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Movies / On DVD / Copying Beethoven
Copying Beethoven

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Copying Beethoven (2006)

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Reviews Counted:78

Fresh:20

Rotten:58

Average Rating:4.7/10

Consensus: A pretentious historical drama that's ultimately a drag, despite Ed Harris' powerful performance.

Rated: 12A [See Full Rating] for some sexual elements.

Runtime: 1 hr 44 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:17-08-2007

Synopsis: Classical music aficionado or no, it's tough not to be moved by the soaring notes of Ludwig van Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. The work stands as both a defining highpoint in the composer's career and... Classical music aficionado or no, it's tough not to be moved by the soaring notes of Ludwig van Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. The work stands as both a defining highpoint in the composer's career and a dynamic and beguiling legacy of its era. An imaginative exploration of Beethoven's life in his final days working on the Ninth, Copying Beethoven draws inspiration from the music itself. Directed by acclaimed filmmaker Agnieszka Holland, the film is both thrilling and romantic. It is 1824. The composer, played brilliantly by Ed Harris, is racing to finish his new symphony. However, it has been years since his last success and he is plagued by deafness, loneliness and personal trauma. A copyist is urgently needed to help the composer finish in time for the scheduled first performance - otherwise the orchestra will have no music to play. Insightful young conservatory student and aspiring composer Anna Holtz (Diane Kruger) is recommended for the position. The mercurial Beethoven is skeptical that a woman might become involved in his masterpiece but slowly comes to trust in Anna's assistance and in the end becomes quite fond of her. By the time the piece is performed - a moment in history captured in an exquisitely moving shot from Anna's perspective, as she sits on the orchestra floor helping the deaf Beethoven to keep time - her presence in his life is an absolute necessity. Her deep understanding of his work is such that she even corrects mistakes he has made, while her passionate personality opens a door into his proud, private world. Harris is no stranger to bringing iconic, larger-than-life figures to the screen; his lead performance in Pollock was a masterful exploration of a tormented but talented artist. He channels a similar esprit here: his Beethoven is ribald and volatile, vulnerable and, ultimately, endearing. He is matched in intensity and skill by Kruger, who makes the young Anna both an enraptured apprentice and a paragon of willful female independence and ambition. These two characters break down barrier after barrier, and the result is a harmonious wonder. --© SKE Films [More]

Starring: Ed Harris, Diane Kruger, Matthew Goode, Phyllida Law

Starring: Ed Harris, Diane Kruger, Matthew Goode, Phyllida Law, Nicholas Jones, Joe Anderson

Director: Agnieszka Holland

Director: Agnieszka Holland
Screenwriter: Christopher Wilkinson, Stephen J. Rivele
Studio: MGM

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Reviews for Copying Beethoven

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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You can mock this film if you like, but it remains watchable throughout. And the ears have it when the eyes don't.

Full Review Source: This is London | comment Comment
08/17/07
Derek Malcolm
Derek Malcolm
This is London

As wooden as a piano stool.

Full Review Source: thelondonpaper | comment Comment
08/17/07
Neil Smith
Neil Smith
thelondonpaper
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

If the composer's shade could hear the words this script has put in his mouth it really would be a case of "roll over, Beethoven", right there in his grave.

Full Review Source: Independent | comment Comment
08/17/07
Anthony Quinn
Anthony Quinn
Independent

A great example of that time-honoured genre, the biopic so silly it plays like a spoof.

Full Review Source: Daily Telegraph | comment Comment
08/17/07
Tim Robey
Tim Robey
Daily Telegraph
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Amateurishly written, scarcely acted tosh.

Full Review Source: Financial Times | comment Comment
08/17/07
Martin Hoyle
Martin Hoyle
Financial Times

A fatuous, bafflingly imagined tale of the unhappy and unwell Beethoven and his ordeal in preparing the Ninth Symphony for its premiere.

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
08/17/07
Peter Bradshaw
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Diane Kruger is the most appealing scenery in this rose-tinted nonsense.

Full Review Source: Times [UK] | comment Comment
08/17/07
James Christopher
James Christopher
Times [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

No amount of grandstanding from Harris can animate this turgid mishmash of musical biopic and May-December romance.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
08/17/07
Neil Smith
Neil Smith
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Boring and pointless.

Full Review Source: Daily Mail [UK] | comment Comment
08/17/07
Christopher Tookey
Christopher Tookey
Daily Mail [UK]

Like the wrinkled buttocks he flashes at Kruger, however, this portrait of the artist could use some tightening up.

Full Review Source: Total Film | comment Comment
08/17/07
Neil Smith
Neil Smith
Total Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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’.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
08/17/07
David Jenkins
David Jenkins
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Brief bursts of passion aside, this is a lifeless facsimile of the great artist's last days.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
08/17/07
Patrick Peters
Patrick Peters
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A dull and uninspiring film, despite Harris' best efforts.

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
08/16/07
Matthew Turner
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon

A great soundtrack is drowned out by a lot of tedious harping on.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
08/14/07
Stella Papamichael
Stella Papamichael
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

While much of this film is intriguing and nicely performed, it also feels rather strained and corny.

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
05/31/07
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

The once promising Polish director Agnieszka Holland ("Olivier, Olivier") stumbles with this muddled story about Anna Holtz (Diane Kruger), a 23-year-old composition student sent to 1824 Vienna to transcribe sheet music for the demanding and cruel Ludwig

Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com | comment Comment
04/24/09
Cole Smithey
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Hollywood.com | comment Comment
11/20/08
Fred Topel
Fred Topel
Hollywood.com

Does the portrayal stray dangerously close to parody at times? Of course.

Full Review Source: LYTRules.com | comment Comment
07/19/07
Luke Y. Thompson
Luke Y. Thompson
LYTRules.com

Enough to keep the interest going -- and one sequence that raises the film to a level many better films never dream of attaining.

Full Review Source: Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) | comment Comment
06/20/07
Ken Hanke
Ken Hanke
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

Beethoven turns out to be like every obnoxious self-absorbed creative type you've ever met

Full Review Source: Village Voice | comment Comment
06/13/07
Luke Y. Thompson
Luke Y. Thompson
Village Voice
 
 
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Latest News for Copying Beethoven

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