Twelvefield I stumbled across this film being played on television. I figured that the TV guide had misspelled "Erotica", but as it turns out this is very much a G-Rated picture. It's almost a biopic, a bit more than a lengthy music video. It's an afternoon in the life of Ludwig von Beethoven, set to the music of his third symphony.The events of Beethoven's life seem compressed and shoveled into the 90 minutes of the film. We see how he deals with large issues like Napeoleonic politics, patronage, love, and hearing loss, as well as smaller issues like arranging music and the most efficient means of belittling his assistant.What I found fascinating was being able to see how the characters of the period responded to the music as it was being played. I have a distant knowledge of Beethoven's works, and while they are certainly powerful and turbulent, I lack the context of the music of the era. Seeing the patrons react to various passages of the music (which to my untrained ear just sounds pretty) and hearing them comment on the work as it progressed was for me highly illuminating.What a thrill it would be to be able to walk around an orchestra as it plays! That would be the ultimate in surround sound! I was jealous of the characters as they mingled around the players, who from what I can tell were using period-correct instruments.

lsaul-2 Well, that would have made for a tough film to sit through, don't you think, guys?Although it's true that that first read-through was probably pretty rough.Here is a short quotation from Ries via Thayer, which shows how well the filmmakers did their homework:"...Here it happened that Beethoven, who was directing (the Eroica) himself, in the second part of the first Allegro where the music is pursued for so many measures in half-notes against the beat, threw the orchestra off in such a way that a new beginning had to be made." In the first Allegro occurs a mischievous whim (bose Laune) of Beethoven's for the first horn; in the second part, several measures before the theme recurs in its entirety, Beethoven has the horn suggest it (the theme: LS) at a place where the two violins are still holding a second chord (the violins are suggesting a Bb7 chord -- the *dominant* of Eb Major, whereas the horn is playing the theme (a simple arpeggio) in Eb Major, a harmony which sounded quite "wrong" to 1803 ears!: LS). To one unfamiliar with the score this must always sound as if the horn player made a miscount and entered at the wrong place. At the first rehearsal of the symphony, __which was horrible__, but at which the horn player made his entry correctly, I stood beside Beethoven, and, thinking that a blunder had been made I said: 'Can't the damned hornist count" -- it sounds infamously false!' I think I came pretty close to receiving a box on the ear. (Much more dramatic to come *more* than "pretty close"!: LS) Beethoven did not forgive the slip for a long time."Thayer goes on to describe yet another rehearsal which Lobkowitz arranged for another prince, Louis Ferdinand of Prussia:"To give him (Louis Ferdinand: LS) a surprise, the new, and of course, to him utterly unknown symphony, was played to the Prince, who 'listened to it with tense attention which grew with every movement.' At the close he proved his admiration by requesting the favor of an immediate repetition; and, after an hour's pause, as his stay was too limited to admit of another concert, a second. (In other words, it was performed *three* times!: LS). The impression made by the music was general and its lofty contents were now recognized."In any event, I adore this made-for-television gem! Two things that make this film great are:1. We get to hear a period-instrument performance by one of the best such orchestras around!2. We get to immerse ourselves in Beethoven's world for a few hours, all done very beautifully. (The scenes *following* the performance are delicious!) HIGHLY recommended.LS

Foppe .. if you know how innovative the piece was it seemed a bit odd that the players 'got' the piece basically on their first run. Even if the 3rd and 4th movements sounded different from most other performances i own, it was oddly well-played for a first try.Other than that, the 'plot' was fairly flimsy, though seemingly historically accurate. As such, i'm not sure why the film was made.. it's far from glitzy enough to appeal to a general public (not to mention it contains "classical" music, yuck!), most of the actors came from TV, though it didn't really matter because the script didn't require a lot of actingIn all, a nice film to watch if you want to gain *some* insight into what the piece is about, but there are courses out there that teach you a whole lot more on the subject.

Framescourer Many wonderful things mount up; Ian Hart gives a brilliant Beethoven, better even than Gary Oldman's in Immortal Beloved (although Tom Hulce's Mozart conducts more convincingly in Amadeus!). Fenella Woolgar gives a mature performance as the sympathetic Princess Lobkovitz in the same week as a brilliant big screen presence in Stephen Fry's Bright Young Things. The best scene of the film is the confrontation between Hart's Beethoven and his love Therese Lobowitz (the extraordinary Claire Skinner). She explains she cannot give up the security of a social title by giving herself over to his love; we hear the music drifting in from the upstairs hall, as if his own reaction of pain at this rejection sounding from his own misunderstood head.Notwithstanding Jack Davenport's excreable acting, this is where this film fails. The characters, from amused aristocrat, through knowing musician, to the Other Half slaving downstairs are required to put the power of the music into words. It cannot be done; in this context it undermines the integrity of the character and saps the power of the music by chaining it to a metaphor it already is. 'A Haydn would be finished by now!' is good - 'He's re-written the symphony as we know it' by the same footman is not.So many good ideas to give this essay flight extinguished by the need to explain an art that is it's own great and sole mouthpiece. 3/10