User Reviews

Eroica is one of Beethovens most misunderstood compositions but this fantastic production depicts the first performance perfectly. Ian Hart plays the genius as he was, scruffy, un-kemt and bad tempered yet passionate about his music and suffering greatly. All the characters were well played, especially Haydn, and the music was sublime. Many of the happenings in the production, such as Reis shouting at the horn then getting told off, were based on true events. Pay close attention to the scene where the composer talks to the countess, when the countess refuses his proposal we can hear the beginning of the scherzo, as if it is being created by the pain Beethoven feels (aso a bit of irony because scherzo means joke in Italian). Wonderfully made and a delight to watch!!!!!!

Well, that would have made for a tough film to sit through, don't you think, guys?

Although it's true that that first read-through was probably pretty rough.

Here is a short quotation from Ries via Thayer, which shows how well the filmmakers did their homework:

"...Here it happened that Beethoven, who was directing (the Eroica) himself, in the second part of the first Allegro where the music is pursued for so many measures in half-notes against the beat, threw the orchestra off in such a way that a new beginning had to be made." In the first Allegro occurs a mischievous whim (bose Laune) of Beethoven's for the first horn; in the second part, several measures before the theme recurs in its entirety, Beethoven has the horn suggest it (the theme: LS) at a place where the two violins are still holding a second chord (the violins are suggesting a Bb7 chord -- the *dominant* of Eb Major, whereas the horn is playing the theme (a simple arpeggio) in Eb Major, a harmony which sounded quite "wrong" to 1803 ears!: LS). To one unfamiliar with the score this must always sound as if the horn player made a miscount and entered at the wrong place. At the first rehearsal of the symphony, __which was horrible__, but at which the horn player made his entry correctly, I stood beside Beethoven, and, thinking that a blunder had been made I said: 'Can't the damned hornist count" -- it sounds infamously false!' I think I came pretty close to receiving a box on the ear. (Much more dramatic to come *more* than "pretty close"!: LS) Beethoven did not forgive the slip for a long time."

Thayer goes on to describe yet another rehearsal which Lobkowitz arranged for another prince, Louis Ferdinand of Prussia:

"To give him (Louis Ferdinand: LS) a surprise, the new, and of course, to him utterly unknown symphony, was played to the Prince, who 'listened to it with tense attention which grew with every movement.' At the close he proved his admiration by requesting the favor of an immediate repetition; and, after an hour's pause, as his stay was too limited to admit of another concert, a second. (In other words, it was performed *three* times!: LS). The impression made by the music was general and its lofty contents were now recognized."

In any event, I adore this made-for-television gem! Two things that make this film great are:

1. We get to hear a period-instrument performance by one of the best such orchestras around!

2. We get to immerse ourselves in Beethoven's world for a few hours, all done very beautifully. (The scenes *following* the performance are delicious!) HIGHLY recommended.

LS

Not so much film noir as film dusk, I spent the first ten minutes waiting for the set lights to be switched on. Having said that, Eroica is a beautiful to look at period piece about the first playing of Beethoven's Eroica or 'Napoleon' symphony (played by the wonderful Orchestre Revolutionaire et Romantique) for Prince Lobokowitz in Vienna. The film spans a day in the life of Beethoven in June 1804, examining not only his life and loves, but the lives of the musicians and the staff of the Palace in Vienna.

Much of the 'action' revolves around the audience of this magical performance. If only the Director had resisted the temptation to spin round the viewers as they watched! The film certainly flew by, but I was left wishing that this was only the start of the film and not the totality.

First I must clear up one thing. I have been a fanatic of Beethoven's music, life and words for nearly 40 years. I remember receiving a flimsy plastic 45 rpm-shaped record, which was timed at 33-1/3, in the mail advertising his music and the music of others. What I will not forget is hearing those first few bars. I will never ever forget that moment. Two crashing chords and straight into the first melody. It made a profound influence on the course for the rest of my life. I've since become a dilettante composer and enthusiastic champion of the music of this greatest of masters.

With that being said...I was brought into such a state of newfound discovery when I heard the Eroica again on this DVD. The Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique somehow has made an old friend sound brand new again. With the size of the noticeable orchestra being smaller than we are normally accustomed, and with the pronounced accentuation of the individual instruments, the sounds and the development of the themes were fresh.

I enjoyed almost every performance in this film. It doesn't matter whose I didn't like. It really makes no difference. The presence of Ian Hart, Tim Pigott-Smith, Fenella Woolgar, Frank Finlay, Leo Bill, Trevor Cooper, the beautiful Claire Skinner, and mysterious Lucy Akhurst and gosh, even Victoria Shalet and Joseph Morgan made the whole affair quite an enjoyable experience and transformed this into a true ensemble of players.

The effect of the cameras moving about was a stroke of genius. The camera swirled as the thoughts of the people present and listening swirled around the room.

Enough cannot be said about IAN HART who really brought this together. Those of who the character of Beethoven so well should be pleased with his take. Here we have none of the scowling Beethoven smirks which plagued his later years. Here we still have a youthful, but adamant figure struggling to make his way into the world of Viennese society. Hart has cast a Beethoven in his prime though quite immediately after his "Heilegenstadt Testament" period of great sadness. He is young and he still bounce back and get back to the music. One instance of this bouncing back was quite remarkably placed near the end of the movie.

To lovers of Beethoven, lovers of the Eroica, lovers of great music, lovers of historical dramas and fine period pieces, I recommend this film without reservation.

For some puzzling reason, I never really "got" the Eroica, but thanks to this marvellous production I (and hopefully many others) finally understand not only why the symphony was so important but also why it's so good! The basic idea of the film is that Prince Lobkowitz's orchestra is giving the first performance of the symphony for the prince and princess, the composer, and a few guests. After a shortish buildup to introduce the characters, the orchestra begins - and carries on for most of the film. As the music plays, we watch the characters listening, and occasionally hear their opinions. There is outrage when a trumpet comes in at the "wrong" time; smiles at certain musical turns of phrase; frowns at how loud it is. This superb film marries a great performance of a great work with an intelligent effort to put the whole thing in the context of its time. It isn't a film for people who already know all about the Eroica, but for a viewer who doesn't know Haydn from Howard Shore it must surely be enlightening.

I stumbled across this film being played on television. I figured that the TV guide had misspelled "Erotica", but as it turns out this is very much a G-Rated picture. It's almost a biopic, a bit more than a lengthy music video. It's an afternoon in the life of Ludwig von Beethoven, set to the music of his third symphony.

The events of Beethoven's life seem compressed and shoveled into the 90 minutes of the film. We see how he deals with large issues like Napeoleonic politics, patronage, love, and hearing loss, as well as smaller issues like arranging music and the most efficient means of belittling his assistant.

What I found fascinating was being able to see how the characters of the period responded to the music as it was being played. I have a distant knowledge of Beethoven's works, and while they are certainly powerful and turbulent, I lack the context of the music of the era. Seeing the patrons react to various passages of the music (which to my untrained ear just sounds pretty) and hearing them comment on the work as it progressed was for me highly illuminating.

What a thrill it would be to be able to walk around an orchestra as it plays! That would be the ultimate in surround sound! I was jealous of the characters as they mingled around the players, who from what I can tell were using period-correct instruments.

First of all, the performance of the symphony is terrific and beautifully recorded in 5.1 Dolby. The movie achieves a minor miracle in conveying how NEW and downright shocking this greatest of Beethoven's symphonies was. It also presents a believable and sympathetic view of his personality, passions, and temper.

The movie is very good looking and fun from start to finish. The appearance of Haydn and his utterances about the new symphony are perfect, according to what we know about his personality.

My favorites for this work have been Klemperer on EMI and Hogwood on Archiv, but I now prefer this performance over them all (including Bruno Walter's).

Easily the best movie about Beethoven that I have seen.

"Everything's different as of today" said a weary Josef Haydn, and how right he was.

"Eroica" is the best film about Beethoven that I have seen. OK, I've only seen three others, one of which was made in the 70s and I can't remember the name of that one. The other two were "Immortal Beloved" which was good, and "Copying Beethoven" which was horrendous. What attracted me to this movie was the clever direction and how it was made watchable despite the entire work being played throughout. When I say "despite", don't get me wrong, I'm a composer and I loved the music, but to be able to base an entire film around the complete performance (OK then, a rehearsal) of a particularly long work whilst simultaneously retaining visual and cinematic interest is a tricky task, and the director rose to the challenge magnificently. Ian Hart was convincing (unlike Ed Harris's comically over-acted portrayal, although his makeup was very good) and one of a very professional cast indeed. Isn't Fenella Woolgar gorgeous? Such a sexy nose! And so to the music. What was interesting was the fact that although Elliot Gardiner's soundtrack was obviously not that of which we see, it WAS played on period instruments. The biggest clue being when hearing the valveless horns playing the few notes that were not to be found within the harmonic series (on an Eb crook) sounding a bit flatulent. It also helps to know that John Elliot Gardiner is really hot on period instruments. I personally prefer modern orchestral instruments, but nothing can be taken away from the superb performance by this ensemble. Also the synchronisation must have been extremely tricky because all the musicians in shot were actually playing the music together, whilst acting simultaneously (they would have had to, to gurn their faces like they did as if the music was something completely new, which it so obviously was).

But what really made the movie work was the silent reaction to the music of the surrounding gentry and servants. It really helped to bring tears to my eyes.

A fabulous two hours of my time spent. Heartily recommended!!!

This film could have been great, based on its rather accurate facts and atmosphere, but at a second and deeper look it seems a hidden failure to me. Let me try to explain that, as I flatter myself to be knowing Beethoven's oeuvre rather well. First, from a musical and historical point of view, besides the smaller, yet passable inaccuracies or doubtful things (the orchestra was smaller, Lobkowitz may have had more guests attending to the new symphony, Haydn may not have been that 'intellectually' expressing himself and not even present, etc), the main flaw is that a new composition very rarely makes its full impact already at its premiere. The various reactions of the audience look oddly exaggerated, even though people attending concerts in that era and especially in Vienna have been reacting spontaneously at the details of music. Then, of course no orchestra on Earth could have played so fine (Gardiner is one of the greatest conductors of our time) that huge, complex and ground-breaking masterpiece at first sight, and thus the struggle between Beethoven's expectations and the musicians' possibilities would have brought in a more accurate and dramatic element to the movie.

Secondly, from a cinematic point of view, if you weren't a Beethoven buff, it's hard to bear a film centered around the performance of a single work which lasts 45-50 min. I doubt whether that premiere really generated immediately the feel of one of the greatest turning points in music history (which of course the Heroic Symphony was). Much more dramatic and with a great potential for evolving would have been the genesis of the work in Beethoven's mind during his extremely busy years of 1801-1803 (growing deafness, the hints at suicide in the 'Heiligenstadt testament', the failed relationship with Julie Guicciardi, the acquaintance with Bernadotte, the growing infatuation with Josephine, the many compositions etc). In its present state, the film is static, the characters are not evolving, and Ian Hart's performance is almost one-sided (and he looks strangely unfamiliar with that long hair, while Beethoven had a shorter hairstyle in his younger years). On the plus side is the presence of Beethoven's 'immortal beloved' Josephine, but why did they pile up so many emotional events during that concert (even twisting their time line)? That's lame, unreal and melodramatic.

And sadly, despite all these, in a way this may be the best Beethoven movie so far, because it's the most accurate and tightly knit. But strangely, as I have said before, it almost missed its point.

Eroica is a well done blending of film and symphony concert. Beethoven was a rebel pushing against the social status quo in his life and with his music. How we hear this symphony today is so completely different that it is nearly impossible to imagine how it seemed to those hearing this kind of music for the first time. This film helped me to do that.

I have had the great honor of performing this masterpiece when I was a student at Duquesne University, so it's always like coming home when I hear this piece. This film gave me an opportunity to visit it with fresh eyes and ears.

One thing I have to complain about is the usual one, the violas nearly always get short shrift when orchestras are filmed, but this is a small oversight in view of the entire movie.

Well done!

The complete performance of the symphony was well worth the rental for me. It helped having all the visuals, at least most of the time, making this into effectively a music video of the Eroica. The visuals helped when they portrayed the reactions of the players and listeners to the music, but they were distracting when portraying the lame side stories, such as the young male servant making eyes at the girl, etc. I guess the point of that was to show that mundane life goes on even at momentous events such as this one which changed the music world forever. It's fun to imagine that everyone actually present was floored by what was being played, but only a few really got it, such as Haydn, Ries, a couple of the women, and of course Beethoven himself.

But it's ludicrous that any orchestra, no matter how competent, could run through the piece that well on first sight. Even if they could play all the notes and markings they couldn't stay together without a conductor, at least not for that long. Beethoven is portrayed as out of the room or seated much of the time, so wasn't much help except when he wanted to be. And the transition from falling apart after about 20 bars to flawlessly executing the whole work on the next try was especially ridiculous.

Ian Hart was embarrassing, clumsily trying to patch together pieces of Beethoven's character into an incoherent whole. He entirely misses the soul of the man, which Gary Oldman captured breathtakingly well in Immortal Beloved. You'd think Hart would only need to study Oldman's performance a bit and he would have done much better, but maybe Oldman just made it look easy.

The movie would have been better if it had been a straight-to-DVD project, with the movie portion showing a more realistic first performance with more mistakes and musical misunderstandings, and saving the flawless performance for the bonus feature, letting the viewers know it's highly idealized in order to allow undisturbed enjoyment of the music and how it might have affected those who first heard it.

This is a must-see for Beethoven lovers and will be very rewarding for anyone interested in music appreciation.

A perfect marriage of music and visuals that is simply superb in every way. My compliments to the well orchestrated direction and precise editing that enabled the music to flow through the emotions of the characters. The performances were well underplayed by minimal dialogue and the perfect facial reactions allowed the viewer to gain an insight into each character's individual feelings to the musical piece. All this aided by the very clever and tight structural screenplay. To top it all of, the photography and free flowing camera movements perfectly captured the raw emotions of this unique musical piece by Master Beethoven. All this in a lavish setting, reminiscent of Kubrick's Barry Lyndon. BRAVO!

At 17, I love Beethoven's music, more his symphonic works than his concertos and sonatas, and this drama really helped me appreciate the extraordinary works of this fantastic composer. I have always considered Eroica one of his best works, from the rousing beginning, the haunting tragic slow movement depicting a funeral march, the charming third movement very like a dance, to the triumphant finale, it is a joy to the ears, and along with the Choral, is easily the best of Beethoven's symphonies. And the orchestra featured played it very nicely indeed. Eroica was just wonderful, I couldn't really fault it at all.

The drama looked absolutely exquisite, with the stunning scenery and locations, as well as the beautifully designed costumes. Any scene with Beethoven walking in the countryside was lovely to see, and I am glad the writers didn't miss that out, because Beethoven loved the countryside, and it was the inspiration for some of his more lyrical works like the Pastoral symphony.

The acting was of high calibre, with Ian Hart absolutely superb in the title role, making the composer a complex figure, quite temperamental, passionate about his work, and torn between the pain of his increasing deafness and love, yet also elegant and adamant. Everyone else was brilliant too, especially Claire Skinner and Tim Piggott-Smith gives a masterclass in understated acting, but other than the music, Hart's portrayal of Beethoven is what makes this superb drama so watchable, not to mention the intriguing story behind the work itself. The script wasn't so bad either.

All in all, absolutely fantastic, so well watching for a number of reasons, whether for the period detail, Hart's Beethoven, or for the fantastic music, that really does touch you with its emotions, joy, heroism and sorrow, all depicted beautifully in the work. 10/10 Bethany Cox

.. if you know how innovative the piece was it seemed a bit odd that the players 'got' the piece basically on their first run. Even if the 3rd and 4th movements sounded different from most other performances i own, it was oddly well-played for a first try.

Other than that, the 'plot' was fairly flimsy, though seemingly historically accurate. As such, i'm not sure why the film was made.. it's far from glitzy enough to appeal to a general public (not to mention it contains "classical" music, yuck!), most of the actors came from TV, though it didn't really matter because the script didn't require a lot of acting

In all, a nice film to watch if you want to gain *some* insight into what the piece is about, but there are courses out there that teach you a whole lot more on the subject.

When it came out it was on Dutch TV. I sat my family on the couch on a Sunday afternoon and we watched together. I thought it part of my children's upbringing.

I have always thought how amazing it would have been to have attended the first playing of a Mozart composition, a Beethoven symphony or, perhaps, a Chopin sonata--to hear it with fresh ears within the context of its time. What a privilege!

"Eroica" transports the viewer to the first performance of Beethoven's "Eroica", which was a tribute to Napoleon. In attendance are a handful of lucky music lovers and the staff who attend the home of Prince Lobkowitz (Jack Davenport), Beethoven's host and benefactor. The audience includes some knowledgeable listeners, some friends of Beethoven, and some neophyte ears.

The direction is very intimate, allowing the camera to move around the salon as freely as the listeners. It rests on faces to register their dismay, surprise, confusion or elation. This new symphony defies conventions and, understandably, is not easily absorbed.

The film poses some questions. "Can music exist independently of politics?" The answer appears to be no, but in the end, Beethoven's symphony manages to honor its true inspiration, despite political changes, thus transcending politics. "What is genius?" An insightful deviation from norms?

The music reflects Beethoven's essence. It is romantic, moody, urgent, brooding, tempestuous. Beethoven, with his tragic life view, is a dark visage. He is a tool perfect for one thing--the expression of that artistic genius. Ian Hart certainly looks as we expect Beethoven to look, and he really seems to own the music as only its creator could.

One latecomer to the concert is Josef Haydn (Frank Finlay), representing the old guard. He recognizes, perhaps sadly, the revolution inherent in what he hears.

How wonderful to enjoy Beethoven's Third through such an immersive experience. Music lovers should find this film captivating.

The Beeb were really game to take on this project, to make a film about a big long piece of very famous music. But all involved have done a good job, even though not much actually happens.

Ian Hart shows that he can do serious stuff, after playing awful roles in "Born Romantic" and "This Year's Love" where he comes across as a real jerk, IMO.

The writer has included various females who stand around and look absolutely lovely, but (apart from one of them) don't say a word.

Of course, the music is great and the whole film is enjoyable because of that.