The life and death of the legendary Ludwig van Beethoven. Besides all the work he is known for, the composer once wrote a famous love letter to a nameless beloved, and the movie tries to find out who this beloved was--not easy, as Beethoven has had many women in his life.
Writer/Director: Bernard Rose
Stars: Gary Oldman, Jeroen Krabbé, Isabella Rossellini.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110116/
Watched online, good print.
16 songs in the Soundtracks; 15 by Beethoven, 1 by Rossini.
An unpleasant tale told unpleasantly.
The tale is unpleasant because Beethoven is cruel to most people, and is shown being beaten by his father as a youth.
The telling is unpleasant because there is little to balance the cruelty (other than the music, which would be better consumed without this), and it's a mystery told with no hints as to its resolution that I caught. But my problem is that I recognize none of the actors beyond the 3 stars, and so I don't recognize the character when she is revealed at the end (but she was a prominent character.)
I can imagine in a future viewing I might rate this 5, but I don't want to banish it just yet.
Rated 7.5 by 21k+ IMDb voters.
distr. Columbia, dir. Rose; 6-
