Film

Immortal Beloved (1994)

Director: Bernard Rose

Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

This passionately committed Beethoven biopic proves there's life in the old music yet. Held together by Oldman's harrumphing portrayal of the bad-tempered genius, it structures itself around the enduring enigma of the great man's last will (his entire estate went to an unidentified 'Immortal Beloved'), offering a potted personal history, a judicious selection of greatest hits, and an awe-struck contemplation of the creative process. Regrettably, the film-makers' defining question - is the Immortal Beloved youthful heart-throb Golino, world-weary countess Rossellini, or even his brother's wife, Ter Steege? - makes for only limited dramatic interest; and Oldman's performance consists chiefly of a wig, a scowl and a tantrum. The film's strength is writer/director Rose's determination to let the music carry as much of the emotional weight as possible. He builds exhilarating set-pieces from the Violin Concerto and the Eroica and proves a persuasive evangelist for the classical repertoire. The film may plod and pulse in equal measure, but the ecstatic visualisation of the climactic Ode to Joy is a triumph.

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