In Search of Beethoven is essentially a biography. Through studies of his music and fragments of letters written by Beethoven, the film traces the chapters of his life and his growing musical prowess.
I saw this film at the start of last month at the Barbican London. Having been impressed the directors previous offering In Search of Mozart, I was looking forward to see what In Search of Beethoven had to offer.
It must be an exceptionally rare person, who is not moved by Beethoven's music. Thus, a film, like this, that includes lots of his music, in some very good performances, is bound to please many.
Philip Grabsky, whose film In Search of Mozart was one of the highlights of last years' Vancouver International Film Festival, has returned this year with an investigative study of the great 19th century German composer Ludvig Van Beethoven. The documentary, In Search of Beethoven, seen at a VIFF pre-screening, follows the same linear framework as the film about Mozart, sampling sequential compositions of the artist while interspersing the comments of performers, conductors, composers, and music historians such as Emanuel Ax, Hélène Grimaud, Louis Langrée, and Roger Norrington.
For anyone who has a passion for classical music,and especially for the music of Ludwig Van Beethoven,this film is for you. Director Phil Grabsky,who previously traveled down this avenue before a few years ago with the ever so fine,'In Search Of Mozart',takes us on a journey to tell the tale of a man possessed by genius (but not without a price).
In Search of Beethoven was metaphorically a personal search for the substance of a musical genius for which I knew only superficial facts. Diane and I both thought the film was superb in allowing the viewer into this man's life and did this search primarily through his music.
A fascinating story, very well structured and put together in a narrative sense, but very lacking cinematically. I imagine it would work well as a two-parter for TV, but in the cinema, after two hours, I was longing for some relief from the (almost all) poorly composed close-ups of the (very interesting) interviewees, from the constant shots of twigs and of wintry rural miscellany, and from the unimaginative coverage of musical performances.
I was somewhat disappointed with the Mozart episode after I watched this one. I enjoy Mozart's music more than Beethoven's, but this 'In Search Of...
