Immortal Beloved-memed Assignment 111n1r

IMMORTAL BELOVED

1. What is the movie all about? The Immortal Beloved (German "Unsterbliche Geliebte") is the mysterious addressee of a love letter which composer Ludwig van Beethoven wrote on 6–7 July 1812 in Teplitz. The apparently unsent letter was found in the composer's estate after his death, after which it remained in the hands of Anton Schindler until his death, was subsequently willed to his sister, and was sold by her in 1880 to the Berlin State Library, where it remains today. The letter is written in pencil and consists of three parts. Since Beethoven did not specify a year, nor a location, an exact dating of the letter and identification of the addressee was speculative until the 1950s, when an analysis of the paper's watermark yielded the year, and by extension the place. Scholars have since this time been divided on the intended recipient of the Immortal Beloved letter. The two candidates favored by most contemporary scholars are Antonie Brentano and Josephine Brunsvik. Other candidates who have been conjectured, with various degrees of mainstream scholarly , are Julie ("Giulietta") Guicciardi, Therese Malfatti, Anna-Marie Erdödy, Bettina Brentano, and several others. 2. Who are the main characters? Gary Oldman as Ludwig van Beethoven Jeroen Krabbé as Anton Felix Schindler Isabella Rossellini as Anna-Marie Erdödy Johanna ter Steege as Johanna Reiss Christopher Fulford as Kaspar van Beethoven Marco Hofschneider as Karl van Beethoven Miriam Margolyes as Nanette Streicherova Barry Humphries as Clemens Metternich Valeria Golino as Giulietta Guicciardi Alexandra Pigg as Therese Obermayer Geno Lechner as Josephine von Brunsvik Claudia Solti as Theresa von Brunsvik 3. When and where was the story set?

Filming took place in the Czech cities of Prague, Kroměříž on the Milotice chateau and Buchlovice chateau, and the Zentralfriedhof in Vienna, Austria between May 23 and July 29, 1994. 4. Who is your favorite character in the movie? Why? I ire Gary Oldman's acting abilities and some of his achievements in this film, the film itself has so many flaws that it is hard to forgive. 5. What part of the film did you like best? Why? The scenes with the Rossellini character are among the best in the film, because here he finds a haven from his debts, from his troubles with the law, from his wars with his relatives, from his fawning irers and mocking rivals. She sees most clearly his curious obsession with young Karl, which takes an odd turn: Beethoven stops composing entirely for five years in order to supervise Karl's education as a music virtuoso, despite the boy's tearful pleas to be allowed to become a soldier. Beethoven's deafness is a subject through much of the film, including a precarious scene where the Rossellini character leads him from the stage after he grows confused during a public performance, and another in which he touches the wood of a pianoforte to hear the music through his fingers. He tried desperately to conceal his deafness, fearing it would destroy his livelihood, and on the soundtrack Rose sometimes reproduces what he can hear: Low rumbles curiously like the music of the whales.

6. Analyze the used of music in the film. Did it enhance the filmmaker’s story? While the soundtrack utilizes modern instruments, the pianos that appear in the film actually date back to Beethoven's time. 'Immortal Beloved' is a film enriched by a ion, drama and turbulence of an era. The scenery of the aristocratic palaces, elegant middle class town houses, churches and chapels, monuments and fountains are beautiful and exquisite. Beethoven's compositions (wonderfully performed by the London Symphony Orchestra) are splendid and voluptuous.

7. What did you learn from the story? 'Immortal Beloved' is a love story which not only captures the ideas of early 19th century romanticism, but ultimately attempts to fasten the emotional state of the music to the events that Beethoven lived through.We are given a look into the composer's personality. Beethoven is seen impatient, impulsive, unreasonable and intolerant; deafness adds suspicion and paranoia to these attributes. We are even touched by an artist who yearns to express himself creatively through music. He is an hostile, obstinate lover who would fly into a rage at the slightest provocation, but a sensible human being who carries the music in his heart, and whom the thorns of life had wounded so deeply. 8. What are the great qualities/traits of the composer that inspire you? Immortal Beloved is a film that deeply affected not only the course of my life, but also the quality. After seeing the dramatization of some of the more "stormy" and "troubling" portions of his life, played suitably by Gary Oldman, in this generous production for the modern audience, I came away with an even deeper understanding of not just this man's music, but his contribution for all of us, music as a whole and music as something alive.