“If you love the music of Ludwig van Beethoven, avoid this film.” (Read here.)
So … I’ve not really read a lot about the movie Copying Beethoven, but I hear it is coming out (or is out?) on DVD now. Guess I might not bother watching it.
Contrary to this reviewer I actually like Ed Harris. But it sounds as if this movie might be the sort to skip.
Other quotes:
Ed Harris plays Beethoven, but, with this material, maybe the producers should have turned to Ben Stiller. (Read here.)
Does Agnieszka Holland hate Beethoven? That’s the only explanation I can offer for this horrible, horrible attempt at making the maestro’s final year of life into a biopic. (Review here.)
and the best:
Da-da-da-dumb. (Review here.)
Music movies are tough to pull off. And I’m tough on music movies. I’m trying to think of even one that I fully liked. Anyone want to give me their list of approved music movies? Please?
I agree that “musician” films tend to be pretty awful. The problem usually is that the screenwriter and/or director do not understand or care about the music itself. “Amadeus” — for all the hype — seemed to me pure kitsch. Forman could not permit us to hear even one four-bar phrase of Mozart’s music without that voice-over telling us how we should respond to it. “Immortal Beloved” also seemed to feel Beethoven’s music was not all that important to the story. Ken Russel made some films that promise a lot, but disappoint. His Mahler film had the most sophomoric sort of music editing (“We need to show some angst, so just paste in 20 seconds of really stormy music — don’t worry about matching the musical structure up with the dramatic scene!”).
OK… flame off. A couple music movies I really like are:
“Tous les Matins du Monde”… about St. Colombe and his student, Marin-Marais.
“The Pianist” .. about a Polish-Jewish pianist during the holocaust.
Both these movies seemed to understand the real power of the music itself as a storytelling element.
I haven’t seen “Copying”… not sure I will try now.
I’ve not seen either film you liked. I know about the latter, but feared it would be far too emotional for this person who easily falls apart when watching a movie. I guess I should watch it despite my little problem. The former movie is new to me. (I’m not a huge film buff.)
Thanks for the comment!