il Giardino Romantico

Surely the majority of us have either heard or even performed one or two of the miraculous works of the all-time music maestro Ludwig van Beethoven.  At least, those of us living in Taiwan may be lucky enough to hear the famous Fur Elise playing two times a day, while the garbage truck runs around the neighborhood collecting our daily garbage.  If you've seen the trailers for The Fast and the Furious - Tokyo Drift, or Die Hard 4.0, then you may have also recognized the famous motif from his ninth symphony, Ode to Joy.  However, very few of us bother to find out the background story of not just Beethoven, but many other famous musicians and well noted celebrities.  Immortal Beloved, and Copying Beethoven are two movies that are readily available for us lazy-bums who wish to find out a bit more about this particular musician.  However, we must first understand that while knowledge is power, little knowledge can also be deadly.  Fortunately for you, this article sets out to discuss just how much you can rely on these two films, and what are the fabricated details that the movie makers had added in to make the movie more dramatic and luring to its audience. 


Both of these movies reveal the story of the legendary maestro, Beethoven.  Both movies have great casting and music.  However, there are so many other factors that make one more worthwhile than the other. 


In Copying Beethoven, because it revolves around the story behind the premiere of the ninth symphony, most of the music is derived from that one particular symphony.  This is problematic because throughout the film, you hear incoherent breaking, and abrupt beginnings.  It deteriorated the otherwise, smooth flowing plot.  In addition, another downside of the audio effect is its North American accent dialogues.  Nevertheless, that one little flaw is not the reason for me to condemn the movie as one that 'has no soul'.  For Amadeus, the movie about Beethoven's predecessor, Mozart, was performed in North American accent as well.  Yet, I very much enjoyed it.  What was so disappointing about the movie was the fact that I was really misled by its Chinese title.  Some genius decided to name the movie 'Ode to Joy'.  So there I was, expecting the movie to give a full account of how the symphony was constructed, so on and so forth.  Yet, the protagonist was not just Beethoven.  Anna Holtz, the maestro's copyist, was seemingly the other protagonist, and the story really revolved around her more than it did the maestro.  As a supporter of equal rights of the sexes, I have nothing against the idea of a woman helping Beethoven with his work.  The problem lied in the fact that this Anna Holtz was a completely fictitious character.  Now, why would anyone create one character and go through the trouble of reinventing a story for the sake of this fictional character? 



Apparently, only his aggressive personality and his deafness were depicted accurately.  The only character that truly existed and played major roles in his real life was his beloved  nephew, Karl.  And even him, they have decided to portray as a deceiving, worthless young lad.


If you are looking for the easiest and entertaining way to get to know the maestro a little better, Immortal Beloved is one you must not miss.  If Copying Beethoven had no soul, then this one had it all - body, heart, AND soul!


I have so strong opposition against Ed Harris as Beethoven, but it is evident that Gary Oldman fits in to the character way better.  Furthermore, the European accents help boost up the movie's reliability.  it is a more accurate portrayal of Beethoven's life because many of the characters in the movie actually existed.  For instance, Schinlder, Karl, his brothers, and even the ladies, have all been depicted in such a way that it remained as close to the truth as possible.  Although the fact that his deafness was seemingly caused by the brutal beatings of his disappointed father, the movie, which is apparently not the case, the movie included the story of how Heir Beethoven had wished to show him off to the world as a child prodigy, like Mozart.




The music is phenomenal.  It begins with the famous first four cords from the fifth symphony, then Missa Solemnis plays in the background during the maestro's funeral.  Throughout the whole movie, every single melody flows smoothly unto the next.  This gives the audience a condensed introduction to his music.  From sonatas, to trios, and from concertos to his best known symphonies, you name it, it's got it.


With Beethoven's letter addressed to none other than his 'Immortal Beloved' as its inspiration, the movie boldly sets out to solve the mystery and uncover the identity of this woman that stole his heart forever.  However they have developed their version of the story, they remained as loyal to the truth as possible.  In that way, it is much more superior to the former, plot-wise, music-wise, and reliability-wise.  The fact that I was compelled into viewing it again after Copying Beethoven, to 'cleanse' my ears and mind, should be enough evidence to support that.