Music is the mediator between the
spiritual and the sensual life.
– Ludwig van Beethoven.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
and death shall have no dominion.
Ludwig van Beethoven
December 16, 1770 – March 26, 1827
