My Sister Maria

2002

About this movie

Maria Schell - a beautiful and talented girl born to an exceptional family of artists, a renowned actress and darling of the public - enjoyed an unparalleled career for a German-speaking actress. Despite a glamorous acting career with over seventy feature film appearances alongside such legends as Oskar Werner, Gary Cooper and Marcello Mastroianni, and numerous awards and nominations, Maria Schell's life was filled with romances, loneliness, unrequited love, disappointments, debt, depression, suicide attempts, and an unwillingness to grow old gracefully. Her brother and confidant, actor/director/co-writer Maximilian Schell, blends interviews with staged scenes in this examination of their personal relationship, expressing his great respect for her lifework and the regret he felt at her later failures.