Immortal Beloved (1994)

Director:

Bernard Rose

Writer (WGA):

Bernard Rose (written by)

Release Date:

6 January 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | History | Music | Romance

Tagline:

The genius behind the music. The madness behind the man. The untold love story of Ludwig von Beethoven.

Plot:

The life and death of the legendary Ludwig van Beethoven. Beside all the work he is known for, the composer...

Plot Keywords:

Beethoven | Last Will | Love Letter | Composer | Letter

Cast

Gary Oldman	...	Ludwig van Beethoven
Jeroen Krabbé	...	Anton Felix Schindler
Isabella Rossellini	...	Anna Marie Erdödy
Johanna ter Steege	...	Johanna Reiss
Marco Hofschneider	...	Karl van Beethoven
Miriam Margolyes	...	Nanette Streicherová
Barry Humphries	...	Clemens Metternich
Valeria Golino	...	Giulietta Guicciardi
Gerard Horan	...	Nikolaus Johann van Beethoven
Christopher Fulford	...	Kaspar Anton Carl van Beethoven
Alexandra Pigg	...	Therese Obermayer
Luigi Diberti	...	Franz Josef Guicciardi
Michael Culkin	...	Jakob Hotscevar
Donal Gibson	...	Karl Holz
Matthew North	...	Young Karl van Beethoven

Runtime:

121 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS (8 channels) | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Canada:14A | South Korea:15 | Philippines:R-18 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | Finland:K-12 | Germany:12 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:NC-16 | Spain:T | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Kromeríz, Czech Republic

Company:

Icon Entertainment International

Trivia:

The same year this came out, Gary Oldman also starred in Luc Besson’s Léon (1994), in which he plays a character who is obsessed with Beethoven.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: The producers of the film made painstaking effort to ensure that authentic late classical-era pianos were used on set, yet the music that is allegedly coming out of them is unmistakably from a 20th-centruy instrument.

Quotes:

Ludwig van Beethoven: It is the power of music to carry one directly into the mental state of the composer.

Movie Connections:

References Citizen Kane (1941)

Soundtrack:

Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor, Op. 13 'Pathétique'

Underrated masterpiece

IMMORTAL BELOVED

Aspect ratio: 2.39:1 (Panavision)

Sound formats: Dolby Digital / SDDS-8

Following Beethoven's death, his closest friend (Jeroen Krabbé) goes in search of the composer's sole heir, an unnamed woman described as his 'immortal beloved' in a letter which betrays their secret love affair.

Comparisons with AMADEUS (1984) are inevitable, but Bernard Rose's sumptuous biopic is in a veritable league of its own. The director's episodic screenplay relays events in flashback, as Beethoven - played with multilayered conviction by Gary Oldman - is inspired to new heights of artistic endeavor by the three women who dominate his life (Isabella Rosselini, Valeria Golino and Johanna ter Steege), and rendered increasingly bitter by encroaching deafness. Just as tellingly, Rose's handsome film details Beethoven's stormy relationship with a favored nephew (Marco Hofschneider), who was driven to extreme rebellion by the composer's overreaching ambitions. The music is arranged with exquisite grace by Georg Solti, conducting the London Symphony Orchestra: Standout episodes include the moment when Beethoven first plays the 'Moonlight Sonata', and the breathtaking 'Ode to Joy' sequence, framed against an unhappy memory from Beethoven's youth, which culminates in a moment of supreme cinematic glory, one of the most beautiful images this reviewer has ever seen. Vivid production design by Jirí Hlupý, expansive scope photography by Peter Suschitzky; filmed on location in Prague.