Moonlight Sonata

Shortly before his desultory political career, famed Polish concert pianist Jan Paderewski starred as himself in the British romantic drama Moonlight Sonata. The bulk of the film is set in Sweden, where Eric Molander (Charles Farrell) professes his love for beautiful young baroness Lindenborg (Marie ...more

To today's audiences, Moonlight Sonata might seem like a bit of a strange film. After all, what modern film would open with a 15-minute piano concert, let alone include two other piano interludes? It's not just Moonlight's willingness to let things come to a cinematic halt that seems odd today; the film also has a plot that is extremely familiar to audiences raised on films and television. In addition, the way that the brilliant pianist Ignace Jan Paderewski is shoehorned into the film is a bit ...more