> home | dvd reviews | dvd archive  

IMMORTAL BELOVED 
Released by Roadshow Entertainment. Available to buy now.

A biopic much in the style of those romanticized 1940's movies such as Night and Day but probably aiming for an Amadeus type feel. While not quite reaching those heights this tale of the life and loves of Ludwig Van Beethoven does have some things going for it, not least the performance of Gary Oldman as Beethoven.

Heavily focused on what Beethoven's life could have been like the movie places particular emphasis on his relationships with three women, Johanna Reis (Johanna Ter Steege), Anna Marie Erdody (Isabella Rossellini) and Guilietta Guicciardi (Valeria Golino), one of these is the "immortal beloved" Beethoven wrote about just before his death in 1827 although no one which of the three he was referring to, one of the driving forces of the movie is the attempt by Beethoven's confidante Anton Schindler (Jeroen Krabbe) to discover the identity of this "immortal beloved".

Full of solid examples of Beethoven's music at its best the movie of course sounds great, it's just a shame the storyline is a little muddled. Only extra is a theatrical trailer.