Immortal Beloved Review
by Lewis Butler (kreme AT netcom DOT com)January 16th, 1995
IMMORTAL BELOVED
A film review by Lewis Butler
Copyright 1995 Lewis Butler
The movie IMMORTAL BELOVED makes several fatal errors, chief of which is playing fast and loose with historical accuracy. How fast and loose? About the only things they got right were that Beethoven wrote the 9th Symphony and that he died.
It is frustrating to watch this movie if you know anything at all about Beethoven, and the more you know, the worse it gets.
Firstly, Beethoven was *not* a ladies man, in fact he was rather unlucky with women in general, and was often rejected by them. Because of this, he tended to form attachments to women who were unreachable (already married). In short, he was not Amadeus Mozart, as the first half of this film would paint him. He has been linked romantically to a few women, among them Guilietta Guiucciardi and Teresa von Brunswick. No one has ever seriously suggested a romantic link between Beethoven and the person the movie portrays as the "Immortal Beloved." As a matter of fact, a man named Maynard Soloman has effectively ended the debate with his research linking Beethoven and the wife of a good friend, Antonie Brentano.
Secondly, Beethoven was quite old when he lost his hearing, in his late 40's, and it wasn't until 1814, I believe, that he stopped playing. The implications in the movie are that Beethoven had stopped performing by the time he wrote the Eroica (Symphony #3). He did remark on his hearing loss in the "Heiligenstadt Testament" written in 1802. By 1818 Beethoven was unable to hear people in normal
conversation.
Thirdly, Beethoven's deafness was in no way a secret. He was examined by many medical professionals of the day, and he used an earhorn.
Fourthly, although it is true that Ludwig and his nephew Karl had a rather stormy relationship, it is not true in the way it was depicted in the film. Yes, Karl did attempt suicide, but he did not leave his uncle until he had finished helping with the metronome markings for the Ninth Symphony, and when he left it was with his uncle's permission (albeit reluctant) to join the army.
In short, the makers of this film wanted to recapture the essence of AMADEUS, and in doing so they abandoned the truth. Beethoven died in 1827, and he was well-know, popular, and acknowledged as a great artist. There are over 100 "Conversation Books" surviving to the present day, and thousands of pages of musical notes. In short, Beethoven's life is not a mystery, we know as much about him as about Thomas Jefferson or Benjamin Franklin.
Even with all the historical inaccuracies discarded, the movie still fails. Though the performances are good (especially Isabella Rossellini) the movie fails to to capture the viewers interest. I found myself closing my eyes at times and just listening to the music, knowing there was nothing interesting to see on the screen. The basic plot is not only laughable, but predictable. That is, we know the woman in black never saw the letter.) And on top of that, the movie switches time frames in a helter-skelter manner that leaves the viewer struggling to reorient. In short, a poorly scripted and edited movie.
In spite of all its flaws, there is some nice art direction and cinematography work, and the music is wonderfully performed by the London Symphony Orchestra.
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