Copying Beethoven
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Movie Reviews of Copying Beethoven
Movie Review: "Now music changes forever": The story of Anna and Beethoven's 9th Symphony
Summary: 4 Stars
In October of 1955, Charles Schulz did a series of "Peanuts" strips dealing with Schroeder and Beethoven's 9th Symphony. Schroeder listens to it in an overcoat because the first movement was so beautiful it gave him chills. The October 27th strip has Charlie Brown reading to Schroeder how: "At the conclusion of the symphony the audience stood up and cheered. Beethoven, however, because of his deafness could not hear them, and because his back was to the audience could not see them. With Tears in her eyes one of the singers led Beethoven to the edge of the stage where he could see the cheering people." At this point Schroeder buries his face in his hands and emits a heartbroken "SOB."
There are many stories about that first performance, and while no one knows for sure what has the most credence is that Beethoven wanted to conduct his work, but his deafness made it impossible, so Michael Umlauf, the Kapellmeister of the Kärntnertortheater in Vienna conducted the orchestera. Beethoven was behind him on the stage, giving the tempos at the beginning of each movement and beating the time. The orchestra had been instructed to ignore the composer and when the symphony was over Beethoven was still beating time and turning pages of the score. That was when the contralto Caroline Unger walked over and turned Beethoven around to see the cheering audience, who were raising their hands and throwing things into the air to make up for the fact the man they were cheering could not hear their ovation.
"Copying Beethoven" looks at the last years of the life of Ludwig van Beethoven (Ed Harris) and writers Stephen J. Rivele and Christopher Wilkinson, who did the screenplays for the biopics of "Ali" and "Nixon" (and are currently working on a film about Jackie Robinson), create the fictional character of Anna Holtz (Diane Kruger), a young woman who is sent to the apartment of the maestro to turn his original pages for the score of the 9th Symphony into something that can actually be read and printed for the orchestra. At the premier performance of the work the composer will indeed conduct the work himself, but with Anna working as his ears to give him the proper tempos, and it will be Anna who will turn Beethoven around so that he can see the applause.
What will surprise you is that this film's interpretation of this memorable moment comes not at the end of "Copying Beethoven," but about an hour into this 2006 film. It is the highpoint of the film and then the story continues for another half hour, with decidedly less impressive results. My favorite scene actually comes early in the film, when Anna is trying to explain that she is indeed the copyist who has been sent to turn his original pages for the score of the 9th Symphony into something that can actually be read and printed for the orchestra. It is in its own small wall the counterpart to the scene at the end of "Amadeus" when Mozart is explaining to Saliari how the pieces of "De Profundus" fit together in his "Mass." Beethoven finds an "error," and in her explanation we have our proof that Anna knows what she is doing and a glimpse into the technical nature of Beethoven's genius. But far too often director Agnieszka Holland ("Europa Europa") focuses on Anna instead of the maestro.
Ultimately, "Copying Beethoven" is too caught up in the character of Anna. What could have been a nice conceit, giving the maestro someone to talk to about living with deafness and to articulate what he was doing to change the world of music, is turned into a proto-feminist figure who wants to make her own mark as a composer. As he turned deaf Beethoven started keeping conversation diaries, a rich source of the composer's thoughts regarding his music, so there are original source material to be mined for gems similar to what we get a glimpse of early in the film. Instead, we waste time on Anna's struggle to write music, a plotline that really has no where to go and which ends up being enveloped in the idea that the Beethoven's last works so radical and so far ahead of their time that they could not be comprehended by the audiences of the Romantic Ear.
I have to say that the actual performance of the 9th is far too short for my taste and the emphasis becomes not so much the music as it is the place where it takes both Beethoven and Anna (ironically, while he is conducting without ears as it were, she keeps closing her eyes as she becomes enraptured). There is a problem in that the way the situation is set up you are inclined to think that they are skating on the edge of disaster and that either one of them could make a horrible mistake. This tends to take away from the music and at least there are a few shots of members of the audience moved by the realization that this deaf old man, who had not premiered a symphony for a dozen years, was unleashing a work of monumental greatness.
"Copying Beethoven" also suffers in comparison to "Immortal Beloved", the 1994 film about the composer that had the virtue of framing Beethoven's life in the quest to uncover the mystery woman in his life. But watching Harris play Beethoven conducting his symphony is pretty captivating and throughout this movie there is always Beethoven's music, so there is ample grounds to round up on this film. Finally, if the main effect of this film is that you go out and listen to the 9th Symphony from start to finish, which is exactly what I did, then you would be ahead of the game.
Movie Review: Excellent portrait of Beethoven by Harris
Summary: 4 Stars
The best thing going for this movie is Ed Harris' electrifying performance as Beethoven. He captures Beethoven's musical genius and his dark side, as a rude and crude man.
Other reviewers have done an excellent job of describing the story. What I want to comment on is the masterful job done by the screenwriters and the performers of capturing the compositional genius of Beethoven.
What I really liked about the movie:
1) The scenes of Beethoven composing his music
The transformation of Beethoven's egomania to one of thanksgiving: Initially, Beethoven was mad at God for giving him a musical gift and then making him deaf. He would purposedly make statements about God that border on blasphemy. Those statements showed his frustration at God for allowing him to become deaf so he could no longer listen to his compositions but had to rely on a earpiece or on vibrations. Later on, as the film progresses, Beethoven discovers how God speaks to him through music and he makes his peace with God through composing a hymn of thanksgiving towards the end of his life. His dialogue to Anna about how he can sense the voice of God through music were very moving.
The scenes of Beethoven composing are the most memorable scenes in this movie for me -- he clearly has the great gift of being able to piece together all the musical forms in his head. These scenes reminded me of "Amadeus" when Mozart was able to see how all the different parts of different instruments come together in his symphonic compositions.
Through these scenes we get to see how God chose to deposit his musical gifts in a very common and ordinary man who is full of shortcomings and weaknesses.
2) Ed Harris does a great job of capturing the divergent natures of Beethoven -- on one hand he is a musical genius, but on the other hand, he is quite a brute of a man. On one hand, he could be gentle and tender, but on the other, he could suddenly become "The BEAST" -- be extremely cruel and harsh in his ridicule and mockery. While Beethoven is busy composing a new musical work, he could also be pouring water on his disheveled hair and drive his neighbors crazy with his utter disregard for their well-being as he ruins their dinner times.
3) The wonderful music in the film: Not only do we get to hear the wonderful movements of the 9th Symphony, but we get to hear excerpts of the String Quartet and other works. The movie could have done without "Fur Elise" (which is overplayed to death) -- we could have had more of some of his sonatas and chamber works.
4) The wonderful featurette "Orchestrating Beethoven" which offered great interviews of the director, script writers, and cast members. It was very insightful. The featurette and deleted scenes are great.
What I didn't like about the movie:
1) The over-emphasis on the importance of Anna Holtz to Beethoven. Other reviewers have rightly criticized the movie as having too much of a feminist bent in this story of Beethoven. As the featurette in the Special Features explain, the story of Anna Holtz as the gifted female compositional student is a work of fiction -- Anna Holtz is an example of artistic license on the part of screenwriters; she is a composite of all the different assistants that helped Beethoven.
For dramatic effect and for creating a strong female character, the screenwriters created Anna Holtz to be the one assistant that comes to the aid of Beethoven in both his personal life and his compositional & musical efforts. As Diane Kruger portrays her, Anna is attractive, intelligent, gifted, and perceptive. She is everything that Schlemmer (Beethoven's aging male assistant) is not. She is able to discern the thoughts and feelings of Beethoven -- she is the perfect assistant to help complete and "correct" Beethoven's compositions. At the climactic close, she is perfectly in sync with Beethoven as he conducts the 9th Symphony. She is able to conduct just as Beethoven does. In fact they become "one" in their conducting.
Historical and musical purists may be infuriated at these scenes.
2) It is highly doubtful that Beethoven conducted the 9th symphony with the help of a female assistant giving him the rhythmic cues. Yet, this forms the climax of the movie.
All this aside, I felt that the movie was very worthwhile to watch. It was a very moving and inspirational portrait of Beethoven. In fact, I think it is the best portrayal of Beethoven for a feature film. It is a much better film on Beethoven than "Immortal Beloved" (which I think was very chaotic and unorganized).
If you're a classical music lover and a Beethoven fan, this movie is well-worth watching. I believe you'll be impressed by Harris' acting.
Movie Review: A Superb Beethoven Biography for the Laymen
Summary: 4 Stars
There are many things to be said in favor of director Agnieszka Holland's ('Europa, Europa', 'Total Eclipse', 'The Secret Garden', 'Olivier, Olivier') COPYING BEETHOVEN as written from fragments of questionable truths about the composer's final years by Stephen J. Rivele and Christopher Wilkinson: the film is gorgeous to look at for all its candlelit sepia scenes and of course a pleasure to hear as the musical score is primarily excerpts of Beethoven's music, and for the towering performance of Ed Harris as the deaf, dirty, cruel, grumpy, gross Ludwig van Beethoven. There have been sufficient biographies of the master to set the facts straight and this particular viewer has no problem at all with the tinkering of truth in creating a cinematic story that might help to explain the idiosyncrasies of the old master composers. It is a movie to enjoy: it is not a true story for all its attempts to recreate the life of the composer.
In COPYING BEETHOVEN the premise is that the 'hard of hearing' Beethoven needs a copyist to help him complete his Symphony No. 9 due to a premiere of the work in four days time. Wenzel Schlemmer (Ralph Riach), Beethoven's usual copyist, is dying of cancer and arranges for the best pupil at the academy to assist Beethoven. That pupil happens to be a female, one Anna Holtz (Diane Kruger), who arrives at Beethoven's filthy apartment and struggles to convince the composer that she is worthy of the task. Anna is in love with a bridge builder Martin Bauer (Matthew Goode) and finds herself devoting her mind and attention to Beethoven rather than to Martin. Beethoven has never married and instead is in love with his nephew Karl (Joe Anderson) who refuses to follow his uncle's footsteps and instead mistreats him by constantly begging/stealing money form him to pay his gambling debts. So with this cast of characters Beethoven proceeds to complete his now famous 9th Symphony with Anna's help. Beethoven is to conduct the premiere but must depend on Anna (substituting for the errant Karl) to sit in the orchestra and give him cues. The performance is of course greeted with rapture, but Beethoven knows his output is not finished and the remainder of the film deals with his struggle to write the Grosse Fugue for his final string quartet, a piece the public (including Anna) loathes but one that Beethoven recognizes as the bridge to the next advance in music writing. Reduced to self pity, Beethoven dies, but Anna is going to carry the torch for her hero...
The problems with watching COPYING BEETHOVEN that will make those who know the facts of the composer's life stumble are many: Beethoven was completely deaf in his latter years, unable to hear his music much less conversations with people; Beethoven did not conduct the premiere of his 9th Symphony but instead sat deafly in the orchestra not even able to hear the score at which he stared; the gentility with which Ed Harris' Beethoven shows is in sharp contrast to the rascally and despicable behavior of the real man. But those facts don't lend themselves to a good story for cinema and the writers and director were wise to realize this. So forgive the straying from the truth and settle back for a very entertaining if factually irresponsible 'biography'. The musical portions of the film are so truncated that the music suffers, but that matters little to the impression Beethoven's 9th, even in soundbites, has on audiences. If for no other reason, see this film for the bravura performance by Ed Harris. Grady Harp, April 07
Movie Review: True layman's primer...
Summary: 4 Stars
I took a chance and rented this movie only because I like Ed Harris performances. And Diane Kruger is always in more substantive roles than lightweights like Cameron Diaz or Kirsten Dunst. About Beethoven I knew just enough to know his 5th and 9th.
This was a very enjoyable movie, nothwithstanding some fans' desire for better historical accuracy. I found the pace just a bit uneven, and almost half an hour too long; the "climax" at the end of the 9th symphony should have brought a summarial ending more quickly, as the last 30 minutes' devotion to Beethoven's last work dragged in my opinion, because as one unfamiliar with his works, I had/have no appreciation for the 'Gross Fugue'; even some of the other reviews agree--its' inclusion brought no benefit, even among those familiar with the history.
I thought both performances of Harris and Kruger to be very good to excellent; it may be the best role Kruger has had of the three I've seen (Troy, National Treasure) and she wasn't lacking for acting ability. That the film was not focussed on Beethoven enough for some viewers wasn't a problem for me; the title implied to me that the main story line was about someone else, and Beethoven was the "backdrop". Still, I would agree that the film does focus on an albeit fictional portrayal of a character that even I doubted was a necessary medium for Beethoven's genius.
One review hit on a point that sums up the movie's 'validitiy' very well for me. It intrigued me enough to make me curious; and I ended up here, surfing for more information about the movie, the facts, and the recordings. The 9th is the *only* piece of music I have that I liked enough to have 3 versions of--von Karajan, Maazel, and my favorite, Solti. Mostly I was on a quest to find a better challenge for my stereo system. I dunno squat about the conductor's contribution and interpretation of classical performances, but for me, Solti opened better than the others(not that I've listened to a lot of versions of the 9th), and I've not heard an equal to Marty Talvela's baritone--"he belts it out from his shoes" doesn't begin to describe it--and without power, resonance, and depth, the individual vocals and choir in the 9th can kill a perfomance. This movie had me waiting to the credits to see what recording they used, and though it's *early* morning here, I gotta hear Solti after I get off the pc.
I'd rack that up as a "USDA prime" for this movie--it spurred the curiousity in me.
Movie Review: Capturing creativity
Summary: 4 Stars
If you watch this movie and know something about Beethoven's last years, you ask yourself, why would someone possibly want to alter reality in such a way. For many purists this fictionalization of Beethoven's character is very annoying. However, Agnieszka Holland found in this script by Stephen J. Rivele and Christopher Wilkinson a true inspiration to analyze these last fertile years. Anna Holz, the talented copyist that is sent to help the Maestro in the rush to issue the script for the first representation of the 9th Symphony, is actually a device utilized by the director to pose the questions that we would have asked if we had been there. She is the key to comprehension. Anna consents us to discover the significance of the change in key, the effect of a half note, the impact of deafness on composition of music, the value of the interval between the notes. Anna (played with great control and introspection by Diane Kruger) independently of her narrated life, her absent father, her nun aunt, her handsome and stolid fiancée actually is not a character, she does not live a life of her own outside her relationship with Beethoven and the feelings she inspires in the Maestro are purely intellectual. The dissimulated love story is naturally present and it probably reaches its apex right before the start of the choral during the representation of the 9th Symphony, but it is cold, mental, there is no physical passion whatsoever. There is a truly magic moment during which we see the faces of the female singers that are waiting for the cue to start singing.
Ed Harris' Beethoven has all the flare and the defects we imagine and know of the genius. His interpretation of brutality toward others and weakness towards his nephew is magistral, but he seems not to have a relationship with Anna. He sees her as an angel, a gift of God, a warning that death is near, an opportunity to think that his genius is understood and will live on. She is a sign of Fate or Destiny maybe?
As in all Holland's movies the cinematography is beautiful and reconstruction of period costumes is perfect. The use of candlelight, and ink, and food renders exactly the right atmosphere.
Once suspended disbelief, this intellectual reconstruction of Beethoven's creativity of the last years is fascinating and a pleasure to see and the temptation to believe its true is really there.