Geliebte Clara (2008)

Director:

Helma Sanders-Brahms

Writers:

Nicole-Lise Bernheim (writer)
Helma Sanders-Brahms (writer)

Release Date:

4 December 2008 (Germany)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | Music

Plot:

A look at the lives of 19th-century composers Clara and Robert Schumann. |

Plot Keywords:

Composer | Young Composer | Orchestra | Heavy Drinking | Classical Music

Cast

Martina Gedeck	...	Clara Schumann
Pascal Greggory	...	Robert Schumann
Malik Zidi	...	Johannes Brahms
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Aline Annessy	...	Elise Schumann
Brigitte Annessy	...	Bertha
Marine Annessy	...	Eugénie Schumann
Jacques Breuer	...	Robert Schumann (voice)
Sascha Caparros	...	Ludwig Schumann
Clara Eichinger	...	Marie Schumann
Béla Fesztbaum	...	Tausch
Thomas Limpinsel	...	Tausch (voice)
Christine Osterlein	...	Henriette (as Christine Oesterlein)
Manuel Straube	...	Johannes Brahms (voice)
Péter Takátsy	...	Wazielewski
Walter Theil	...	Dr. Richartz

Also Known As:

Clara (Europe: English title) (festival title) (France) (Germany) (working title)

Runtime:

Germany:107 min

Country:

Germany | France | Hungary

Language:

German

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Germany:6 (f) | France:U | Taiwan:PG-12

Company:

Helma Sanders-Brahms Filmproduktion

Trivia:

The actor playing young Robert Schumann - Nikolai Kinski - is brother of Nastassja Kinski who herself played the lead role of Clara Schumann in 'Fruhlingssinfonie (1983)'. However, the opening scene of young Robert and young Clara has been cut for the theatrical release. It may appear in the Director's Cut on DVD.

Disappointingly wooden

I see that I am not the only person to be disappointed by this film. I fully agree with the other comment that has been written before mine. I am no expert in music or in the lives of the Schumanns and Brahms, and I have seen no former film about them. But I know something about history and about period drama, so I will constrain my notes to this area. The first time we see Clara Schumann, she lounges in a railway carriage as if she was wearing jeans and a T-shirt. Did the filmmakers not know or not care that the kind of dress she is actually wearing comes with a corset, and that a corset influences the way a woman sits and walks? Maybe Clara was infamous for not wearing one. Then it should have been told in the film, somehow. In this same scene, she tells how she is missing her kids, but in the rest of the film, we never see her really interact with them. In fact, the little ones are barely more than extras, and speak their lines like at the third rehearsal of a school play. Unfortunately, this goes for most of the dialogue. It is wooden, to say the least, and does nothing to illuminate the characters. Most of it could be left out without a loss. The film centers on the love triangle, but never shows why these men love Clara, and how she fell in love with them. What ties this married couple together? How did she decide not to compose anymore? Did she ever compose again, after Robert's death? Why did Johannes Brahms show his compositions to Schumann, and why did he ask them back? What draws him to Clara? You'd think the music is behind it all, the way they share their understanding of music and the way they can understand each other by listening to and playing each other's compositions. But nothing of that is shown in the way the actors move, talk, or interact. Not even Martina Gedeck, whom I sincerely admire, was able to show her range of emotional expression. Yes, she did portray a passionate piano player, but it somehow didn't seem to matter what she was playing at all. Another thing I noticed was how many scenes were showing candles, but the light was unchangingly cold. In the theatre I went to, midway through the film it suddenly stopped, and it took the employees some minutes to restart it. I sincerely considered leaving then and there, because I had been disappointed from the first scene. Well, if I stayed, it was mostly for the sake of the friend I had come with, and for the sake of the music. If you care for the music of Robert and Clara Schumann and Johannes Brahms, don't watch this movie. Listen to a good recording. The three stars I gave are merely for the music.