COPYING coming to Italy!

[terry]

On 15th June! Think about this: only 15 days and nobody has already talked about it, even if Kruger was at Cannes, no newspapers! I'm afraid its destiny will be the same as in your contries! I don't know how to say in English, have the words "breaking our b...s" the same meaning as in Italian if i say "Spiderman and Pirates have been breaking pur b...s for one year now!" Here's the difference.

[Maurice Colgan]

Write letters to the Italian press (email) and let them know about the Beethoven movie. I write to our TV, radio and newspapers, often with good results. We are looking forward to seeing the movie at cinemas in Ireland...and hearing the very loud sound!

http://irelandtoo.blogspot.com

[lvbfanatic]

CB YAWN!!!

Excuse the rude comment here ... much as I hate to burst this bubble, the CB movie is so cliche ridden that it really has nothing to offer and, in reality, passes off as nothing more than a chick flick.

Otherwise this particular fictional rendition of Beethoven would have taken the film world by storm.

[Maurice Colgan]

The general public know very little about Beethoven or his music with a little persuasion they may actually listen to the Ninth with new ears :-)

Publicity can work for us in advance. At the cinema people are supposed to immerse themselves in the fantasies...blow the critics!!!

I enjoyed the movie on DVD and will enjoy it all the more louder

http://irelandtoo.blogspot.com

[Preston]

Excuse the rude comment here ... much as I hate to burst this bubble, the CB movie is so cliche ridden that it really has nothing to offer and, in reality, passes off as nothing more than a chick flick.

Otherwise this particular fictional rendition of Beethoven would have taken the film world by storm.

I agree. Sorry to offend anyone.

cliche- a trite, stereotyped expression; a sentence or phrase, usually expressing a popular or common thought or idea, that has lost originality, ingenuity, and impact by long overuse

[JA Gardiner]

Well I wouldn't be quite so harsh as LVBfanatic - but, having seen the film recently at a preview showing in London with a critic friend of mine (who is not particularly into LVB), I will admit to being disappointed. Both he and I agreed that the film didn't really seem to be clear what it was supposed to be about - was it primarily about Anna and her journey as a woman, aided by an elder male teacher, towards being able to express her own ( NOT copying Beethoven) creativity and overcome barriers placed by religion, family and rather trad boyfriend ( a theme done better in Educating Rita and several other films, and rather hackneyed IMHO) or was it about LVB, the nature of his inspiration, the triumph of his spirit in the face of adversity and the extraordinary artistic breakthrough he achieves in his later work together with some reflection on the cost to his personality and relationships (something done very much better for Mozart in Amadeus).

Having not decided on its focus the film seemed to flounder around too much and, as people have already commented, some scenes - the ludicrous, anachronistic and embarassing Moonlight scene for one, the wash me scene for another, the bridge demolishing scene and the rant in the convent - seem to serve little purpose and don't work in establishing anything significant that helps us understand Beethoven better. Meanwhile the scenes with Schlemmer (who was brilliantly done) and Karl ( whose real storyline would have given drama enough), which would reveal much more about Beethoven's method and and inner life and the impact of his music overall are left undeveloped and don't go anywhere. I know some bits of these storylines were cut out but I think it shows poor directorial judgement to have left these bits hanging whilst keeping in the stuff mentioned above.

The scene with the 9th (though historically wrong) did at least convey something about the power and pathos of the event and was superbly played. It always makes me cry to think about him being unable to hear this glorious masterpiece as it is blessing the rest of the world for the first time and the film conveyed something of this - though making LVB far less deaf than he was at this point in his career does somewhat diminish the magnitude of his achievement and understates his real social difficulties and personal despair.

Meanwhile the inspiration and strangeness of the late quartets ( which I thought was supposed to be a major focus for the film) is really not explored adequately at all in my view. Its not good enough just to show people leaving the performance in disgust and then run a final strap line saying that although the public didn't get it at the time the late quartets did change music forever, when there's not been enough done to establish just how different and revolutionary they were or what they meant to Beethoven. I'm not certain it would have left anyone dying to get home and put them on the CD to find out what the fuss was about. This for me is the main failing of the film - if you have to have Beethoven telling you with the 9th - as he never actually did - that this is where music changes for ever and then have to repeat the lesson at the end with a strapline, it shows complete lack of confidence that either the music itself, or the storyline you've presented, are strong enough to convey the message themselves. And if they're not, then just putting these lines in won't change anything.

All that said, I thought Ed Harris gave a brilliant and honest performance that was not well served by the cutting, the direction or some of the weirder arty effects at the beginning (again showing lack of trust in the strength of the basic material?). Some of the supporting actors, especially Ralph Riach, were also excellent but underused, but I'm sorry I really didn't see the point of Diane Kruger (and her American accent) and that entire storyline especially with the boyfriend which seemed to serve purely stereotypical plot purposes ( pull of younger less imaginative man versus inspiration of ugly cantankerous older genius, technology versus art etc.). I also felt that the lurch between semi-modern ( or completely anachronistic) speech and behaviour (as in the Moonlight scene) and then what sounded like more verbatim quotes from Beethoven on the nature of music and spirituality also jarred - though that's one of my bugbears about a lot of current costume drama which seems to try to make things more relevant to a modern audience but ends up by totally losing the sense of difference and encounter that real history encourages, and thus in my view actually makes events, motivations and action less, rather than more, intelligible overall. The recent film travesty on Jane Austen being case in point.

I think there is a great film to be made about the late Beethoven and the Quartets - this isn't it and I don't think it will switch anyone onto the Boss who isn't already there. I will however hope to be proved wrong. Meanwhile I'd love to see someone like Haslehurst doing the sort of masterclass on the quartets that he did recently on some of Tchaikovsky's works in the BBC season - that would enlighten and inspire me (as a non-expert music lover) much more. Does anyone know if he did something similar in the earlier Beeb Beethovenfest and if so where I can find it?

[Peter]

I think there is a great film to be made about the the late Beethoven and the Quartets - this isn't it and I don't think it will switch anyone onto the Boss who isn't already there. I will however hope to be proved wrong. Meanwhile I'd love to see someone like Haslehurst doing the sort of masterclass on the quartets that he did recently on some of Tchaikovsky's works in the BBC season - that would enlighten and inspire me (as a non-expert music lover) much more. Does anyone know if he did something similar in the earlier Beeb Beethovenfest and if so where I can find it?

Thanks for a very balanced review that addresses the issues I think fairly. I haven't yet seen the film but you highlight all my concerns about this ficticious production - I simply would find the character Anna unbearable!

I think any film on Beethoven should span his entire life to do him justice and that surely is the point - it should also be as factual as possible. All the elements for a great drama are already there in Beethoven's real life story and I think the failure of both Immortal beloved and Copying to enter the mainstream and capture the imagination as Amadeus did proves the point.

Hopefully one day such a film will be made - are you reading this Mr.Spielberg?

[Michael]

Excellent review, JA, and I agree with you on most things except for the fact that I thoroughly enjoyed it. What saved it for me was Ed Harris (when he wasn't moonlighting), the cinematography and much of the script.
I may be wrong but the more positive reviews seem to come from people who have seen it on DVD, as I have. Maybe it doesn’t work too well on the big screen?
I really do not think a satisfactory film will ever be made about Beethoven, especially the later part of his life. The problem is: how do you follow the Ninth Symphony – cinematically speaking? That is the major problem with this movie; it tails off into anticlimax after the concert scene. The premiere of the Ninth really should have come last but an honest attempt was made to show that B went on to even greater things. Unfortunately, the string quartet is not the most visually exciting of the arts and the film makers had to resort to the Grosse Fuge debacle to make interesting cinema.
You mentioned Charles Hazelwood and masterclasses. He didn’t do one on the late quartets but he did present a three-part drama documentary on B in 2005 and, as I may have mentioned before, this really worked. Each episode was an hour long and the last one did succeed in conveying the sublimity of late Beethoven, containing surreal excerpts from the Missa Solemnis and the Grosse Fuge and the central performance by Paul Rhys is my
favourite impersonation of the composer.
By the way, getting back to “CB”, a few people have remarked on Anna’s jarring American accent but surely the actress who plays her is German or at least European?
I find that it is Ed Harris who occasionally emits a twang.

[JA Gardiner]

Thanks for the info about Hazlewood (and sorry i got his name wrong!) I shall certainly try to find those as I thought both his documentaries and the masterclasses on Tchaikovsky were outstanding.

[Maurice Colgan]

The great plus for me about CB is the general public will hear Beethoven's beautiful music.

Would WE ever be satisfied with a movie about the great composer? The more than 6 hour Russian version of "War and Peace" hardly did the famous book justice! (Yes I did finish the novel :-)

I enjoyed the DVD version of CB suspending my disbelief. Ed Harris did VERY well and surprised many. Maybe our numbers will grow after the movie opens in Europe?

http://irelandtoo.blogspot.com

[Hollywood]

By the way, getting back to “CB”, a few people have remarked on Anna’s jarring American accent but surely the actress who plays her is German or at least European?

I admit that I am one of those who had remarked on Diane Kruger's "American accent". She was born in Germany but through her education in art lead her to be able to speak perfect English and French, along with her native german. She has lived in London and Paris so it's ashame that when she learned english she didn't pick up a posh British accent instead of that American accent she spoke with in C.B. It would have been better, in MHO, if she spoke with her native german accent instead. Oh well, can't do anything about that now...

[susanwen]

I thought it was a beautiful movie, and I enjoyed it very much. After seeing it three times, I bought the DVD when it came available.

[Joy]

Seeing a screening of the movie was a thrill and I now have the DVD which is wonderful as well. To top it all off I just received a personally signed movie poster from Ed Harris himself with a lovely sentiment attached to it and "much love". Just a wonderful and special momento which I will treasure!

[Maurice Colgan]

Well done joy! That is a neat little treasure to have.

I have grown to like Ed Harris over the years. He obviously put a lot of effort into his fine portrayal of Beethoven.

[terry]

Excuse the rude comment here ... much as I hate to burst this bubble, the CB movie is so cliche ridden that it really has nothing to offer and, in reality, passes off as nothing more than a chick flick.

Otherwise this particular fictional rendition of Beethoven would have taken the film world by storm.

Your slang is difficult to understand for a no-speaking native English,and there are some here; please what does "chick flick" mean? As this topic interests me a lot, I find it a bit tedious to open my dictionary which is not very updated. Thank you