IMMORTAL BELOVED: Blu-ray (Columbia ,1994) Sony Home Entertainment

On March 26, 1827, Ludwig van Beethoven died of an undisclosed illness to have ravaged him with fever, jaundice and dropsy. He was barely 56 yrs.-old, felled the previous December with swollen limbs, a severe cough and breathing difficulties. At his deathbed were long-time friend, Anselm Hüttenbrenner and a ‘Frau van Beethoven.’ In the hours, days and weeks that followed the thought-numbing funeral attended by more than 10,000, including Franz Schubert and violinist, Joseph Mayseder, a mystery began to brew regarding Beethoven’s great love. Indeed, among his private papers there surfaced a three-part letter, addressed to an unnamed woman whom the maestro referred to as his ‘immortal beloved’. Then, as now, rumors circulated as to who this mysterious lover might be, the candidates to include Giulietta Guicciardi, Thérèse von Brunswick, Josephine Brunsvik, Antonie Brentano, and Anna-Marie Erdödy. Rather circumspectly – none were talking. The speculative search for the one and only, true to Beethoven’s heart, is at the crux of Bernard Rose’s Immortal Beloved (1994) – a sublime investigation that puts forth its own winner among the candidates. Rose, who also wrote the screenplay, claims to have unearthed the true identity of Beethoven’s love - his sister-in-law, Johanna (uncannily depicted in the movie by another ‘Johanna’ ter Steege). However, this is a claim no scholar will endorse. The movie also implies Karl, Beethoven's (Marco Hofschneider) nephew, was, in reality, their love child, and further, suggests the composer’s deafness was caused in childhood by an abusive father, severely striking Beethoven in the head until his ears bled.

The real inducement of Beethoven’s hearing loss is, at once, far less dramatic, though no less devastating. In fact, Beethoven was already well-established as a composer by the time he noted its diminish, informing pianist, Charles Neate in 1815, he likely surmised the cause to stem from a quarrel with a singer. The condition was not immediate, rather, a gradual – if steady - decline, exacerbated by severe tinnitus. Later, an assessment was made of the root cause - likely otosclerosis, accompanied by a degenerating auditory nerve. Determined to seize ‘fate by the throat’ as he later wrote to a friend, Beethoven’s most lucrative period as a composer occurred during this time, noted in annotations made on his musical sketches, in which Beethoven scribbled, “Let your deafness no longer be a secret – even in art.” While the affliction did not prevent him from composing, it did challenge Beethoven’s ability to play at concerts. He also increasingly withdrew from society as a result, leading to his reputation as a curmudgeonly recluse. Despite his infirmity, Beethoven never completely lost his hearing, still able to distinguish low tones and sudden bursts of sound. We can forgive Bernard Rose these indiscretions, as rarely do biographical movies attain such a level of exquisiteness in scope and beauty as Immortal Beloved. Rather shamelessly, critics of the day savaged the picture with comparisons to Milos Forman’s Amadeus, made 10 years earlier. To be certain, there are parallels to be made between the two pictures.

Yet, this should not negate the exceptional entertainment value to be found in Rose's movie. Besides, all such comparative analyses should begin and end with one simple fact: each movie deals with a musical prodigy who is an absolute genius. From that snap analysis, Rose’s filmic excursion proves an intimate and personal investigation of Beethoven – the man – lent utmost reverence and sincerity by Hollywood’s sadly underrated chameleon, Gary Oldman. Oldman’s Beethoven is peerless and above reproach, infused with all the intensity and caustic passion that appears to spring forth from some deeply felt wellspring of bittersweet regret and emotionally-charge anger, railing against the world and God – the agony of genius most unabashed and revealed in the ecstasy of Beethoven’s music.  In a year where Tom Hanks’ Forrest Gump took home the Oscar, Oldman’s Beethoven was not even nominated for the coveted Best Actor statuette – an inexcusable oversight AMPAS has yet to rectify. Oldman’s breathtaking immersion in the part is, in hindsight, par for the course of many superb characterizations he has lent to the art of movies, effortlessly to morph from the leader of the Brit-band, Sex Pistols (Sid and Nancy, 1986), to Presidential ‘patsy’ assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald (JFK, 1991), and even Bram Stoker’s blood-thirsty aristocrat in Dracula (1992): Oldman - the veritable conjurer of his craft.  

In essence, Immortal Beloved attempts to tell the life of Ludwig van Beethoven as an immense tragedy - our hero, a resentful anchorite, incapable of love, yet whose enduring melodies typify a certain darkly-purposed romantic longing as rarefied glimpses into the human heart and soul – the full flourish of their sublime orchestral beauty never to be heard by their creator. Bernard Rose is not so much concerned with critiquing Beethoven's skills as an artist. Nor is he particularly interested in providing a chronology of Beethoven's greatest hits, though both the artist and his music get more than their ample due throughout. Indeed, the focus of Rose’s movie is in its titled discovery of that illusive ‘immortal beloved’, so described in letters unearthed after Beethoven’s passing and, to set into motion the plot, told mostly in layered flashbacks. There are three all told in Immortal Beloved, loosely strung together as Beethoven’s long-time friend, Anton Felix Schindler (Jeroen Krabbe) sets about to investigate the truth. As far as Schindler is concerned only this ‘beloved’ is responsible for Beethoven’s inspiration; only she, as his muse, is now entitled to reap the financial rewards by inheriting Beethoven's musical legacy.

To this purpose, Schindler travels throughout the Austrian Empire to become acquainted with the three most likely candidates from various backgrounds; the first, Beethoven’s wealthy pupil, Giulietta Guicciardi (Valeria Golina); the second, his most ardent, yet critical admirer - the countess, Anna Marie Erdody (Isabella Rossellini) and, finally, Johanna Reiss (Johanna ter Steege), the embittered wife of his late brother, Kaspar (Christopher Fulford), who died of consumption. All of the aforementioned will supply Schindler with pieces to this puzzle, and hidden insights into the man he only knew superficially. And each of the aforementioned women will as much touch his own heart in unimaginable ways. As the mystery unravels, the audience is allowed to experience a sublime nirvana that, ostensibly, was Beethoven's own labyrinthine journey to cut to the bone of his musical genius. Immortal Beloved would have us believe Beethoven was desperately in love with his brother’s wife, denying her legal custody to Karl (Marco Hofschneider) the son she bore from him after wedding Kaspar and claiming the boy as his to save face.

Determined to will another musical prodigy, Beethoven is bitterly disappointed when his slave-driving tactics yield nothing more than mediocre results; Karl, resentful and knowing he lacks his ‘uncle’s’ genius, attempting suicide shortly thereafter to escape his influence. As a result, Beethoven reputation is ruined. During this final meeting with Johanna, Schindler discovers she has since forgiven Beethoven whom she attended on his deathbed at which time he signed over Karl’s custody back to her. She further confides in Schindler how Beethoven’s failure to follow through on their planned elopement left her distraught and feeling betrayed. Recognizing Johanna as Beethoven’s true ‘immortal beloved’ Schindler relinquishes the letter to her, in it – a revelation; that a terrible wreck delayed Beethoven’s carriage on a stormy night to ruin their prearranged rendezvous. Beethoven had every intention of marrying her. However, in the days that followed, she spurned his advances out of shame and embarrassment, accepting a proposal from his brother to spite him. Liberated from her lingering doubts, Johanna attends her lover’s grave.

Immortal Beloved is so unequivocally a valentine to Ludwig van Beethoven, it remains irresistible and compelling, despite its narrative inconsistencies, blind speculations and outright lies, perpetuated to satisfy Bernard Rose’s artistic license. For the record, Anton Felix Schindler was not Beethoven’s confidant, although he did perform some minor role as his personal secretary for a brief wrinkle in the composer’s life. After Beethoven’s death, Schindler reportedly burned more than 260 of his employer’s 400 ‘conversation’ notebooks, and, is rumored to have forged entries into those that survived to embellish his own importance in Beethoven’s sphere of influence.  In a role original conceived for Anthony Hopkins, then, Jeroen Krabbé, and, Stephen Rea, and finally, afforded to Gary Oldman, Oldman offers irrefutable proof his ‘natural selection’ for the part was indeed inspired by fate. Oldman was destined to play Beethoven – and perhaps, also, the picture’s score, featuring many of the composer’s most memorable compositions. Oldman, already accomplished on the piano, immersed himself in daily 6-hour rehearsals to learn Beethoven’s music. Alas, his playing was dubbed for the movie, causing critics to suggest Oldman ‘mimed’ his way through the performance; an accusation Oldman took to heart, also to rectify, adding “I am playing it! I can play that!”  

Does Immortal Beloved waver from history in other ways? Undoubtedly, as there is very little in existence on Beethoven's life to sustain a retelling of ‘the truth’ – allowing instead for approximations to abound. Nearly 200 years of scholarship have, as yet, failed to deduce the actual source of Beethoven’s impassioned love letter, irrefutably written in his hand. Perhaps, what is achieved by Immortal Beloved is closer to the truth than anyone might care to admit. But such analyses remain open-ended and rife for scholastic debate. At best, Immortal Beloved is then an approximation of Beethoven’s life and times. Should this lack of credibility diminish its impact as a popular entertainment? Hardly. What Rose has achieved here is akin to truth of a kind – enough of it present to warrant our renewed respect and indulgence. Better still, Rose’s efforts are imbued with Jirí Hlupý’s immaculate production design, John Myhre and Olga Rosenfelderova’s art direction, and Maurizio Millenotti’s gorgeous costumes, all of it, superbly photographed by cinematographer, Peter Suschitzky. The results speak for themselves, a plushily padded and intelligently wrought investigation of the heart of a man who, in life, kept his very much shielded from public view. Thus, the mystery of the man and his immortal beloved endure. As an aside: I rather like not knowing for sure.

Sony Home Entertainment’s Blu-Ray is reference quality. Colors are vibrant and richly represented. Flesh tones yield to an exquisite amount of fine detail and excellent contrast levels. Blacks are deep and velvety without crush. Whites are pristine, though never blooming. This image is rock solid and crisp. Grain appears indigenous to its source. The exceptional care Sony has taken with Immortal Beloved continues to hold up in this new age of 4K mastering, and, even in projection, if only in 1080p, arguably rivals other discs rendered in native 4K. Originally shot on a relatively modest budget, Sony has spent considerable time and money here to ensure the integrity of the image. Detail is mind-blowing, revealing hand-stitching in delicate fabrics and minute precision even in the dark veils worn at Beethoven’s funeral.  Immortal Beloved's TrueHD 5.1 soundtrack excels. Dialogue is crisp. The score is magnificent and SFX, as in the sequence where canon fire decimates one of the palaces, is well placed. Three extra features accompany the movie. The first is an audio commentary from Bernard Rose that is a bit of a slog to get through. Though insightful, Rose seems, at intervals, genuinely disinterested or, perhaps, merely disengaged with going over the work that’s already been done. There is also a featurette – ‘Beloved Beethoven’ – not about the composer, but Rose’s film-making journey. Finally, we get a slap-dash featurette, conceived at the time the movie was being made, simply held together by sound bites to promote the upcoming release. Boring. Been there. Done that. Bottom line: Immortal Beloved is an exquisite tapestry of ‘what if?’ scenarios that, cumulatively, take the place of whatever reality may have otherwise reported to be Beethoven’s life and times. Historians will poo-poo such revisions. The rest of us can bask in the glory of this finely-made motion picture experience. The Blu-ray is excellent. A must have!

FILM RATING (out of 5 - 5 being the best)

5+

VIDEO/AUDIO

5+

EXTRAS

1