![]() Thescenes with the Rossellini character are among the best in the film, becausehere he finds a haven from his debts, from his troubles with the law, from hiswars with his relatives, from his fawning admirers and mocking rivals. Ishall have to beat you." She thinks he is teasing until he slaps her sohard that tears well in her eyes. Hebecomes the countess' piano teacher, but does not always play the gameaccording to her world's rules: "A mistake is nothing," he tells her,"but the fact that you thump out the notes without the least sensitivityto their meaning is unforgivable, and your lack of passion is unforgivable. Inthe scenes with Giulietta we see Beethoven's status as the most sought-afterlion of the European musical scene in his day, a great composer was theequivalent of today's rock stars, swooned over and showered with attention. IfJohanna is, by default, one of the three most important women in Beethoven'slife, the other two are Countess Giulietta Guicciardi ( Valeria Golino), whobecomes his student and patron, and the older, wiser Countess Anna Maria Erdody( Isabella Rossellini), who stands up to Beethoven after he has gone into courtto wrest young Karl away from Johanna, his mother. The movie proposes an interesting explanation ofBeethoven's hatred of her and love for her son, one which sensible biographerswill question, but that fits perfectly with the terms of the story. He wages a lifelong campaign of hate against Karl'smother, Johanna ( Johanna Ter Steege), telling his brother Caspar (ChristopherFulford) she is a foul slut. He is a man on the edge of madness, obsessed with women,even more obsessed with Karl (Marco Hofschneider), the young nephew he hopes toturn into a prodigy. ![]() If there are moments when we doubtBeethoven was thinking exactly these images as he composed, there are otherswhen the momentum of the story takes over, and we identify with a torturedgenius whose deafness cut him off from the immortal sounds he was giving tomankind.īeethovenis played in the film by Gary Oldman, who at first seems an unlikely choice:Too small, too driven, too insinuating. The film's musicalsupervisor is Sir Georg Solti, conducting the London Orchestra, with soloistssuch as Murray Perahia and Yo-Yo Ma. Most biopics about classical composers dredge upobscure, low-rent recordings of the music. Unusualfor the director of a musical biography, Rose has paid as much attention to themusic as to the biography. As he visits first one and then anotherpossible source of information, it is impossible not to be reminded of thehapless reporter who sought the meaning of "Rosebud" in "CitizenKane." As he visits the important women in Beethoven's life, we seeflashbacks to the composer's disorderly and precarious existence, and we hearmusic, magnificent music. Thefilm opens with Schindler ( Jeroen Krabbe), Beethoven's confidante, beginning asearch for the immortal beloved. I doubt Rosehas solved the puzzle of the unnamed beloved, but I care not, because he hasdone something more valuable: He has created a fantasy about Beethoven thatevokes the same disturbing, ecstatic passion we hear in his music. As a last testament this document may have been faulty, but asa biographical puzzle it was a masterstroke, inspiring two centuries of feveredspeculations, of which this film is the latest and most romantic. Beethoven after his death left aletter addressed to his "immortal beloved," with no hint as to whothat person was. Thefilm unfolds like a biographical puzzle.
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