Spring Symphony
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Movie Reviews of Spring Symphony
Movie Review: Mid-19th century Europe, the life and times of Schumann the composer
Summary: 2 Stars
Frühlingssinfonie, is a mellow, lush in senses movie, with a Schumann
soundtrack, following the composer's footsteps at crucial moments in
his career.
The movie perhaps downplays Schumann's importance, by assigning him
to a secondary role, compared to the protagonist Clara Wieck, played
by Nastassja Kinski, aged 24 at the time, back in 1983 when his
picture was made.
This is a European, obviously state-funded production, of the
highest professional quality, as it was often the case back then, when
movie houses, television, technical professionals in the movie
industry had immense experience, skills, and education due to the
sponsorship they had from the governments, before the collapse of the
Cold War.
A questionable aspect of the movie, is the need to intertwine an
ephemeral part of the composer's life, which is his personal, sensual
relationship, (played by the actor Herbert Gronemeyer), with the
performer of his pieces, Clara.
The stronger aspects of this movie, is the excellence in its
representation of 19th century Europe, (horse and carriage,
panoramic views of the countryside, palaces, city neighborhoods in
Germany, Austria, for example, the way people dressed, carried
themselves, their outlook on life, the pressure of high density
cities to the inhabitants from early on, the privileges of the upper
classes in having time to learn to enjoy, and attend concertos, etc.
The charm of Kinski, which is mostly improvised as far as I can
tell, and not mechanical or rehearsed, obviously has something to say for
the promotion and acclaim this work received at the time. All
dialogue is in German. Rolf Hoppe, playing Wieck's father, does
a tremendous job, lending enormous credibility to the movie.
Movie Review: Robert Schumann: Part One Only
Summary: 2 Stars
I am a Schumannite - he is one of my 2 favorite composers and I was REALLY looking forward to this movie. However, the best thing I can say about the movie was that the sets, dress and pianos all seemed to be authentic. I am told that the movie is also accurate historically - the conversations, dialog and events are also accurate. Swell. Beyond that it was dismal. Boring. The acting was competent at best. The screen play was abysmal. And forget cinematography - there isn't any.The movie centers on the courtship between Robert and Clara but is almost totally lacking in convincing passion and there is nearly zero chemistry between the two alleged lovers. The viewer is left to wonder: why are these two going on like this? The only convincing portrayal is delivered by Herr Wieck - he is realistically unlikeable.Finally, Robert & Clara marry and then we should get to see how inspired Robert is. Historically speaking he churned out a ton of his best work in the first year of the marriage, but there is only one scene where Robert barks at Clara while composing. Then the movie ends! It's as if the production company ran out of money! Just one scene of the first performance of Symphony #1 and zero mention of any other symphony. We hear a few strains from the first movement of the piano concerto, but never a word mentioning if. Not a single scene that shows Robert's mental illness. And no mention of the asylum he is sent to or his death. I was utterly disappointed. Robert Schumann deserves a FAR better biopic than this.Movie Review: is the house big enough for 2 grand pianos?
Summary: 1 Stars
Writer director Alfred Hirschmeier's film about Clara Wieck and Robert Schumann offers a parallel between Schumann and Wieck's father, who are both seen to profit from their association with Clara, the child prodigy. When the climactic trial takes place with Clara and Schumann suing Wieck senior for consent for them to be married, one's sympathies are divided. It isn't just that Schumann, who looks a good 10 years older than Clara Wieck, is the more unlikeable since he is always blaming his inability to compose on his poor financial position, and his love of Clara doesn't stop him from regular infidelities. There's also the queasy incestuous behaviour between the Wiecks, actor Herbert Gronemeyer who plays Schumann's facial resemblance to Nastassja Kinski's (she plays Clara) real life father Klaus, and Schumann being a student of Mr Wieck so adopting a father/son relationship. History tells us of the outcome, but we also get the suggestion that Clara's marriage also means the subjugation of her identity to her husband's. We are told that she became the greatest exponent of Schumann's music, but this sounds like a compromise for someone who could have been the greatest pianist of all time. Hirschmeier's screenplay is full of corny melodrama such as "How will this all end?", "Just think how many great musicians have come before you", "If you want my life, it is yours for the asking", "I want to melt in your music", "I was struck by a moonbeam", and the inevitable classical music comparison spoken by Schumann - "Bach has the heaviness, Mozart the lightness, Beethoven the warmth, and Schubert the darkness. What do you have? The nothingness. I have the infinity of nothingness which is greater than all things together". There is also the odd use of "house arrest" described for what we now refer to as a child being grounded.
Hirschmeier provides a montage of posters for Clara's concerts, a cut from news of Schumann's inability to marry another female to Clara's performance triumph, a scene where the blind touch Kinski's hands, and a sound edit from orchestral musicians tapping to horses hooves of a moving carriage.
Although this biopic may spare us the Hollywood-ised cliches of composer biopics, where the music is an extension of the artist's life, the treatment here is perhaps too reverential. As Wieck senior, Rolf Hoppe gives someone that could have been played as a villian some nice touches, with Hoppe and Kinski being a more dynamic team than Kinski and Gronemeyer. There is one scene where Kinski sits in Hoppe's lap and we watch the perverse testing of where she will allow his hands to go, in spite of his own humiliation. Kinski captures the transformation of Clara from gawky teenager to emerging beauty, and whilst there is one shot where we see her hands and body playing the piano, otherwise there is no pretence made that she is performing Clara's pieces.
Movie Review: Clara Schumann bei mehr als
Summary: 1 Stars
Leck mich am Arsch! Clara Schumann bei mehr als 120 Millionen Menschen mit Deutsch als Muttersprache in 8 Ländern, überrascht es kaum, dass die tatsächliche Sprachverwendung variiert. Wie Englisch, ist Deutsch eine plurizentrische Sprache mit 3 nationalen Zentren der Sprachverwendung: Deutschland, Österreich und die Schweiz. Die sprachliche Schumann Situation in der Schweiz unterscheidet sich deutlich von der Situation in Deutschland und Österreich. 'Switzertütsch', die durchgängig verwendete Umgangssprache, wird auch von Deutschen und Österreichern kaum bzw. nicht verstanden. Das Verhältnis zwischen Switzertütsch und Hochdeutsch ist eines der Zweisprachigkeit. Aus diesem Grund bezieht Brahms sich der folgende Überblick nicht auf die Situation der Schweiz.Movie Review: ripped off
Summary: 1 Stars
I got ripped off .... there were no subtitles availiable or offered on my dvd copy ... shame on you amazon for not letting us know
Well the few minutes I saw looked good anyway
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