Our next film is 2006's "Copying Beethoven", which had an extremely limited theatrical release. It follows the story of a young musical copyist who arrives to help Beethoven reinvigorate his struggling career. The film's cast includes Ed Harris, Diane Kruger, Phyllida Law, Ralph Riach, Joe Anderson, and Matthew Goode.
Musical student Anna Holtz arrives for an assignment. When she presents herself to the person she's meeting, Anna is met with resistance. She can't possibly do the job because she's a woman. Anna assures the person that she is qualified.
He tasks her with working on part of a composition written by Ludwig van Beethoven. Anna is shocked at the prestigious name she's to be working with. She gets to work making corrections to the musical score.
When she's finished, Anna takes the finished product to Beethoven himself. She finds him hard at work on the piano. Unfortunately, she also discovers that he is extremely deaf and is having difficulty making the music flow.
She gives Beethoven the corrected work, and Beethoven agrees to work with her.
Anna finds that working with Beethoven has its drawbacks. He's extremely messy. He's also got a huge ego. "God whispers into the ears of some men," he says, "but he shouts into mine!"
And his deafness proves to be a hindrance to the project. Even the music classes he teaches lack the finesse of his other productions.
Anna decides to clean up Beethoven's apartment. However, she's quickly mistaken for a myriad of people. Angrily, she confronts Beethoven's nephew Karl. "Since I started this
job, I've been mistaken for a nurse, a maid, and now a prostitute!No more!" she exclaims.
When Anna helps to smooth things over with Beethoven's family, he comes to respect her, and the two begin a much better working relationship.
The evening of the production of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony arrives, and Anna is in attendance with her boyfriend Martin. Also in attendance that night is an Austrian archduke.
However, Beethoven won't go on without her. Anna hides herself in the sea of musicians and directs the composition facing Beethoven so that he can mimic her movements.
The audience is held in a state of rapture as the concert begins and the music washes over them.
At the conclusion, the audience leaps to its feet to express its appreciation for the music they have just heard. Beethoven is oblivious to the noise of the audience until Anna has him turn around to acknowledge the crowd.
After the performance, Anna gets up the courage to present one of her own compositions for Beethoven's thoughts. He hurts her feelings when he gives her his blunt and brutal opinion. Anna decides to leave Beethoven.
Realizing his mistake, Beethoven follows her to her lodgings and begs her on bended knee to come back to work with him. He presents her with her composition and some notes that he made, telling her it has promise and they can work on it together.
However, Beethoven isn't done meddling in Anna's life. He even comes between her and her boyfriend, architect Martin Bauer.
He and Anna have it out once and for all. Anna decides to give Martin up and pursue music full time with Beethoven as her teacher.
His deafness, however, makes any future productions of his disasters. When everyone walks out of a particular performance, Anna tries to comfort him. "I just don't hear it the way you do, maestro," she tells him.
Anna continues to work with Beethoven. She stays with him until the end, watching as his great musical genius fades with his life. Cast rundown:
Ed Harris...............................Ludwig van Beethoven
Ralph Riach............................Wilhelm Schlemmer
Joe Anderson..........................Karl van Beethoven
Matthew Goode.......................Martin Bauer And that's it for Copying Beethoven. The origins of this story are a bit of a mystery. Beethoven had two copyists who worked with him on his Ninth Symphony, and both of them were male. Artistic license was definitely taken with the addition of Anna Holtz to the story. As always, if you wish to leave a comment, please remember our posting rules.
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