Ludwig van B. – Meine unsterbliche Geliebte (1994)

Ludwig van B. – Meine unsterbliche Geliebte: Directed by Bernard Rose. With Gary Oldman, Jeroen Krabbé, Isabella Rossellini, Johanna ter Steege. 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.

“I loved this in the theatre and recently purchased it on video. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eGary Oldman portrays Beethoven with all the warts, near-madness, rage and passion intact. Unlovable almost, except for the sympathy and compassion engendered by his deafness which humanizes him. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe music is wonderful here and tries to explain the emotions behind the man. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe McGuffin of the plot hinges on a letter that was never received by his u0026quot;immortal belovedu0026quot;. I may have missed something along the way, but how did the narrator of the story get the letter ? That point aside, this is a well done story and captures the era perfectly. Iu003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003ebelieve Prague was used for the setting and it is beautiful. This movie could be a matched set to u0026quot;Beethoven Lives Upstairsu0026quot; another film which captures his turbulence and frustration and the triumph of his composition of his 9th. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAn 8 out of 10 for a very enjoyable movie.”