'Immortal Beloved' opens with Beethoven's death, followed by his funeral attended by the mourning masses...
Beethoven's final will and testament are found by the composer's mentor, Anton Felix Schindler (Jeroen Krabbé) who reads that all of Beethoven's music and fortune shall go to his sole heir, his secret passion, his immortal beloved...
No one then, or now, knows who the 'immortal beloved' is...
Director Bernard Rose decided it might be interesting to take a guess... So he framed his film in a puzzled story with Beethoven's confidante searching across Europe for clues...
Determined not to rest until he discovers the maestro's greatest love, Schindler travels to see several ladies in an attempt to learn the identity of the woman who meant so much to Ludwig van Beethoven...
Along the way, he meets with three candidates: Giulietta Guicciardi, Beethoven's attractive piano pupil, to whom Ludwig dedicated his 'Moonlight' sonata; Johanna Reiss, Beethoven's immoral sister-in-law, who 'could not hate the man who could write such music;' and Anna Marie Erdödy, the beautiful Hungarian Countess, who opened her heart to the German composer...
All of the mentioned women loved Beethoven, and one of them could certainly be his angel, his all, his other self...
With the use of the Ninth Symphony's "Ode to Joy," there is a beautiful shot of young Ludwig floating in the firmament, lost thereafter between the luminous celestial bodies... Another scene is quite poignant of Beethoven, unaware even that the music had ceased, is also unaware of the tremendous burst of applause that greeted it...
'Immortal Beloved' is a love story which not only captures the ideas of early 19th century romanticism, but ultimately attempts to fasten the emotional state of the music to the events that Beethoven lived through... We are given a look into the composer's personality... Beethoven is seen impatient, impulsive, unreasonable and intolerant; deafness adds suspicion and paranoia to these attributes...
We are invited to watch his treasured feelings... We are even touched by an artist who yearns to express himself creatively through music... He is an hostile, obstinate lover who would fly into a rage at the slightest provocation, but a sensible human being who carries the music in his heart, and whom the thorns of life had wounded so deeply...
Like all pianists of the late 18th century, Beethoven is raised on the sonatas of expressive music at a time when music was regarded as the art of pleasing sounds... The dramatic scene of his 'Moonlight Sonata' communicated to a deafened ear, expresses all his emotional pain: We listen beautifully what he cannot... He reveals, through his delightful piece, his soul and the inner torment he is suffering... We perceive what the music is evoking in his mind... we also find that he is a temperamental lover who seeks to reach the perfect love...
With finesse and style Gary Oldman stars as the first composer, always stubborn, unyielding and struggling against destiny... Oldman seems to feel the brave, the commanding, and the impetuous of the virtuoso pianist more than what is reassuring or gentle... The muscles of his face swell, and its veins start out... His wild eye rolls doubly wild... His mouth trembles as he looks overpowered with the character's deafness, strengthened by a stubborn nature...
Set in Vienna, but exquisitely shot in and around Prague, 'Immortal Beloved' concentrates on Beethoven's women, his cruel battle for custody and control of his little nephew, his constant fight with himself, with the sound of agitation...
'Immortal Beloved' is a film enriched by a passion, drama and turbulence of an era... The scenery of the aristocratic palaces, elegant middle class town houses, churches and chapels, monuments and fountains are beautiful and exquisite... Beethoven's compositions (wonderfully performed by the London Symphony Orchestra) are splendid and voluptuous...
Beethoven's final will and testament are found by the composer's mentor, Anton Felix Schindler (Jeroen Krabbé) who reads that all of Beethoven's music and fortune shall go to his sole heir, his secret passion, his immortal beloved...
No one then, or now, knows who the 'immortal beloved' is...
Director Bernard Rose decided it might be interesting to take a guess... So he framed his film in a puzzled story with Beethoven's confidante searching across Europe for clues...
Determined not to rest until he discovers the maestro's greatest love, Schindler travels to see several ladies in an attempt to learn the identity of the woman who meant so much to Ludwig van Beethoven...
Along the way, he meets with three candidates: Giulietta Guicciardi, Beethoven's attractive piano pupil, to whom Ludwig dedicated his 'Moonlight' sonata; Johanna Reiss, Beethoven's immoral sister-in-law, who 'could not hate the man who could write such music;' and Anna Marie Erdödy, the beautiful Hungarian Countess, who opened her heart to the German composer...
All of the mentioned women loved Beethoven, and one of them could certainly be his angel, his all, his other self...
With the use of the Ninth Symphony's "Ode to Joy," there is a beautiful shot of young Ludwig floating in the firmament, lost thereafter between the luminous celestial bodies... Another scene is quite poignant of Beethoven, unaware even that the music had ceased, is also unaware of the tremendous burst of applause that greeted it...
'Immortal Beloved' is a love story which not only captures the ideas of early 19th century romanticism, but ultimately attempts to fasten the emotional state of the music to the events that Beethoven lived through... We are given a look into the composer's personality... Beethoven is seen impatient, impulsive, unreasonable and intolerant; deafness adds suspicion and paranoia to these attributes...
We are invited to watch his treasured feelings... We are even touched by an artist who yearns to express himself creatively through music... He is an hostile, obstinate lover who would fly into a rage at the slightest provocation, but a sensible human being who carries the music in his heart, and whom the thorns of life had wounded so deeply...
Like all pianists of the late 18th century, Beethoven is raised on the sonatas of expressive music at a time when music was regarded as the art of pleasing sounds... The dramatic scene of his 'Moonlight Sonata' communicated to a deafened ear, expresses all his emotional pain: We listen beautifully what he cannot... He reveals, through his delightful piece, his soul and the inner torment he is suffering... We perceive what the music is evoking in his mind... we also find that he is a temperamental lover who seeks to reach the perfect love...
With finesse and style Gary Oldman stars as the first composer, always stubborn, unyielding and struggling against destiny... Oldman seems to feel the brave, the commanding, and the impetuous of the virtuoso pianist more than what is reassuring or gentle... The muscles of his face swell, and its veins start out... His wild eye rolls doubly wild... His mouth trembles as he looks overpowered with the character's deafness, strengthened by a stubborn nature...
Set in Vienna, but exquisitely shot in and around Prague, 'Immortal Beloved' concentrates on Beethoven's women, his cruel battle for custody and control of his little nephew, his constant fight with himself, with the sound of agitation...
'Immortal Beloved' is a film enriched by a passion, drama and turbulence of an era... The scenery of the aristocratic palaces, elegant middle class town houses, churches and chapels, monuments and fountains are beautiful and exquisite... Beethoven's compositions (wonderfully performed by the London Symphony Orchestra) are splendid and voluptuous...