''Ludwig van'' (full title: ''Ludwig van: A report'';
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
: ''Ludwig van: ein Bericht'') is a
black-and-white German film
The film industry in Germany can be traced back to the late 19th century. German cinema made major technical and artistic contributions to early film, broadcasting and television technology. Babelsberg became a household synonym for the early 20 ...
by
Mauricio Kagel. Filmed in 1969, it was first screened the following year.
The work was commissioned by
Westdeutscher Rundfunk for the bicentennial celebrations of the birth of
Ludwig van Beethoven in 1970.
The film examines the
reception of the composer and his
works and how he has become a
consumer product of the
culture industry.
The soundtrack is an
arrangement
In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...
of fragments of Beethoven's works, modified as if heard by the
deaf composer himself; it is distinct from Kagel's 1970 composition ''Ludwig van''.
Prominent contemporary artists including
Dieter Roth,
Stefan Wewerka (
de),
Robert Filliou
Robert Filliou (17 January 1926 – 2 December 1987) was a French artist associated with Fluxus, who produced works as a filmmaker, "action poet," sculptor, and happenings maestro.
Life
In 1943, Filliou became a member of the French Communi ...
, and
Joseph Beuys were involved in the design.
According to ''
Gramophone
A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...
'', "at first it’s a laugh a minute ... then Kagel's film turns dark".
Summary
In the first part of the film, Beethoven visits
Bonn of the late 1960s, stopping off at a record shop before embarking upon a tour of the
Beethoven-Haus
The Beethoven House (German: ''Beethoven-Haus'') in Bonn, Germany, is a memorial site, museum and cultural institution serving various purposes. Founded in 1889 by the Beethoven-Haus association, it studies the life and work of composer Ludwig van ...
in which he was born; there is a deluge of busts, in the music room every surface is covered in
sheet music
Sheet music is a handwritten or printed form of musical notation that uses List of musical symbols, musical symbols to indicate the pitches, rhythms, or chord (music), chords of a song or instrumental Musical composition, musical piece. Like ...
, and in the final scene his works are
hung out to dry in the laundry. There ensues a bridge passage in which he strolls along the
Rhine and boards the ''
Cecilie'', where he tries to find the source of music but ends up chasing shadows. The second part of the film, a more explicit
parody of
art films and commentary on the composer's
reception, begins with a talk-show in which
Karajan is criticised for creating
beautiful sound at the expense of revolutionary edge and for
conducting
Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance, such as an orchestral or choral concert. It has been defined as "the art of directing the simultaneous performance of several players or singers by the use of gesture." The primary duti ...
the orchestra rather than the music; there follows an encounter with a madman who claims to be Beethoven's true descendant; a sequence set to ''In questa tomba oscura'' ("In this dark tomb let me rest"); a scene with a pianist in a lab; and a recital of the
Waldstein sonata by a thinly-disguised and super-annuated
Elly Ney, where she ends up smoking and the percussive sound morphs into the beating of the heart; the film ends with a scene in a zoo with an
owl,
tortoise,
boar, defecating
elephant, and "many
ruminants, predominantly ears and paws", accompanied by fragments of the "Prisoners' chorus" from ''
Fidelio'' and of the ''
Ode to Joy'' from the
Ninth Symphony.
Analysis
A
deconstructive analysis of the film investigated Beethoven as a
cultural icon, revered yet exploited; the use and misuse of his works, including their appropriation to advance
nationalist agendas; the difficulties and
anxieties of influence performers face; Beethoven scholarship and attempts to "tame" the composer to accord with
bourgeois
The bourgeoisie ( , ) is a social class, equivalent to the middle or upper middle class. They are distinguished from, and traditionally contrasted with, the proletariat by their affluence, and their great cultural and financial capital. They ...
ideals; and the difficulties of peering through the myths to catch a glimpse of the "real" Beethoven.
Kagel uses the term ''Musealisierung'' or "
musealisation" in speaking of the Beethoven cult, the term used by
Theodor W. Adorno to indicate that "museums are the family sepulchres of works of art".
References
External links
Reconstructing Beethoven: Mauricio Kagel's Ludwig van(pages 46–88)
* {{IMDb title, 2931334
Depictions of Ludwig van Beethoven on film
1969 films
1969 television films
1960s avant-garde and experimental films
German avant-garde and experimental films
West German films
German television films
German-language television shows
1960s German films
Das Erste original programming