''Copying Beethoven'' is a 2006 American dramatic film released by
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...
and directed by
Agnieszka Holland
Agnieszka Holland (born 28 November 1948) is a Poles, Polish film and television director and screenwriter, best known for her political contributions to Polish cinema. She began her career as assistant to directors Krzysztof Zanussi and Andrzej ...
which gives a fictionalized take on the triumphs and heartaches of
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...
's last years.
Plot
It is 1824 as Beethoven (
Ed Harris
Edward Allen Harris (born November 28, 1950) is an American actor and filmmaker. His performances in ''Apollo 13'' (1995), ''The Truman Show'' (1998), ''Pollock'' (2000), and '' The Hours'' (2002) earned him critical acclaim and Academy Award n ...
) is finishing his
Ninth Symphony. He is plagued by deafness, loneliness, and personal trauma. A new copyist, Anna Holtz (
Diane Kruger
Diane Kruger ( Heidkrüger; ; born 15 July 1976) is a German and American actress. Early in her career, Kruger gained worldwide recognition and received the Trophée Chopard from the Cannes Film Festival.
Kruger became known for her roles in f ...
) is engaged to help the composer finish preparing the score of his symphony for the first performance. Anna is a young conservatory student and aspiring composer. Her understanding of his work is such that she corrects mistakes he has made (the mistakes were made deliberately), while her personality opens a door into his private world. Beethoven is initially skeptical, but he slowly comes to trust Anna's assistance and eventually grows to rely on her and view her with respect, and even with admiration.
Anna Holtz (as Beethoven always refers to her) is sent to be his copyist, but due to her gender, is constantly thought less of, and is mistaken for a serving girl, maid, and even a prostitute. Pushing past, though quite unhappily, from these assumptions, Anna proves herself to Beethoven, not only as a copyist, but also as his friend, and something of his protégé and heir as far as he is concerned. He gains much admiration of her, after she assists him by directing him, hidden among his musicians (although she can be seen from the top seats), as he simultaneously copies her movements to direct the orchestra during what would turn out to be his final concert on stage. Though Anna agreed to her romantic interest, Martin Bauer, that she would help him complete his symphony, and then immediately leave after showing him her work, she instead continues to assist him as his copyist. After seeing the admiration she has gained from Beethoven, Anna proceeds to show him a piece of music that she composed. Beethoven tactlessly and unknowingly insults her. Anna, more than ready not to return, continues to stay with her great aunt and the nuns at the convent. Anna is surprised when Beethoven, desperate to keep Anna in his employment and under his tutelage, bursts into the convent and begs Anna, on his knees, to come back and work as his equal on both of their music. He begins to teach her about Romanticism, music, and mostly, how to allow her artistic side freedom. Continuing his infuriating behavior, Beethoven smashes the model of Martin's bridge he built for an engineer's competition, thereby ruining Martin as well. Anna, angry, confronts Beethoven, asking him if he had ever considered that she loved Martin. Beethoven replies, "You don't love him." Upon hearing this, Anna angrily asks if she is supposed to love Beethoven instead. Beethoven again replies, "No. You want to be me." From here, Anna agrees that Beethoven did the right thing, and continues to work with him, pushing him past his hardships and failures, and then staying by his bedside until he died (on March 26, 1827). The movie ends though, with Anna finally embracing herself as an artist, unique from all other composers, including Beethoven, and readying herself for a promising future.
Though the film is directed very abstractly, leaving room for the audience to view Anna and Beethoven's relationship as that of a chaste romance, the characters remain very platonic, and could much more easily be viewed as a strong and close friendship, bordering on Beethoven even being viewed as a father figure of Anna's.
Cast
*
Ed Harris
Edward Allen Harris (born November 28, 1950) is an American actor and filmmaker. His performances in ''Apollo 13'' (1995), ''The Truman Show'' (1998), ''Pollock'' (2000), and '' The Hours'' (2002) earned him critical acclaim and Academy Award n ...
as
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...
*
Diane Kruger
Diane Kruger ( Heidkrüger; ; born 15 July 1976) is a German and American actress. Early in her career, Kruger gained worldwide recognition and received the Trophée Chopard from the Cannes Film Festival.
Kruger became known for her roles in f ...
as Anna Holtz
*
Matthew Goode
Matthew William Goode (born 3 April 1978) is a British actor. Goode made his screen debut in 2002 with American Broadcasting Company, ABC's TV film feature ''Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister#Adaptation, Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister''. His ...
as Martin Bauer
*
Phyllida Law
Phyllida Ann Law (born 8 May 1932) is a British actress, known for her numerous roles in film and television.
Early life
Law was born in Glasgow, the daughter of Meg "Mego" and William Law, a journalist. Prior to the Second World War, her fath ...
as Mother Canisius
*
Joe Anderson as Karl van Beethoven
*
Ralph Riach
Ralph McKenzie Riach (26 January 1936 – 20 March 2022) was a Scottish actor from Elgin, Moray.
Early years
Riach was born on 26 January 1937 in Elgin, Scotland. He He was educated at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow, and he wor ...
as Wenzel Schlemmer
*
Bill Stewart as Rudy
Artistic license
The working manuscript of the score of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony is attributed to two copyists, both of whom were male, not a single female as depicted in the film. The character of Anna Holtz is likely based at least partially on Karl Holtz, a young violinist and copyist who befriended Beethoven during the final few years of the composer's life and is said to have influenced decisions on pieces such as the
Große Fuge
The ''Grosse Fuge'' (German spelling: ''Große'' ''Fuge'', also known in English as the ''Great Fugue'' or ''Grand Fugue''), Op. 133, is a single-movement composition for string quartet by Ludwig van Beethoven. An immense double fugue, it was ...
.
The violinist
Joseph Böhm
Joseph Böhm ( hu, Böhm József; 4 April 1795 – 28 March 1876) was a Hungarian violinist and a director of the Vienna Conservatory.
Life
He was born in Pest, to a Jewish family. He was taught by his father and by Pierre Rode. His brother F ...
recalled that for the premiere of the
ninth symphony, although "Beethoven himself conducted... the actual direction was in
nother'shands". Further, it is recorded that at the end of the performance one of the soloists (
Caroline Unger
Caroline Unger (sometimes Ungher; 28 October 1803 – 23 March 1877), alternatively known as Karoline, Carolina, and Carlotta,Sadie 1998, p. 867 was an Austro-Hungarian contralto,
Biography
Born in Vienna (according to erroneous sources, in Stu ...
) guided Beethoven to turn around and see the applause, so this phase of his life is rich with opportunities to embroider to create a storyline suitable for modern retelling.
Critical reception
The film received a score of 59/100 on
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
and 28% rating on
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, with average score 4.76/10, based on 81 reviews. The reviewer at Time Out gave 2 out of 5 stars.
Copying Beethoven -Time Out says
''www.timeout.com'' (2 out of 5 stars) Accessed 28 December 2020
References
External links
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*
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Copying Beethoven
' at Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
{{Authority control
2006 films
Depictions of Ludwig van Beethoven on film
Musical films based on actual events
Biographical films about musicians
Films shot in Budapest
Films directed by Agnieszka Holland
Films set in the 1820s
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films
Sidney Kimmel Entertainment films
2000s English-language films