Un grand amour de Beethoven

Following the incredible silent masterpiece "Napoleon," Abel Gance created another magnificent work of art in 1936, this time focusing on the brilliant composer Ludwig van Beethoven.

While the film is filled with the creative camera work that characterized the style of Abel Gance, it goes one step beyond that of any of his previous works. It combines beautiful musical interludes with imagery that not only describe specific historical and biographical events in Beethoven's life, but also evoke the opposing inner emotions of happiness and anguish that troubled the deaf Beethoven during the prime of his life.

Abel Gance's "Beethoven" is a perfect example of how the marriage of picture and sound can be used perfectly to form a creative masterpiece.