{"id":5803,"date":"2020-03-10T10:00:17","date_gmt":"2020-03-10T09:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.henle.de\/blog\/en\/?p=5803"},"modified":"2020-06-05T08:06:17","modified_gmt":"2020-06-05T06:06:17","slug":"beethoven-in-film","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.henle.de\/en\/2020\/03\/10\/beethoven-in-film\/","title":{"rendered":"Beethoven in film. A complete overview in three parts"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>I can still very clearly remember how upset and outraged I was about the Mozart film \u201cAmadeus\u201d<\/a> that came out in 1984. This was by no means the Mozart I had imagined. His infantile behaviour, his stupid laughter, his constant hypermania: no, that had nothing to do with \u201cmy\u201d Mozart. Today, I\u2019m much more laid-back, yes \u2013 I\u2019m even touched when I myself\u00a0 \u201ccan be in the thick of it\u201d, when \u201cSalieri\u201d hears an excerpt of Mozart\u2019s Gran Partita<\/em> for the first time and immediately recognises his own mediocrity, or when to \u201cSalieri\u201d, \u201cMozart\u201d, drenched in sweat on his deathbed, is dictating parts of his requiem, knowing that he\u2019s soon to die \u2013 and I am shocked to witness this event.\u00a0 Almost always, when Mozart\u2019s music is played in this \u201cAmadeus\u201d movie, and its tremendous emotional power is reflected in the faces of the actors, my own emotion is provoked and excited, possibly more than with mere, nonpictorial listening. Mirror imaging of our own deep-seated feelings.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>And now, Beethoven movies. Let\u2019s just be clear about this: A serious, even scholarly study of Beethoven\u2019s life and works does not ever deal with movies about him at all, but with the many primary documents and sources, usually worked up over decades of research and published in reference editions, most of them from our own publishing house: with the Letters<\/a> to and from Beethoven, with the numerous Eyewitness Reports<\/a>, with the Beethoven Works\u2019 Catalogue<\/a>, with the Conversation Books<\/a>, with the extant Portraits<\/a>, and not least, of course, with his entire Compositional Oeuvre<\/a>. Beethoven movies are, on the other hand, the<\/em> opportunity to bring specialist knowledge closer to a wider, interested public. Whether they be entertaining feature films, film documentaries (with or without actors) or famous interpreters being videoed about Beethoven\u2019s works and life.<\/p>\n

My investigations on YouTube, IMDb, Wikipedia, Amazon and on other online sources revealed a surprisingly large number of such films related to Beethoven. I watched each film (sometimes several times), catalogued it in chronological order (of its release) and ultimately supplied it with a short personal comment and recommendation (of 1-5 stars). So much material has in fact accumulated that I\u2019ve divided the Beethoven \u201cfilmography\u201d into the three following categories \u2013 there will be a separate blog post for each category. The \u201cfilmography\u201d itself is now permanently on our website<\/a>:
\n(1) Beethoven movies<\/a> [10 March 2020]
\n(2) Beethoven documentaries<\/a> [20 April 2020]
\n(3) Famous musicians on interpreting Beethoven [15 June 2020]<\/p>\n

Whereas cinema movies (1) naturally focus primarily on entertaining viewers rather than on conveying facts, most film documentaries (2) combine seriously researched and lavishly expanded factual material about Beethoven\u2019s life and works with dramatic elements. And when the great Beethoven interpreters (3) of our time get going on the subject of his work, we are very close to the real thing, the music. I only excluded all films in which Beethoven\u2019s music is just heard as \u201cbackground music\u201d (such as in \u201cA Clockwork Orange\u201d, \u201cStrings of Life\u201d, \u201cDancing Beethoven\u201d), or the composer\u2019s name is \u201ctaken in vain\u201d (such as in \u201cA Dog Named Beethoven\u201d).<\/p>\n

If despite all efforts I have overlooked any Beethoven films, I kindly ask you to let me know.<\/p>\n

Part 1: Beethoven movies<\/strong><\/p>\n

A composer of Beethoven\u2019s rank, the icon of compositional genius par excellence<\/em>, is, of course, as a personality more interesting than anyone else. Particularly in Beethoven\u2019s case, there is another attraction factor for the film genre: his biography has more than enough \u201cfilm material\u201d for the director and his actors, although more drama than comedy. Take, for example, Beethoven\u2019s sad childhood, his rough character, his deafness (Heiligenstadt<\/em> Testament), his failures (or successes?) with the mostly noble ladies (letter to the \u201cImmortal Beloved\u201d), his obvious contradictions (for example, in relation to the nobility, to Napoleon), his alcohol abuse, the \u201cnephew conflict\u201d (including attempted suicide), his infinite number of illnesses and his relatively early death. Not surprisingly, much of this is constant in every Beethoven movie. Movies aim to entertain and \u2013 in the few successful cases \u2013 can make viewers curious at the same time about Beethoven\u2019s music, thus stimulating further, more in-depth involvement. Even the (notoriously sceptical) Beethoven connoisseur will be happy to be drawn into the magic of the great moments, with beautiful pictures and great actors in a well-made movie. All moviegoers become brothers, cheer feverishly, look forward to Ludwig within his biographical milieu. Of course, the connoisseur will always view Beethoven films with an analytical eye: which life events, which historical persons, which Beethoven clich\u00e9s and myths, which music is presented to us, and how?\u00a0 Quite apart from the question of the reception history, of great interest but not being dealt with in the following, the Beethoven picture presented to us is significant, for \u2018the picture we take of the Beethoven artist figure \u2026 is also determined by how he is portrayed on the movie screen and how his music is contextualised there\u2019. (Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Literatur Mainz)<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

And finally: Movies have an unbeatable advantage over all the \u201cdry\u201d sources and books. Because despite of, no, precisely because of its simplification and streamlining of actual facts, it appears more immediate and emotional. We have to<\/em> react spontaneously, with either disgust or admiration. Cold indifference is virtually out of the question. However we may privately have imagined \u201cour own Beethoven\u201d as a person \u2013 in the film his person becomes absolutely tangible. And let us by no means forget the tremendous emotional force of his music as heard!\u00a0 It is not about a concert or CD experience, but about the subtle or superficial support of Beethoven\u2019s (and others\u2019) music to deepen the \u201cwhole Beethoven effect\u201d. This \u201ceffect\u201d, of course, cannot be missed, especially by a film director. No Beethoven movie without the beginnings of the \u201cMoonlight Sonata\u201d, the \u201cPath\u00e9tique\u201d (slow movement), the \u201cFifth\u201d and the \u201cNinth\u201d\u2026.<\/p>\n

But view it for yourself: (1) Beethoven movies<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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