Copying Beethoven (2006)

6.8	Rating (108 ratings)
6.8	IMDB rating

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Directed by

Agnieszka Holland

Starring (View all)

Diane Kruger
Anna Holtz

Ralph Riach
Wenzel Schlemmer

Matyelok Gibbs
Old Woman

Ed Harris
Ludwig van Beethoven

Bill Stewart
Rudy

Angus Barnett
Krenski

Viktoria Dihen
Magda

Phyllida Law
Mother Canisius

Written by

Stephen J. Rivele
(written by)

Christopher Wilkinson
(written by)

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Reviews

enjoyable music

16 years, 9 months ago at Aug 18 2:58

doudouce55

3 votes

23-year old Anna Holtz (Diane Kruger) studies at the music conservatory and lives in a convent. She is recommended for a position, and ends up working beside Ludwig van Beethoven (Ed Harris). With him, she will be inspired and will come to understand him and his music.

Ed Harris is quite an actor, has always been, and playing this great musician certainly displays all his talent. Di... read more

An average movie

1 year, 5 months ago at Nov 23 9:39

johanlefourbe

3 votes

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since there was a decent cast involved, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, I have to admit that I didn’t know much about Ludwig van Beethoven so it was definitely pretty neat to see a movie focusing on this great musical genius. Unfortunately, the movie itself was not really amazing though. Indeed, instead of focu... read more

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Description: Those who appreciate the spiritual dimensions of the awesome music of Ludwig von Beethoven will savor many special moments in this drama directed by Agnieszka Holland (The Secret Garden). First and foremost is the ten-minute scene of the great composer directing the premier performance of his majestic Ninth Symphony (the music is a 1996 Decca recording of Bernard Haitnik conducting Amsterdam's famed Royal Concertgebourw Orchestra). The screenplay by Stephen J. Rivele and Christopher Wilkinson contains insights into Beethoven's vision of music as coming from God and the composer serving as "God's secretary." These eleme Those who appreciate the spiritual dimensions of the awesome music of Ludwig von Beethoven will savor many special moments in this drama directed by Agnieszka Holland (The Secret Garden). First and foremost is the ten-minute scene of the great composer directing the premier performance of his majestic Ninth Symphony (the music is a 1996 Decca recording of Bernard Haitnik conducting Amsterdam's famed Royal Concertgebourw Orchestra). The screenplay by Stephen J. Rivele and Christopher Wilkinson contains insights into Beethoven's vision of music as coming from God and the composer serving as "God's secretary." These elements speak to our yearning to know more about this tormented genius who broke all the classical music conventions of the times with his string quartets.

In 1824, 23-year-old Anna Holtz (Diane Kruger) arrives in Vienna. While a student at the musical conservatory, she is recommended for a position with the celebrated musical publisher Wenzel Schlemmer (Ralph Riach), who needs a copyist to do work on Beethoven's upcoming Ninth Symphony. The volatile and cantankerous composer (Ed Harris) lives in a messy apartment by himself and has passed through a bad spot in his career. Anna is stunned by his rude and crude behavior but decides that she will endure it for the sake of what he can teach her. Beethoven tells his beautiful new copyist: "I am a very difficult person but I take comfort that God made me that way."

Anna has a room at a convent and is engaged to Martin Bauer (Matthew Goode), a building engineer who is a great believer in science and technology. While working with Beethoven, she meets his nephew Karl (Joe Anderson), a nervous young man who has little interest in music. The composer mistakenly believes that he is a musical prodigy when all he really wants is cash for his gambling. Anna also spends a brief time with an elderly woman who lives next door to Beethoven and relishes the chance to be the first one in Vienna to hear his latest creations. It takes the copyist a long time to finally show the composer her own music and the response is shattering. Although Beethoven sees himself on a spiritual mission to share God's language with the world, he has not progressed very far in terms of treating people with loving respect. At one point, he confesses to Anna: "Loneliness is my religion."

The 1994 movie Immortal Beloved, directed by Bernard Rose, contains a transfixing sequence of flashbacks to the composer's childhood accompanied by the surging "Ode to Joy." Holland has created an equally amazing scene for Beethoven's first performance of the Ninth Symphony. The composer, now completely deaf, is conducting the orchestra while Anna sits in front of his podium, out of view of the audience, with the musical score and shows him the beat. In the process we are swept up in the emotional swell of the process. Anna becomes a collaborator helping the out-of-favor Beethoven to regain his artistic stride. Holland focuses on their faces as they mirror the passion and the power of the music. It is a magical ten minutes that is both visually stunning and soul stirring. ... (more)

Release date: 19 October 2006

Tags: Biography (7), Music (7), Drama (7), Historical (3), Vienna (3), Beethoven (3), 2006 (2), 2000s (2), Imagination (2), (2), MGM Studios (1), Love Is More (1), User Brother (1), Music Is Life (1), Music Composer (1), Bio-pic (1), # Eng (1), Ludwig Van Beethoven (1), Austria (1)

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cteddiesgirl added this to a list 11 months, 2 weeks ago

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johanlefourbe posted a review 1 year, 5 months ago

An average movie

“To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since there was a decent cast involved, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, I have to admit that I didn’t know much about Ludwig van Beethoven so it was definitely pretty neat to see a movie focusing on this great musical genius. Unfortunately, the movie itself was not really amazing though. Indeed, instead of focusing on Beethoven himself, they told the story from the point of view of Anna Holtz, a woman who helped with copying his Ninth Symphony. I won’t blame Diane Kruger, she was lovely as usual and she did what she could with the material but her character was just not interesting enough (the fact that Beethoven didn’t work at all with a woman as a copyist back then certainly didn’t help). There ” read more

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Copying Beethoven (2006) - A film by Agnieszka Holland - Trailer (HD 1080p)

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