Copying Beethoven

Within the first three minutes of this by-the-manual period biopic, one of the characters closes her eyes, begins to nod her head and then furiously waves an invisible baton as Beethoven’s ‘Gross Fugue’ mysteriously emanates from the countryside. It’s a gesture which features prominently in this fictional tale of Anna Holtz (Diane Kruger), a waifish young music copyist who becomes Ludwig van Beethoven’s muse. With the kind of brash characterisations that would be more at home in a school play, Ed Harris’ salty interpretation of Beethoven sees him running hot and cold as Anna tries desperately to comprehend his wayward genius. The direction from Polish New Waver Agnieszka Holland feels more like she’s testing a new camera than attempting to capture the nuances of the artistic process, and if we’re to believe the script, then all great art derives ‘from the gut’. ‘Copying Beethoven’ isn’t great art, but we don’t doubt that’s exactly from where it came.