Immortal Beloved (1994)

The life and death of the legendary Ludwig van Beethoven. Besides all the work he is known for, the composer once wrote a famous love letter to a nameless beloved, and the movie tries to ... See full summary »

Director:

Bernard Rose

Writer:

Bernard Rose

Stars:

Gary Oldman, Jeroen Krabbé, Isabella Rossellini

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

The life and death of the legendary Ludwig van Beethoven. Besides all the work he is known for, the composer once wrote a famous love letter to a nameless beloved, and the movie tries to find out who this beloved was--not easy, as Beethoven has had many women in his life.

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Plot Keywords:

ludwig van beethoven | death | love letter | letter | composer | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | Music | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for scenes of violence and sexuality

Details

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 January 1995 (USA)

Also Known As:

Amada inmortal

Filming Locations:

Kromeríz, Czech Republic

Box Office

Gross USA:

$9,914,409

Company Credits

Production Co:

Icon Entertainment International,Icon Productions,Majestic Films International

Technical Specs

Runtime:

121 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS (8 channels) Dolby Digital SDDS DTS Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Though played by a different musician in the officially released film soundtrack, Gary Oldman is actually playing all of the Beethoven pieces he is seen performing in the film. When he learned he would be playing the lead role, he spent six weeks practicing on a Steinway piano for six hours a day in his hotel; and completely immersed himself in the music as his research for the character. In an interview with the south bank show in 1997, Gary quoted an article that said "he mimes very well" in the film. In answer to which, Gary laughed and said "I'm playing it! I can play that!"

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Goofs

Beethoven plays Für Elise for his nephew Karl, with his arms reaching around Karl's body, whilst Karl sits at the piano. There is no way Beethoven can reach the sustain pedal in this position, yet the piece is being correctly pedaled as we hear it played. Carl is not proficient enough to pedal for himself, let alone for another player, so it is not even an issue as to whether he may have been pedaling - he was not.

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Quotes

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

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Connections

Featured in Beloved Beethoven (1999)

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Soundtracks

Für Elise
Written by Ludwig van Beethoven
Performed by Murray Perahia

User Reviews

mysterious Beethoven biopic

Bernard Rose's superior film about the life of Ludwig van Beethoven takes as its central premise a mention in the composer's will of an 'immortal beloved', identity unknown. So far, so intriguing.

With the casting of versatile British actor Gary Oldman as Beethoven, there was potential for a lot of depth of character (which we get, as the passage of time convinces throughout as Beethoven moves from skirt-chasing youth to crabby and deaf old age).

Also impressive within the cast are Jeroen Krabbé as Schindler, Johanna ter Steege as Johanna Reiss, and Isabella Rossellini as Anna Marie Erdody. What could have been a stodgy film is buoyed up greatly by their presence, but it is the central performance of Oldman which counts (he really is a peerless performer of real-life characters - Sid Vicious, Joe Orton, Lee Harvey Oswald ...).

My only gripe would be that the music is sometimes given short shrift, but when it is there, it is wonderful. You get the emotional impact in the snatches of sonatas, symphonies and concertos you hear - but it would have been nice to acknowledge that the film was about a creative artist and musician and let us hear a bit more of his work!