Beethoven

Looting the pool of untalented "ZDF-History" amateur actors, linking together unmotivated flashbacks and future views until the viewers eyes start rolling, and spicing the whole pulp by adding a famous name did not result into an interesting movie here.

The only fun I was able to fetch out of this sick concoction wasn't Beethovens grand music (always unerringly cut at the wrong spots) but the helpless efforts of the actors to imitate regional dialects they don't master.

Please, honored participants, do yourself and the world a favor, burn down all the copies and scripts of this failed project, and let's pretend it never existed.

The movie is separated into 3 different time places, the child, the young and the old Beethoven. The movie started of amazingly, with astonishing acting by the child Beethoven. Also the cinematography and costumes/ sets are great. Now to the bad parts: first of all the acting of the young, middle, Beethoven was unfortunately horrible and it kind of broke the immersion and made Beethoven look pretty dumb. But the most important part: the movie had a strong focus on the live of Beethoven but not the music. It was never shown how Beethoven wrote his great pieces, what the reception was, what influenced Beethoven's music. The movie completely skipped over the time periods Beethoven wrote most of his most iconic music. If you don't know the history yourself you are left kind of wondering why Beethoven was so popular in the first place since it is never shown. People only talk about him being great. In my opinion, in a movie about Beethoven his music should be in the main focus, or at least some focus at all.

There are many legends surrounding the life of the "Bonn" giant. That being said, the director of this movie follows Beethoven's life pretty close, it captures snapshots of his life, it doesn't pretend to be an all encompassing full length depiction of Beethoven's life, however it touches on the important pieces : childhood, friendships, first love and musical influences. I love how he discovered Bach in Neefe's living room piano (or was it harpsichord?) I also like how individuals are depicted in a way that has a major impact on Beethoven's character and sense of morals. He was in my opinion a man with a backbone and strong principles in an era of servitude and platitudes ("The melody needs to be more cantabile... Those sound like cannons Louis! Cannon fire!"). The Austrian lead does great service to the character he depicts and is somehow similar in facial features. I recommend it to all Music History teachers as it shows a person, a real person, a man and not a legend as we are all accustomed to hearing about.

I listen to Beethoven nearly everyday and saw the trailer and thought it would reflect his greatest. First, Apple failed to notify me that this was not in English and ruined the entire experience. Second, the movie while filmed beautifully is editing almost beyond recognition jumping around from young to old Louis. Hate movies that are so filled with "flashbacks" that you cannot figure out what is going on like they way they ruined The Imitiation Game. How about a movie that highlights this greatest composer working Symphonies 1-9.

A correct portrait, fair in details, admirable for acting, interesting for the courage to be a hommage and not a fairy tale, precise and just what you feel right for mark the 250 years from the Ludwig van Beethoven birth. A film about a man, his family, childhood, love, work, father, teacher, options and nephew, brother and freedom. It is enough for be not the blockbuster but the admirable way to remind a significant story.