Another biopic of a famous composer finds its way into theaters, but this one suffers from a less-than-likable subject and some stilted acting. However, the music is glorious.
Herr Schlemmer (Ralph Riach), the music publisher, has sent to the nunnery for their best copyist. When Anna Holtz (Diane Kruger) arrives on his doorstep he’s shocked because he wasn’t expecting a woman and is hesitant to send her into the den of “The Beast.” However, she convinces her that she can do the job. The beast in question is Ludwig van Beethoven (Ed Harris, in a fright wig and false nose), the genius composer of his age and perhaps the ages.
For all his genius he was also prone to fits of outrageous behavior and was probably only increased by the fact that his hearing failed and the frustration of having that happen being in an auditory profession. Anna is elated to get the job of copying the music for the “maestro,” but will find that “The Beast” has a way of infiltrating her life as well.
Unfortunately, Amadeus it ain’t. Even though Ed Harris goes the crazy route that won Tom Hulce all the praise for that earlier film about the famous composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Hulce had F. Murray Abraham to play off of. Sadly, Diane Krueger just doesn’t inspire a composition devoutly to be wished. She appears stilted and flat and does not inspire the viewer. Frankly, she didn’t really grab my interest as the character. Some of it might’ve been that the cast appeared to act like English was not their first language (Krueger appears to speak it well as witness on the special features).
I’m not sure how to explain it, but some of the cast seem to be repeating their lines phonetically and don’t really seem to put their heart into it or so it appeared to me. Not the mention to the Beethoven-aholic that this film is crammed with historical inaccuracies (Beethoven had only male copyists who copied in fear and would never dare suggest changes to the maestro). Not that the movie is going to win many fans over to Beethoven since he’s portrayed as a pompous, complaining jerk prone to histrionics. Technically, that may have been true but it really doesn’t make him very endearing to the movie audience.
So what good is there? The music, again like Amadeus, is the real star of the show and a portion of the film devoted to the Ninth Symphony is a delight. The problem is that this comes in the middle of the film and everything that follows is a let down compared to this delightful showpiece. Beethoven is deaf enough that he can’t properly direct the orchestra but he still insists that he do so (again this is probably historically inaccurate since he didn’t direct the premiere of the Ninth Symphony).
The orchestra practices are awful since he leads them astray into horrible, screeching notes. On the night of the big premiere however, he has Anna Holtz sit on the floor and direct him (Conducting Beethoven might’ve been an alternate title) and the Symphony is a big hit. In my opinion, this should’ve been the closing of the picture since it uses the triumphant music and triumph of Beethoven to great effect. The director discusses her decision to put it in the middle in the special features but I’ll have to disagree with her decision to not end the picture on this scene (what are critics for but to do this?).
Copying Beethoven is presented in anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1) and is enhanced for 16x9 televisions. Special features include a commentary by director Agnieszka Holland and Ed Harris. There’s also the 10 minute “Orchestrating Copying Beethoven” which has interviews with Ed Harris, Diane Kruger, director Holland, co-writer/producer Christopher Wilkinson, Matthew Goode (“Martin”), and music consultant Piotr Kaminski. Finally there are 8 minutes of deleted scenes with optional commentary by director Holland.
Copying Beethoven had the potential to be a good biopic of the wild-haired composer, but several missteps have it falling a tad short of the mark. However, the Ninth Symphony section is a joy and interested parties should make it a rental just to enjoy that blissful 15 minutes.
Copying Beethoven is now available at Amazon . As of yet, there is not a release date for the UK. Visit the DVD database for more information.
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