhalter, Markus Glaser, Martina Haubrich, Gunnar Dedio, Cast Maria Dragus, Devid Striesow, Lukas Miko, Katja Kolm, Maresi Riegner, Johanna Orsini-Rosenberg, Steffi Reinsperger, Susanne Wuest, Christoph Luser, Print colour, DCP, 97 min, german OV with engl. SUB, farbfilm verleih

Mademoiselle Paradis tells the touching true story of blind pianist Maria Theresia Paradis, known as Resi. In the courtly world of Rococo Vienna, Resi is considered both a freak and a wunderkind. When notorious doctor Franz Mesmer applies his controversial new methods to teaching the young woman to see, Resi’s musical virtuosity seems to vanish and her world is shaken.

„With performances that give voice to all the stiffness and pent-up sensitivities behind the pomp, the capable ensemble cast brings the screenplay to life. Most impressive in this regard is Maria Dragus in the role of Maria Theresia Paradis, who is often placed on display like an object, judged and observed, controlled by her doctor and her parents. In spite of all this, Dragus manages to make her ‘Resi’ a person of her own, emerging in the quiet moments and those seated at the piano keyboard. Alternately curious and amused, critical or inconsolable, she takes in her surroundings – a male-dominated society that is not that unlike our own in its vain superficiality.“ (David Lensing, KinoFilmWelt, 2018)