Immortal Beloved | |
---|---|
Directed by | Bernard Rose |
Written by | Bernard Rose |
Produced by | Stephen McEveety Bruce Davey |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Peter Suschitzky |
Edited by | Dan Rae |
Production companies | |
Distributed by | Entertainment Film Distributors (United Kingdom) [1] Majestic Films International (International; via Icon Productions) Sony Pictures Releasing (Select territories) [2] |
Release date |
|
Running time | 121 minutes |
Countries | United Kingdom United States |
Languages | English Hungarian |
Box office | $9.9 million [2] |
Immortal Beloved is a 1994 biographical film written and directed by Bernard Rose and starring Gary Oldman, Jeroen Krabbé, Isabella Rossellini and Johanna ter Steege. The film narrates the life of composer Ludwig van Beethoven (played by Oldman) in flashbacks while it follows Beethoven's secretary and first biographer Anton Schindler's (Krabbé) quest to ascertain the true identity of the Unsterbliche Geliebte (Immortal Beloved) addressed in three letters found in the late composer's private papers. Schindler journeys throughout the Austrian Empire interviewing women who might be potential candidates, as well as through Beethoven's own tumultuous life.
When Ludwig van Beethoven dies, his assistant and close friend Schindler deals with his last will and testament. It reads that his estate, music and affairs will be left to his "immortal beloved," but there remains a question as to who is Beethoven's "immortal beloved," an unnamed woman mentioned in one of his letters. Schindler embarks on a quest to find out and meets the women whom he had known played a part in Ludwig's life.
Schindler first meets with Giulietta Giucciardi, who had been a piano student of Beethoven's when she was a young, unmarried woman and had fallen in love with him. In flashback, we see that – despite Giulietta's father's disapproval – she intends to marry Beethoven, who has proposed to her. She attempts to gain her father's consent by proving that, despite rumors to the contrary, Beethoven can still play music, and hides with her father while the composer plays their new pianoforte, believing he is alone. When he discovers Giulietta and her father, he is furious, feeling betrayed. He cuts ties with her and storms out. She calls after him to apologize, and only then realizes that Beethoven is deaf.
Schindler next meets Anna-Marie Erdödy, who took Beethoven in after becoming outraged with the audience mocking him at a poor performance, as the composer, now completely deaf, had become unable to properly conduct the orchestra. Anna-Marie's young son is killed during Napoleon's attack on Vienna and Beethoven comforts her in her grief, leading to a love affair, but she denies being his "immortal beloved."
Schindler's investigation brings him back to Beethoven's own family, recounting his disapproval of his brother marrying Johanna Reiss, the daughter of Anton Van Reiss, a prosperous Viennese upholsterer, even attempting to have her arrested at one point. After his brother's death, Beethoven is able to seize custody of his nephew Karl. Even though the boy is indifferent to music, his uncle becomes obsessed with making him a composer, neglecting his own career, which suffers.
Karl grows into a teenager, having spent hours daily practicing the piano. Beethoven is convinced that Karl will be a great success as a composer, but Karl knows he has no talent and, pushed to his breaking point by his uncle, attempts suicide. He survives but tells Beethoven he never wants to see him again.
Schindler discovers that Beethoven's great love was Johanna, and that Karl, conceived before her marriage, is actually his son, not his nephew. They had intended to elope, but Beethoven was delayed and wrote the "immortal beloved" letter to Johanna to let her know. However, Johanna never received it and, believing Beethoven had abandoned her, left and married his brother instead. Both feeling betrayed, their love grew to hate. Johanna tells Schindler that when she saw the performance of his ninth symphony, she was moved to forgive him and ultimately made peace with him on his deathbed, where he gave her a signed letter, giving her custody over Karl.
Schindler gives Johanna the letter to the "Immortal Beloved" in which she finally reads what happened that night they were supposed to meet. Shocked to find out how an unfortunate event and misunderstanding has kept them apart, she visits Beethoven's grave.
After Beethoven's death in 1827, a three-part letter was found among his private papers addressed to a woman whom he called "immortal beloved". Written in the summer of 1812 from the spa town of Teplice, the letter has generated a great deal of speculation and debate among scholars and writers as to her identity. Among the candidates, then and now, are Giulietta Guicciardi, Thérèse von Brunsvik, Josephine Brunsvik, Antonie Brentano, and Anna-Marie Erdödy, some of whom are portrayed in the film.
The film's writer and director, Bernard Rose, though not a historian, claimed that he had successfully identified the addressed woman as Beethoven's sister-in-law Johanna (Reiss) van Beethoven, a claim no scholar on Beethoven has endorsed. The film also implies that Karl, Beethoven's nephew, was in reality the couple's son. Biographer Gail S. Altman disputed Rose's claim in a book [3] devoted specifically to the question of the woman's identity and Beethoven's relationships in general. [4]
(in order of appearance)
Reviews for Immortal Beloved were mixed. On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 57% based on 56 reviews, with an average rating of 6.2/10. The site's consensus states: "A contrived romantic mystery and ponderous pacing make Immortal Beloved a not-so-joyful ode to Ludwig van Beethoven, despite Gary Oldman's best efforts to inject some passion into proceedings." [5] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade A− on scale of A to F. [6]
Emanuel Levy gave the film a "C" rating, calling it a "speculative chronicle" that lacks the "vibrant energy and charm" of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart biopic Amadeus (1984). He praised the "wonderfully recorded and inventively used" Beethoven compositions as well as the casting of Oldman, who he felt was "the perfect actor to portray the arrogant, irascible musician". [7] Roger Ebert was highly complimentary of the film. He gave it 3½ stars out of four, stating in his review: "Immortal Beloved has clearly been made by people who feel Beethoven directly in their hearts". He asserted that Oldman "at first seems an unlikely choice...then we see that he is right". [8] Janet Maslin also offered a positive review, stating: "thanks to its hugely effective use of Beethoven's most thrilling, tumultuous music, this film exerts much the same hypnotic power". She praised the performance of Oldman, writing that "he captures Beethoven as a believably brilliant figure struggling with his deafness and other demons". [9]
MSN Movies, in a 2011 publication, wrote: "Oldman's performance is unimpeachable. He dives deep into the role with powerful passion and makes the audience feel the pain of the genius as he loses his hearing and fails to shape his nephew into a similarly talented musician. In the year of '[Forrest] Gump', Oldman was overlooked for a well-deserved Oscar nomination." [10] Also that year Josh Winning of Total Film named Oldman's portrayal of Beethoven as one of the five best performances of his career, saying: "Immersing himself fully into the role of the German composer, Oldman is here damn near unrecognisable. The fact that he remains silent for the first 20 minutes of the film while simultaneously emoting for England is a small triumph in itself." [11]
The movie debuted strongly [12] and was a modest success, generating $9,914,409 in a domestic-only release. [2]
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire and span the transition from the Classical period to the Romantic era in classical music. His early period, during which he forged his craft, is typically considered to have lasted until 1802. From 1802 to around 1812, his middle period showed an individual development from the styles of Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and is sometimes characterized as heroic. During this time, Beethoven began to grow increasingly deaf. In his late period, from 1812 to 1827, he extended his innovations in musical form and expression.
The Andante favori is a work for piano solo by Ludwig van Beethoven. In catalogues of Beethoven's works, it is designated as WoO 57.
Beethoven's Last Night is a rock opera by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, released in 2000. The album tells the fictional story of Ludwig van Beethoven on the last night of his life, as the devil, Mephistopheles, comes to collect his soul. With the help of Fate and her son Twist, Beethoven unwittingly tricks the devil and is allowed to keep his soul which he had thought lost, but that the devil had no claim on. The opera features many classical crossover rock songs which are clearly based on melodies from classical music, particularly Beethoven's works. It is the first Trans-Siberian Orchestra album that does not feature Christmas themes. The original cover art was created by Edgar Jerins, and re-issued cover art was created by Greg Hildebrandt.
Anton Felix Schindler was an Austrian law clerk and associate, secretary, and early biographer of Ludwig van Beethoven.
The Immortal Beloved is the addressee of a love letter which composer Ludwig van Beethoven wrote on 6 or 7 July 1812 in Teplitz. The unsent letter is written in pencil on 10 small pages. It was found in the composer's estate following his death and is now in the Berlin State Library.
Countess Therese (von) Brunsvik, sometimes referred to in English as Therese, Countess von Brunsvik or Brunswick, was a member of the Hungarian nobility, pedagoge and a follower of the Swiss Pestalozzi.
Gail S. Altman is an educator, biographer, and Beethoven scholar notable for her published studies of two of the more disputed aspects of the life of composer Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827).
Ida Marie Lipsius, alias La Mara, was a German writer and music historian.
Johanna van Beethoven was the sister-in-law of the composer Ludwig van Beethoven. She is remembered for the bitter custody battle between herself and the composer over her son Karl, one of the ugliest and most traumatic episodes in the composer's life.
Kaspar Anton Karl van Beethoven was a brother of the composer Ludwig van Beethoven.
Eroica is a 1949 Austrian film depicting composer Ludwig van Beethoven's life and work. The film is directed by Walter Kolm-Veltée, produced by Guido Bagier with Walter Kolm-Veltée and written by Walter Kolm-Veltée with Franz Tassié. It was entered into the 1949 Cannes Film Festival.
Karl van Beethoven was the only son born to Kaspar Anton Karl van Beethoven and Johanna van Beethoven and the sole nephew of composer Ludwig van Beethoven. He is mainly remembered for being the center of a bitter custody battle between his mother and famous uncle after his father's death.
Antonie Brentano, born Johanna Antonie Josefa Edle von Birkenstock and known as Toni, was an Austrian philanthropist, art collector, arts patron, and a close friend of famous German composer Ludwig Van Beethoven, being the dedicatee of his "Diabelli" variations.
Josephine Brunsvik or Countess Jozefina Brunszvik de Korompa, Countess Josephine Deym, was probably the most important woman in the life of Ludwig van Beethoven, as documented by at least 15 love letters he wrote her where he called her his "only beloved", being "eternally devoted" to her and "forever faithful”. Several musicologists consider her to be the most likely recipient of the mysterious "Letter to the Immortal Beloved".
Julie "Giulietta" Guicciardi was an Austrian countess and briefly a piano student of Ludwig van Beethoven. He dedicated to her his Piano Sonata No. 14, later known as the Moonlight Sonata.
Dorothea von Ertmann was a German pianist.
Karl Holz was an Austrian violinist. He played second violin in Ignaz Schuppanzigh's string quartet and served as secretary to Ludwig van Beethoven during the last few years of the composer's life. He was also close with Franz Schubert.
The composer Ludwig van Beethoven has been the subject of a number of biographical films.
Countess Anna Maria (Marie) von Erdődy was a Hungarian noblewoman and among the closest confidantes and friends of Ludwig van Beethoven. Dedicatee of four of the composer's late chamber works, she was instrumental in securing Beethoven an annuity from members of the Austrian high nobility.
Baron Ignaz von Gleichenstein was a German aristocrat and amateur cellist. He became a close friend of Ludwig van Beethoven, as well as being one of his most ardent supporters. Alongside Countess Marie Erdödy, Gleichenstein played a role in securing Beethoven a lifetime annuity from members of the Austrian high nobility.