Beethoven Lives Upstairs

This is kind of one of those kids' after-school TV movies they used to have on television before Ophra and her ilk took over on late afternoon. It's only 50 minutes long which doesn't give it much chance for us to get the know anyone's character in any depth.

The kid, Illya Woloshyn, reminds me a little of Max Pomeranc of "Searching for Bobby Fischer." The story is so-so, certainly no 'Fischer'."

I found too much yelling (raving, actually) by Beethoven and too slow a story, even for 50 minutes.

The main attributes are the some pretty scenery and some of Beethoven's music, which is beautiful and dramatic.

Overall, not very memorable.

This movie was told from the point of view of a child, as the title implies, and I believe it largely succeeds for that audience. It's easy to see how a child would find this imposing man frightening - he bosses people around and gets away with it, he's loud, he's peculiar, and he's very angry. The journey for the boy is from fear to awe, and seeing that the Beethoven's pain and struggle had a purpose: it was not madness at all.

This is not a comprehensive portrayal of Beethoven, but shows younger viewers that people are not always what they appear, and are worth understanding. It also shows that great accomplishments sometimes have a high price associated with them.

I found this movie while channel surfing, and it held my attention partially because it made frequent use of Beethoven's wonderful music.

This film was designed for children, and as a result, it is an excellent movie if used for that purpose only. Having said that, the fact that this film won any awards is beyond me.

Pro: Neil Munro is to Beethoven as Tom Hulce was to Mozart (in Amadeus) - absolutely and perfectly dead-on! If one were to meet the real Beethoven, this is likely the person they would see.

Cons: Everything else.

Children might not notice the difference, and that's fine, but from a factual point of view, take this one with more than a grain of salt. There are so many errors and artistic liberties taken by Heather Conkie (who I respect for her work done, both past and present) that this film can never be taken as anything more than pure fiction with regards to Beethoven and his life.

Examples: In the film, Beethoven says he's becoming deaf for six years. This would put his age at about mid-30's, yet the premise of the film is that he has just died. This wasn't about to happen for another 20+ years or so. Also, in the film, he is working on his 9th Symphony. Fact: it should have been his 7th, but Conkie has altered history for the sake of the children. And there's much more. So, in this respect alone, don't plan to do a master's thesis on the factual stuff in this film - it's mostly fiction.

Then there's the acting itself, which ranges from wooden to horrible to outright poor. Illya Woloshyn as the young boy Christoph is just terrible, as is Albert Schultz as Uncle Kurt. Veteran actor Paul Soles almost makes a convincing Schindler, who in actual life was a more dominant personality, and the only one who could boss Beethoven around and get away with it. Sheila McCarthy's only good scenes are where she goes toe-to-toe with Munro's Beethoven, and these are worth the price of admission alone.

So, providing this film is seen only by children up to the age of maybe 10, it's excellent. To anyone older, it's horribly misleading, slower than a glacier and historically butchered beyond the call of duty. Its only saving grace is that it's a children's film on Beethoven. And as far as I know, it's the ONLY one. Not hard to be number 1 in a group of 1.

Caution: Watch at own risk.

I think ho0vdawg was too hard on this movie. It certainly was never intended to be on par with Amadeus or suitable for the same audience. That it was made for children younger than high school age is quite obvious, and one should take that into consideration when watching and evaluating it. I would recommend this movie to any interested child.

I have seen this movie many times and even own it. It is excellently written and produced. I have shown it to my piano students to give them a better understanding of the life of Beethoven. It is very definitely kid friendly as opposed to "Immortal Beloved" because of the content.

The young boy goes through an adjustment period after having lost his father, that is compounded by having what appears at first glance to be a monster living upstairs in his house. The 'monster' of course turns out to Beethoven! When showing it to young children as part of a class, it is recommended that one should give a bit of background on exactly who Beethoven is and that these events are not happening in real time. They may tend to buy into the events a little too much. Explanation might also be needed about his deafness. The actor who portrayed Beethoven did a very excellent job of getting across the difficulty of being able to hear so much wonderful music in your head but always knowing the frustration of never being able to actually hear it.

The costumes are very accurate for the period and the cinematography is also very good. I give this movie, eight stars!