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Immortal Beloved | Year: 1995 Directed: - Bernard Rose Actors/Actresses: - Gary Oldman - Jeroen Krabbe you can always just close your eyes and listen to the music Ludwig van Beethoven has died and bequeathed his estate to an unnamed woman. This is the tantalising premise for director Bernard Rose's film, and for it's first half it's compelling and beautifully made. Then Rose blows it, with a red herring about Beethoven's adoption of his brother's son, and though we do eventually return to the search, this misguided structure loses the audience. Fortunately, Rose floods the soundtrack with that glorious music. Rose coached a magnificent performance out of Virginia Madsen in Candyman, and does the same thing here for Valeria Golino, Isabella Rosellini, and to a lesser degree, Johanna Ter Steege. These women's eyes and skin and voices are shockingly intimate. As Beethoven, Gary Oldman looks right but is all externals. He bases his performance on the composer's deafness, turning him into a tormented neurotic which undermines Rose's romantic conceit (though isn't it always the miserable ones who creates things of great beauty?). Rose has eerie fun with acoustics, giving us Ludwig's distorted perspective, although he lacks the tabloid sensibility to match Ken Russell's flamboyant bio's. Russell too supported the exclusively autobiographical notion of an artist's work and Rose even makes the deafness Freudian. The stunning opening scene with crowds grasping for the coffin is evidence of Beethoven as pop star. Beethoven It Ain't, But Movie-Making It Is No. You won't learn about the truth of the identity of Beethoven's eponymous title from this marvelous film, told in cinematic episodic jumps, fits and starts and from various points of view each based on an 'interviews' by Anton Schindler afer Ludwig Von Beethoven's death. The plot, at least insofar as the revelation of the true lady behind the tortured Maestro's love, is just so much hooey. <BR>But the evolution of Beethoven as a composer might just be fairly valid, if exaggerated and oversimplified. Beethoven's growing deafness, his outrageously overprotective attitudes towards his nephew (culminating in a botched suicide attempt by the latter), the invasion of Vienna, are all documented and presented in this gorgeous film with, at times, heartbreaking verisimilitude. <BR>And, you will probably never again hear many of Beethoven's most famous pieces without recalling the images of the film. The last movement of the famous 'Moonlight' piano sonata accompanies a furiously rushing coach through the rainy streets so Beethoven can meet his beloved; an image of the composer superimposed against the cosmos accompananies the Ninth Symphony (Choral). And so much more.<BR>Gary Oldman as the composer is perfect. Jeroen Krabbe is just right as his Boswellian friend who seeks the truth at all costs after Beethoven's death. <BR>The settings are sumptuous. You will appreciate the cutting and the editing more and more as the film progresses. Ditto the superb direction. The score is magnificently realized by both orchestra and conductor and pianist, chamber musicians, all involved.<BR>Reality? Nope. A tantalazing suggestion of what might have realistically been? That's more of what you can expect. If you want reality, I suggest you take George R. Marek's unsurpassable biography, 'Beethoven,' out of the library and luxuriate in it. <BR>'Immortal Beloved' is a cinematic experience that will most likely appeal to lovers of classical music in general and Beethoven's music in particular. But this statement should not put off anyone who is not necessarily a fan. If anything, the more casual listener might just be entranced enough to understand why Beethoven and his music have lasted through the centuries. <BR>This is a film for all of us. A Splendid Intro To Beethoven, A Great Film As Amadeus was a great introduction to Mozart's music, Immortal Beloved is an incredible introduction to Beethoven's music, besides being quality drama. In much the same way, it also serves as a fine historic insight on Beethoven's life and career in music. Although there has to be alterations of the truth, for the most part, Beethoven's long-suffering life and genius are masterfully portrayed. The focus of the movie, embellished by Beethoven's greatest instrumental works, is the secret identity of the "Immortal Beloved", an enigmatic woman for whom Beethoven wrote incredibly passionate letters. It is up to the viewer to decide which of the three women Beethoven was involved with is his Immortal Beloved, each woman striking in her own character, especially the Countess, played by Isabella Rossalini. The score is all Beethoven an appropriate for the scenes. The film is lush and visually stimulating, Vienna ballrooms and palaces, the wide boulevards, the secluded gardens in a villa, the concert halls and Beethoven's music studio. The opening music, as Beethoven's funeral is under progress, is his Kyrie from Missa Solemnis, a profoundly moving choral work. The Moonlight Sonata is played when Beethoven buries his head over his piano and broods in sadness, the Kreutzer Sonata is played as Beethoven's coach speeds on a highway in the middle of a rainstorm, Beethoven's 3rd symphony as Beethoven talks about his music to his brother's sister, Beethoven's 9th symphony, with the thrilling chorus "Ode To Joy" as Beethoven reminisces about his hard-knock life as a boy and must deal with his deafness, and finally, the Fifth Piano Concerto, called the "Emperor concerto" as the final credits roll. Quality film, striking cinema, fine performances by Gary Oldman and Isabella Rossalini, and the most beautiful music ever to grace the screen. Five stars. Check this excellent DVD out and the soundtrack which is also available at Amazon.com. It is without a question a great intro to Beethoven. Buy Immortal Beloved at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.com Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone!  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