Immortal Beloved (1994)
How do you accurately depict the life of a master from ages past? History tend to be biased, and sometime factually unsound due to various factors. With Immortal Beloved, perhaps it’s all true, or perhaps the script acquired a facelift by Hollywood standards ~ who knows! What we can say is whether or not the story is compelling and if the audiences enjoy the telling. To me, a Chinaman with little experience in the ways of love, Immortal Beloved did not move me in ways the director intended. I felt no particular attachments to the characters, nor felt strong emotions as the veil of mystery slowly lifts itself.
Beloved tells the tale of the famous composer Beethoven, who lost “the one sense that others believe me perfect in…” There’s really no better reason for Beethoven to be frustrated, depressed, and prone to anger. But alas, discovered after his death, it seemed as if he wasn’t always cranky - that there’s someone he loves dearly! And yes, I think if a man sends a letter that begins with –
My angel, my all, my very self,
it’s prone to make a woman swoon ~ what poetry! .. ah, anyway ~ so, Beethoven had a love, and the story follows Herr Schindler in his attempt to find this Immortal Beloved.
I think the main problem with the film is how the story told itself. It started rather off balanced, as if the director was trying to find a pacing that’d work with the story. We are shuffled between the present, the past, and then flashbacks within the past and the present. I was confused with the plot at times, and the characters appearing on screen also befuddled me. It mattered little though, as the story wasn’t hard to understand. From one woman to the next, Schindler interviewed them, trying to find the one love. Thus, the life story of Beethoven revealed.
The second problem is the character development - perhaps it is all true, why else would I not sympathsize with Beethoven? He was a mean person, with very little foresight except for his heated passion for all things and utter hatred for events not going his way. He didnt have a lot of redeeming qualities, except for the one love he possessed, which was touted, but unrevealed fully until the end. How can I forgive him for the wrongs he done everyone else, when the one scene that allowed forgiveness appeared at the closing? It frustrated me not to identify with him, as it’s not a bad story — just told in a bad way I suppose.
Stretching past 2 hours, Beloved isn’t boring to watch per say, but it won’t keep a sleepy person awake I would judge. If you see it lying around for 5 dolla, might as well pick it up ~ it does have a wonderful soundtrack =)
Wait wait, I just realize something… if only the frauleins are SEXIER! THAT WOULD HIT THE SPOT!