Director: Agnieszka Holland (The Secret Garden)
Writer: Stephen J. Rivele, Christopher Wilkinson
Producers: Sidney Kimmel, Stephen J. Rivele, Michael Taylor, Christopher Wilkinson
Starring: Ed Harris, Diane Kruger, Matthew Goode
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Running time: 104 min

Other than a few symphonies and sonatas, I know very little about the great Ludwig van Beethoven and after seeing Copying Beethoven, I’m pretty sure I don’t know anything new. Writen by Stephen J. Rivele and Christopher Wilkinson, this is a fictionalized look at Beethoven’s last few months, or it could be years the time line is so loose. The story introduces the fictionalized Anna Holtz, a young and talented composition student looking to make a name for herself as a composer, who comes into Beethoven’s life at a crucial time and he comes to believe that she is a messenger sent by God to help him finish his life’s work. And that’s not the last time we hear Beethoven utter that he is doing God’s work, this is a theme that comes up continuously throughout the film.

Rivele and Wilkinson paint Beethoven as character who manages to upset everyone from the Bishop to the neighbours. He’s loud, brash, rude, insensitive and a generally unlikable fellow with few friends. But he’s talented – immensely talented and his work is highly regarded and loved even if the man is often scrutinized behind closed doors. Frankly, regardless of its accuracy, this portrait of Beethoven is interesting but what is lacking to go with it is any semblance of a story. Though the music acts as a framework and set-up, the interaction between Beethoven and Anna Holtz, the relationship that makes up the bulk of the story, is confusing and in constant flux from student/mentor relationship to one heavily sexually charged. The problem is as much with the script as with the direction and on more than one occasion I found myself shaking my head wishing they’d just make up their minds and pick one or the other.

It is rather sad that the relationship that drives the story is so weak because everything in between is fantastic. This is not the first time Ed Harris steps into the role of tortured artist (see his brilliant performance in Pollock) and he is very good here playing the deaf and dying Maestro. Diane Kruger is wonderfully cast as Anna Holtz and she breathes life, charm and passion into a grossly underwritten central character. The only major disappointment with the acting is Matthew Goode who does what he can as Anna’s love interest – a character that serves no purpose to the story other than to add an extra scene of Beethoven wreaking havoc.

In addition to the acting, the only thing that makes this film worth any amount of recommendation are the musical numbers. Director Agnieszka Holland makes some wonderful choices, using music throughout the film in innovative ways. Most notable is her use of music during the first major performance in which Anna conducts the orchestra from the pit with the deaf Beethoven at the helm. Only at the end of the performance of the Ninth Symphony does one realize that somewhere in the middle, we stopped listening to the Symphony itself as it was being played by the orchestra, and started listening to it as Beethoven hears it in his mind and the way in which Holland makes the audience aware of the change is nothing short of brilliant. The scene is not only breathtaking for its power but also for its editing which manages to shorten a two hour work of music into a few minutes, while building immense sexual tension between Beethoven and Anna.

I really wanted to like this film, particularly because the performances are so strong and the direction, particularly during the performance of the Ninth Symphony, is good, but as a whole the film does not work. The story is not compelling and the film ends abruptly with no buildup, no climax and no resolve; the result of a seriously flawed script. I love Holland’s version of The Secret Garden and though Copying Beethoven is a great disappointment, it does interest me in Holland’s style and I’m curious to see more of her work. As for this film, it may be worth a visit for hardcore fans of either the music or Ed Harris but otherwise, a sadly forgettable flop with a few decent scenes helped along by a couple of good performances.

Links:
IMDb profile – full cast and crew
Official Site
Flixster Profile for Copying Beethoven