Immortal Beloved (1994) – the spiritual and the sensual:

Immortal Beloved (1994)

Music is the mediator between the spiritual and the sensual life.

– Ludwig van Beethoven.

 
This was an easy movie for me to love, because I’ve always loved Beethoven’s music.
I first heard Moonlight Sonata when I was a young kid and couldn’t get it out of my head.

As I heard more, I quickly became a fan.

In Immortal Beloved (1994), Ludwig van Beethoven wrote a last will and testament, leaving everything to his “Immortal Beloved”, but doesn’t name her specifically in the letter.
The identity of Beethoven’s true love and heir is still speculated to this day.

Immortal Beloved, directed and written by Bernard Rose, offers a possible theory as to how it might have been.

The movie opens with Beethoven (Gary Oldman), at the moment of his death.

Lightning flashes illuminate his face and coincide with the powerful opening of Beethoven’s majestic Fifth Symphony, booming on the soundtrack.

The opening credits and music rise as Beethoven’s coffin is carried out of his home and through crowded streets.

Anton Schindler (Jeroen Krabbé), Beethoven’s – at times – long-suffering secretary and biographer, reads his eulogy at the graveside:

Anton Schindler:

Ludwig van Beethoven, the man who inherited and increased the immortal fame of Handel and Bach, of Haydn and Mozart, is now no more.
He was an artist, and who will stand beside him?
He was an artist, and what he was, he was only through music.
The thorns of life had wounded him deeply, so he held fast to his art, even when the gate through which it entered was shut.
Music spoke through a deafened ear to he who could no longer hear it.
He carried the music in his heart.
Because he shut himself off from the world, they called him hostile.
They said he was unfeeling, and called him callous.
But he was not hard of heart.
It is the finest blades that are most easily blunted, bent or broken.
He withdrew from his fellow man after he had given them everything, and had received nothing in return.
He lived alone, because he found no second self.
Thus he was, thus he died.
Thus he will live for all time.

While fending off aggressive money-grubbers, grasping for the inheritance, Schindler travels through Austria.

His personal mission is to seek out the women involved with Beethoven, discover the identity of the rightful recipient, and deliver the letter to her.
During his quest, he meets and interviews Giulietta Guicciardi (Valeria Golino), Anna-Marie Erdödy (Isabella Rossellini), Johanna Reiss (Johanna ter Steege) and Nanette Streicherova (Miriam Margolyes), the owner of a hotel where Beethoven stayed and trashed the room.

We learn about Beethoven’s childhood at the hands of his brutish father.

His progressive deafness.

Failing health.

Reclusiveness.

His failed attempt to mentor his nephew, Karl (Marco Hofschneider), possibly wishing to vicariously experience success again.

The supporting cast includes:
Gerard Horan, Christopher Fulford, Michael Culkin, Barry Humphries, Alexandra Pigg, Geno Lechner, and Claudia Solti.

Immortal Beloved was released on December 16, 1994,

coinciding with Ludwig van Beethoven’s birthday: December 16, 1770.

Gary Oldman’s performance, as Beethoven, is intense and faultless.

Oldman is a talented character actor, possessing a chameleon ability to transform himself, physically and psychologically, into any role he portrays.

He becomes the part.

I watch Oldman in this movie, and I feel like I’m watching the real Beethoven.

There are many unforgettable scenes: Beethoven resting his head on the piano, as he plays Moonlight Sonata … the Ode to Joy debut … the young Beethoven, floating in the shallows of the lake, the night sky reflected in the water, giving the illusion that he is suspended in the universe.

Since its release, Immortal Beloved has been compared with Amadeus (1984), directed by Miloš Forman, another fictionalized drama about Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

I also enjoyed Amadeus.

However, I can’t compare it to Immortal Beloved.

These are two separate movies, about different composers, made by different directors.

No matter whether the events depicted are historically accurate, or not, Immortal Beloved is the perfect merging of several genres: romance, love story, biopic, mystery, drama, tragedy.

The one question I was left with, a question that negates the theory of this movie, was why Beethoven didn’t go after Johanna Reiss after he arrived at the hotel and discovered she had left.

Beethoven could have followed her, even after venting and trashing the room.

That out of his system, he could have simply followed Johanna back to her home, caught up with her, and explained what happened during his journey and the reason for his late arrival.

The circumstances were out of Beethoven’s control.

I’m sure Johanna would have understood.

The mystery remains unsolved, but the movie is still a beautifully filmed drama from Mel Gibson's Icon production company.

An engaging, enthralling, and moving experience, with flawless performances throughout, and superb cinematography.

Like Ridley Scott’s The Duellists (1977), another true story of the Napoleonic era, the attention to period detail and costume design takes the viewer back in time to Beethoven’s world.

On a trivia note, Beethoven’s music is also a major theme of A Clockwork Orange (1971), directed by Stanley Kubrick, based on the novel by Anthony Burgess.

The Thieving Magpie, by Gioachino Rossini, is also on the soundtrack.

Beethoven’s Ode to Joy is also covered on the soundtrack to Die Hard (1988), directed by John McTiernan.

Beethoven’s music can also be heard in: A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965), The Breakfast Club (1985), Dead Poets Society (1989), Mr. Holland’s Opus (1995), and The King’s Speech (2010), and A Ghost Story (2017).

Ludwig van Beethoven was a genius.
An artist, driven to create by composing and expressing himself through music.
His brilliance is reflected in his work.
Work that has endured over centuries.
In the majestic music he gave to the world.

Created as he battled with his own flaws, inner demons, physical disability, and worsening health.

Finally, if the theory presented in this movie is accurate, Immortal Beloved is the story of love lost and rediscovered, even though too late for those involved.

As Dylan Thomas wrote:

Though lovers be lost, love shall not;
and death shall have no dominion.

Ludwig van Beethoven

December 16, 1770 – March 26, 1827

On this day in movie history - Star Trek: Generations (1994):

Star Trek: Generations

directed by David Carson,

written by Ronald D. Moore and Brannon Braga,

was released in the United States on November 18, 1994.
Music by Dennis McCarthy.

Cast:

Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, Brent Spiner, LeVar Burton, Michael Dorn, Gates McFadden, Marina Sirtis, Malcolm McDowell, James Doohan, Walter Koenig, William Shatner, Alan Ruck, Jacqueline Kim, Jenette Goldstein, Thomas Kopache, Glenn Morshower, Tim Russ, Tommy Hinkley, John Putch, Christine Jansen, Michael Mack, Dendrie Taylor, Patti Yasutake, Granville Ames, Henry Marshall, Brittany Parkyn, Majel Barrett, Barbara March, Gwynyth Walsh, Rif Hutton, Brian Thompson, Marcy Goldman, Jim Krestalude, Judy Levitt, Kristopher Logan, Gwen Van Dam, Kim Braden, Christopher James Miller, Matthew Collins, Mimi Collins, Thomas Dekker, Madison Eginton, Olivia Hack, Sam Alejan, David Keith Anderson, Lena Banks, Scott Barry, Rina Bennett, Pam Blackwell, Cameron, Tracee Cocco, Debbie David, Andrew DePalma, Steve Diamond, Michael Echols, Tarik Ergin, Gunnel Eriksson, Whoopi Goldberg, Star Halm, Adolphus Hankins, Grace Harrell, Kerry Hoyt, Gary Hunter, Randy James, Dale Kasman, Stewart Lew, Lorine Mendell, Karlotta Nelson, Jerry L. Quinn, Keith Rayve, Raul Reformina, Lynn Salvatori, Richard Sarstedt, Penny Smartt-Juday, Patricia Tallman, John Alex Tampoya, Dennis Tracy, Guy Vardaman, D. Danny Warhol.

On this day in movie history - The Last Seduction (1994):

The Last Seduction

directed by John Dahl,

written by Steve Barancik,

was released in the United States on October 26, 1994.
Music by Joseph Vitarelli.

Cast:

Linda Fiorentino, Bill Pullman, Michael Raysses, Zack Phifer, Peter Berg, Brien Varady, Dean Norris, Donna W. Scott, Mik Scriba, J.T. Walsh, Erik-Anders Nilsson, Patricia R. Caprio, Herb Mitchell, Bill Nunn, Renee Rogers, Billy Stevenson, Walter Addison, Anne Flanagan, Mike Lisenco, Serena, Michelle Davison, Jack Shearer.

Recommended reading - A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes: My Story, by Annette Funicello, with Patricia Romanowski (1994):

A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes: My Story

By Annette Funicello, with Patricia Romanowski.

Published 1994.

Published by Hyperion.

ISBN-10: 0786860200

ISBN-13: 978-0786860203

Description:

When on a spring evening in 1955 Walt Disney saw a pretty, talented twelve-year-old performing in her dance school's annual recital, he knew he'd found just what he'd been looking for: the twenty-fourth and last member of the cast of the new children's TV series he was planning. Only a few months later Annette Funicello set a pair of black felt ears atop her brown curls and marched onto the set of The Mickey Mouse Club, and into the hearts of millions of Americans. From then on, nothing would ever be the same.

Whether as a Mouseketeer, as a Top-Forty singing idol, as the reigning sweetheart of the classic Beach Party films, or as the familiar "Skippy Mom" of TV commercials, Annette (who almost instantly became known by her first name alone) has been a beloved star for nearly four decades. In her charming autobiography, A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes, the wholesomely sexy (and eternally youthful) girl next door looks back with equal parts of wit, wistfulness, and wonder on her remarkable career, and gives us a privileged look behind the scenes at some of the most cherished landmarks of our popular culture.

As the shy only daughter of a close-knit Italian family, Annette was unprepared for the phenomenon The Mickey Mouse Club would prove to be, and in these pages we learn not only about the thrill of appearing on the show but also about the pleasures and challenges her own status of favorite Mouseketeer brought. It was through Walt Disney's encouragement that she later undertook her successful recording career, and in her account of her years as a teen idol we learn what it was like being the youngest member of Dick Clark's arduous Caravan of Stars tour, as well as the difficulties her popularity placed in the path of her first romance with Paul Anka (who presented her with the sublime gift of "Put Your Head on My Shoulder," which he wrote in her parents' living room). Next came the movies, and a series of beloved Disney films (including her own and her fans' favorite, Babes in Toyland), until, with Mr. Disney's blessing, she headed for the beach and a role in the epochal Beach Party. Even though, as Annette confesses, she never really liked the beach (it frizzed her hair), she was delighted to be enthroned with her friend Frankie Avalon as one of the great cinema couples.

At the peak of her career Annette chose marriage and motherhood, and for over twenty years appeared only occasionally in films and TV shows. By the late 1980s, however, she was eager to perform again, and along with Frankie made a new beach film, Back to the Beach, and launched a triumphal comeback tour. It was during this period, after she experienced a series of puzzling symptoms, that she discovered she had multiple sclerosis. Her subsequent struggles with her condition, and her ultimate decision to make it public, bring A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes to a poignant and inspiring conclusion that will draw her even closer to the millions of fans who, from the start, have dreamed along with her.

On this day in movie history - Clerks (1994):

Clerks

directed and written by Kevin Smith,

was released in the United States on October 19, 1994.

“You know, there’s a million fine-looking women in the world, dude, but they don’t all bring you lasagna at work.

Most of ‘em just cheat on you.”

– Kevin Smith, as Silent Bob, speaking his only dialogue in the movie.

Cast:

Brian O'Halloran, Jeff Anderson, Marilyn Ghigliotti, Lisa Spoonauer, Jason Mewes, Kevin Smith, Scott Mosier, Scott Schiaffo, Al Berkowitz, Walt Flanagan, Ed Hapstak, Pattijean Csik, Ken Clark, Ernest O'Donnell, Kimberly Loughran, Gary Stern, John Henry Westhead, Betsy Broussard, Grace Smith, Frances Cresci, Donna Jeanne, Virginia Smith, Leslie Hope, Connie O'Connor.