In Search of Beethoven

In Search of Beethoven is essentially a biography. Through studies of his music and fragments of letters written by Beethoven, the film traces the chapters of his life and his growing musical prowess.

In the beginning of the film, there is an assertion that Beethoven might be the greatest composer of all time. The film sets about making its case and--no surprise--it is fairly successful. No one seriously doubts the prodigious talents of Ludwig van. Nevertheless, the film places his musical development within the historical happenings of Europe, helping the viewer to better understand the forces that were at play in his life. His life touched the lives of other great composers, Napoleon, and Goethe, for example. And these contacts helped shape his musical career.

As someone who was fairly knowledgeable about Beethoven's circumstances, I still found the film entertaining. The timeline of his life helped to clarify. And the numerous performances of Beethoven's music illustrated his genius and his extraordinary creativity.

The film makes the case that though Beethoven's life was tragic with regard to his health and his romantic choices, he was ever the optimist--a well-supported position that I consider a pleasing discovery.

However, am I the only viewer who thought that the Ninth Symphony was represented by a somewhat weak performance (maybe because that orchestra was dedicated to performing in the style of the piece's time, without anachronisms)?

Those who enjoy classical music or Beethoven's works should appreciate this film. Anyone who wants to learn about western classical music should find the film informative.

EDIT: watch it for the professor in a powdered wig, handing out hard-earned history lessons with a straight face, fully fangirling over his haloed Beethoven, passionately gasping out different ways to phrase "changed music forever." He's so serious!

Ah, but then they read his letters out. "1801, dear friend, I can no longer hear the high notes of voices or instruments.." Oof. So he goes on from here drinking mercury from his doctor dutifully, he finds love, loses love, throws over his life, moves to a new land, goes half insane and goes COMPLETELY DEAF. THEN, he dropped the Ninth Symphony like a bomb on a big crowd expecting a Brahms lullaby- totally shattered the scene, blowing off wigs, the room cheered out loud together! - by the time the audience leapt to their feet & she walked over to turn him around so he could understand the resounding joy he had given them, music would never be the same again.

We bask in long, up-close shots of genius fingers flying over keys in some of the most technically difficult music ever dared, written by Beethoven specifically as VENGEANCE ON HIS ENEMIES! Only Liszt was also this ballsy. You can HEAR the jolty, tilting deviations of the train from the rails of his life - & now you can SEE it, too. An outrageously intimate, deeply enjoyable documentary.

For anyone who has a passion for classical music,and especially for the music of Ludwig Van Beethoven,this film is for you. Director Phil Grabsky,who previously traveled down this avenue before a few years ago with the ever so fine,'In Search Of Mozart',takes us on a journey to tell the tale of a man possessed by genius (but not without a price). Over a period of (nearly)two & a half hours,we see & hear elements of Beethoven's life told by a series of historians & musicians,such as Emanuel Ax,Julliet Stevenson & Lars Vogt,who tell the tale of a gifted,but tortured soul who lost his hearing at an early age,but persevered on to compose a legacy of music that still stands today,years after his death. Grabsky,in addition to directing this film,also photographed it (images have a painterly texture to them,at times). But over all,the music speaks for itself (we get to hear excerpts from several pieces). This film is highly recommended for viewing in music classes in schools (at the film's conclusion,there is information about purchasing DVD copies,with additional footage trimmed from the final release print for the time factor,as Grabsky's original directors cut clocks in at something like fourteen hours).Spoken (mostly) in English,and German & Italian with English subtitles. Not rated by the MPAA,but contains absolutely nothing offensive,what so ever. Perfect viewing for the whole family

A fascinating story, very well structured and put together in a narrative sense, but very lacking cinematically. I imagine it would work well as a two-parter for TV, but in the cinema, after two hours, I was longing for some relief from the (almost all) poorly composed close-ups of the (very interesting) interviewees, from the constant shots of twigs and of wintry rural miscellany, and from the unimaginative coverage of musical performances. There are far too many close-ups of instruments being played, without a wider perspective, or a contextual association.. geography. And why were almost all the talking-head shots framed to exclude people's hair, yet include much of their shirts? Was it because the director hadn't thought of subtitles and had to reconfigure the compositions in post-production? The most extreme close-up was of a man with unfortunately large ears. There are more flattering ways to photograph such people; and the audience is more likely to pay attention to what he is saying, and not stare at his ears. For Mr Grabsky's next film, may I suggest - if he can afford it - hire a full-time cameraman, someone who sees stories visually. This is a great story, but not a very good-looking one.

I was somewhat disappointed with the Mozart episode after I watched this one. I enjoy Mozart's music more than Beethoven's, but this 'In Search Of...' was geared much more towards the classical music fan. The music played here is exhaustive. If I had to guess, I'd say they play over 50 tunes written by Beethoven. If you're looking for more of a biography you probably want to look at a more focused documentary in conjunction with this one. For me, who is ten times more interested in the music, this show was perfect! They use very talented players and list the players on the screen which is nice if you want to explore today's classical music performers. Ludwig had a fairly long life that was presented here as being pretty depressing. Mentions of suicide, illness and of course deafness are peppered throughout the documentary. He only created maybe half as many works as his contemporaries like Mozart or Haydn, but they present a nice case for crowning Herr Beethoven as the king of all Western music (personally, I'd put him at number 3 on that list).