Immortal Beloved

Rating:
Summary: The most brilliant movie masterpice of the century.
Review: IMMORTAL BELOVED is a brilliant masterpiece directed by BERNARD ROSE. The best script I've seen. The most majestic words are used on this one. A true story, I hate most sci-fi movies. Incredible mind-blowing performances I've ever seen. GARY OLMAN is one of my favorite actors I've seen act. I love this movie and I watched this one over nine times. You can't get enough of it and everytime you watch this one, you learn something new. I think my favorite movie ever. Great one. If you like the most descent true-story drama movies, BUY, do not rent it, buy this one and watch it. You will not regret the special and incredible performances that contains this film. BUY this one along with AMADEUS, another masterpiece.

Rating:
Summary: Terrible film--buy the soundtrack instead
Review: I don't really care how accurate it is biographically; I wanted to be entertained with a good story. This isn't it. It wanders all over the place. The premise is ripped off from Citizen Kane (detectivey-person must talk to surviving loved ones to find out a Big Secret about the Big Man), and it takes forever, goes off down a million side roads that are never resolved or resolved with a big thud. This Beethoven isn't a likable guy--unlike the film character of Amadeus, who was a spoiled brat but still kind of fun and sympathetic, Beethoven is a self-centered, sadistic monster, plain and simple. A single redeeming quality in him--or anyone--would have carried this film a long way. The Ode to Joy at the end is very well done, and the only reason I bumped this film up to 2 stars.

Rating:
Summary: Pornography?
Review: I usually avoid writing reviews that respond to other viewers' reviews, but really . . . Pornography? Immortal Beloved?!?

That there are apparently literate people who can make such a statement says a great deal about the state of the union.

As for accuracy, history (of which biography is a subset) always happens in the present. It is always an act of interpretation by the historian. Historical fiction, frequently containing real historical characters, is even more subjective, clearly, and by intention. To pan this beautiful and haunting meditation on the creative forces in human life because it contains the image of a female breast, or because the artists who made it did not stick to "historical truth" (whatever that is) is the real obscenity.

Rating:
Summary: Gary Oldman is Beethoven
Review: Being a pianist myself, I am well educated on the history of Beethoven, among other composers. Though the movie does have historical inaccuracies, for a Hollywood movie, I am impressed!

Gary Oldman truly captures the PASSION and the sorrow of Ludwig Von Beethoven in all aspects. The movie starts a bit slow, but for those who are into this sort of flick, you'll understand the reasons for this.

All I can say is I give this movie 5 stars and would reccommend it to ANY music lover!

Rating:
Summary: SOB STORY TRUMPS REAL BIOPIC
Review: I won't add to the clamour of gripes about historical accuracy, having known very little about the Beethoven before watching this film. But much can be said about the narrative ruse to position a biopic about him as a mystery, to tell his story in a fresh 'Citizen Kane' kind of a way -- through other people's recollections.

To its credit, the music selection works very well to imbue the right effects at the right times, and some scenes evoke powerful emotion, such as a life-altering beating he received from his father as a child, or how he got the inspiration for his ninth symphony.

Problem is, all of it runs a little too long at 2:03 as it attempts to cover a sprawling ground. Half an hour into it, the screenplay falls prey to too much melodrama. Beethoven frequently comes across as a crude, short-fused, obnoxious man, making it difficult to care about his musical genius.

Acting wise, Oldman's potrayal of the madness manifesting itself in art rather than homicidal acts is fairly impressive. But unfortunately it remains unmatched by the rest of the cast.

A mild recommendation for the stunning visuals, and of course a no-brainer of a rental if you're a devout connoisseur of classical music, but otherwise a goodlooking waste that was so nearly an epic.

Rating:
Summary: Love it!
Review: This is a great movie. Definatley one that can be watched again and again. The acting is great!

Rating:
Summary: Great Acting With Average Screenplay
Review: Bernard Rose's 1994 film on the life of Ludwig Van Beethoven isn't terribly memmorable for one dealing with one of the greatest composers of all time. Although Gary Oldman performed his role very well, the story line is rather uninspiring and dull.

The whole suspense of the film revolves around a mysterious letter that is uncovered after the death of Beethoven. In the letter, he mentions a certain "immortal beloved" as being the object of his affections. Not knowing who that might be, Beethoven's close friend (Jeroen Krabbé) goes out to search the mystery woman. The film then goes back in time to explore Beethoven's prior loves. The film of course tries to focus on Beethoven's character and music but those seem to take a backdrop to the melodrama which is unfortunate. Another poor choice is using Sir Georg Solti's symphonic direction as part of the sound track. Beethoven composed his music in the late 18th and early 19th centuries when your typical orchestra was small: his music wasn't intended to be played by the 300+ member orchestras directed by Solti. As a result, many aspects of Beethoven's symphonic works are simply muffled by the cacophony of such large orchestras. Furthermore, Solti's interpretations are horribly sluggish and completely at odds with Beethoven's revolutionary zeal.

Although this is an above-average film, I think it could have been done much better: especially in the selection for the soundtrack.



Rating:
Summary: Give me a break
Review: This is a great film. It does not purport to be an authentic biopic of Beethoven. That is not the point. Neither is Amadeus. It is beautifully filmed and acted. Gary Oldman is terrific. The soundtrack is great. Forget about historical innaccuracy and just enjoy it for what it is.