An awkward, ridiculous, pathetic interpretation! Beethoven loved only music and himself. He hated his father. He hated all women and all children because they were mere distractions from his work. The immortal beloved is music. That is the truth. Script 4 Director 4 Actor play 8 Gary Oldman 5 the others subtotal 6.5 Entertainment 7 (6 nice decorations and costumes +1 for scene of Starlight sky) TOTAL 5

I was very much looking forward to this, i always watch with an open mind and enthusiasm. That enthusiasm slowly waned, i found this one of those films were i kept asking myself " Did i miss something? ". I thought maybe it would start when Beethoven was younger, no it did not, well ok. There seemed to be lots of gaps and things left unexplained or left to your imagination, ah but i hear you say, that was the whole point of the film!. The acting was good but the storyline was trite.

For me - Beethoven stands alone in his genre - especially for his time. Too many historians worry about minute details in a famous person's life - and discredit stories that take a more artistic approach to revealing something about that person.No one knows all there is to know about a man from the 18th and 19th centuries - especially about his inner soul and what drives him to brilliance and raging behavior. The idea that there could have been someone unknown is enticing, and the concept of a film telling about Beethoven through the eyes of others is not a new one, but a format that allows more flexibility. I personally am glad they took this approach. Character development was therefore much more interesting.Oldman's performance was brilliant - and as is often the case with Oldman - you come to feel you are really watching Beethoven. The other personalities also were developed well - and his music was shown in the context of his times - sometimes harsh (his father's beatings) - sometimes tumultuous (the Napoleonic Wars) - sometimes full of love ( the women in his life who did adore him), - and sometimes driven by personal disappointment and anger (the onset of deafness and possibly an unrequited love.....) Beethoven took music to the next level - adding emotion to the beauty and structure already employed by others..... Some are shocked when I say that he was like the Led Zeppelin of the 19th Century - evoking new responses from listeners then, and still one of the few classical composers that you can play for anyone today and they will say "WOW!". Even those who really aren't fans of this kind of music. That is why they chose the 9th Symphony to celebrate the new millennium in 2000 GLOBALLY. Beethoven is universal and timeless. The movie is a wonderful way of sharing a moment with the maestro.

After Beethoven died, love letters he had written to his "Immortal Beloved" were discovered. The name of the Immortal Beloved was not included in the letters. That all makes sense.However, in this film what is found is not letters but a will - in which Beethoven leaves his estate to his Immortal Beloved, but does not tell anyone who she is. Does that make sense to anyone? If he really wanted to leave her his estate, wouldn't it have occurred to him that it maybe it might have been a good idea to identify her by name?Are we supposed to think we was an idiot? Are we, perhaps, supposed to think he wrote the will while suffering from dementia? I can't think of any other reason why he would make a bequest to someone he declined to identify.