The River Green

Yesterday, while at the library to return my movie assignment for class, I came across this movie, lying on a return cart. Ever the fan of Beethoven that I am, I picked it up.

There was some promise in the beginning, but it quickly faded when the central theme of the story became so difficult to pin down. Is it about a female trying to break into a man’s world? Is it about how Beethoven composed his Ninth Symphony, or maybe it’s about how his copyist wanted to become a composer. There were so many focuses, it was hard to determine exactly where the story was going or where it was coming from.

Within the first ten minutes, the intent of the movie becomes disappointingly obvious- it is meant to be an ‘Amadeus’, only with Beethoven. Only certain portions of Mozart’s life were exaggerated to accentuate the dramatic aspects in Amadeus. With Copying Beethoven, so many pointless plot devices were inserted, that the result is a portrait of a fictional man.

The acting left very, very much to be desired. Ed Harris played Beethoven like he was in a constant state of constipation; trying to force out the character, but failed miserably. Diane Kruger’s portrayal of a fictional copyist reflected the unrefined nature of her character.

So consumed with making Beethoven’s life into a movie as successful and critically acclaimed as Amadeus, it even recreates the image of an artist composing from his deathbed. It was based on conjecture in Amadeus, but it is based on nothing in Copying Beethoven.

Beethoven’s music is divine, an aspiration for humanity. His life is tragic, yet accomplished and romantic; anyone can find the agony and the ecstasy in his life by listening to his music.

The entirety of his work was a challenge for the classical age to put into music the human condition; a symphony of the soul. He was a heroic figure in his romantic compositions, but a tragic figure in his life.

The life of Beethoven is romantic enough and dramatic enough without inventing whole aspects of his life out of thin air. Almost every part of this film is a contradiction to the truth of Beethoven’s life. The film ultimately renders a disservice to the actual life of this great composer.

Labels: movies