Mein Name ist Bach

I saw this film back at the 2005 Palm Springs International Film Festival and being interested in historical subject matter and in classical music I perhaps entered into this with too much expectations. This movie did nothing for me. I thought this would be a good opportunity to have a great soundtrack of Bach music but most of the music in it is by the film's soundtrack composer Frederic Devreese. Good period costuming and set design. Vadim Glowna is excellent as Johann Sebastian Bach. This film was shot on Super 16 and printed to 35mm and almost all of this film is shot with hand held cameras. I could only muster up a Fair rating for my review. I would give this a 5.5 on a scale of 10 and I could not recommend it.

The music is excellent. Of course. The clothes are designed by Vivienne Westwood. They only can be beautiful. Besides these facts, the movie won the Best Picture Award at the Swiss Film Prize. I found the story sometimes boring and quite long. On the other hand, the actors are all doing a great job. One last comment about the madness-and-"gayness" of one character. It could actually be taken out of the plot: it's too much and doesn't bring anything to the movie, to my point of view...

'The Musical Offering' by JS Bach is one of the greatest masterpieces in the music written by a human and one of the highest tops of musical thought. But the film is not mostly about how that was composed but rather about dramatic fragments in Bach's and Fredrick's families. Juergen Vogel played a complex personality of the Prussian King with conviction. Vadim Glovna (as Bach) however, playing his role, reflected Bach's character in such a realistic and simple way that you could forget about a sublime genius, a part of the universal mind which was Bach. But even such a giant acknowledges music being much more essential than the human being. "The family is not eternal, music however..." he said, talking to his son's wife. Glovna very honestly performed Bach as just a mortal man with his doubts, fears, smiles and cries. And the final scene is so emotional although nothing particular happens. I sincerely recommend this movie to every one of Bach's (and his music) fans and the ones who like the historical drama on the screen

Frederick II the Great of Prussia had a court that glittered with great minds, yet life with this King was anything but idyllic. He seems to have behaved imperiously with everyone, even his sister Amalie (at one point he slams the piano lid down on her hand, a rather brutal way of making his wishes known). All the fun of this film comes from the stratagems worked out by Bach to avoid falling under the control of Frederick. The King leads Bach to his new pianoforte: Bach pronounces the instrument unsuited for his music, and not even in tune. Score one for the Leipzig master composer!... The royal theme, to be treated as a fugue with six voices, is played lovingly many times, as well as Friedemann's passionate yet empty-sounding piano works.

Vadim Glowna is very sly and moving as Bach, and Juergen Vogel does a terrific job as Frederick, the ruler with a lot of emotional issues. Anatole Taubman plays the lusty and dishonest Friedemann very well.

The film is based on the 1747 meeting in Potsdam, Prussia, between JS Bach and Prussian King Frederick II, known in history as Frederick the Great. After his visit Bach actually did compose a work entitled "A Musical Offering," also mentioned in the film. As far as Frederick's sexual preferences are concerned, it is well known that although he married, he only saw his wife occasionally, and no children resulted from the union. Throughout his adult life Frederick never showed much interest in women: his interests were music, philosophy, and fighting wars. The one place in the film where some dramatic license occurred was in the treatment of Frederick's sister, Princess Amalia. But the real Amalia was a handful, just as she was in the film. In her early 20s Amalia actually eloped and became pregnant, thus ruining any chance of marrying her off to another royal house. An enraged Frederick hunted her down, had her marriage annulled, had her ex-husband thrown in prison for 10 years, and sent her to an abbey, where she spent the remainder of her life.

Through the fine acting, the sets, the costumes, and the edgy way the main characters were portrayed, the film is an excellent contemporary interpretation of an actual historical event.