Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

ChicRawIdol A brilliant film that helped define a genre

PiraBit if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

Yash Wade Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

eudoxios75 Very nice movie with most interest focused on the film's music track, Ed Harris is perfect, mainly due to similarity he did the best he could and of course attributed the "quality" of Beethoven's character, Of course it could not and never managed to "identified" perfectly with the myth that incarnated. ( I don't know if anyone else could do better, maybe only Ian Hart which was the best "Beethoven" ever in my opinion).Diane Krueger as Cholts, is right, with internal dynamics that took no outward, deliberately, a modest quiet strength in front of the "God of music"! Remarkable how there isn't a love scene, something I respect a lot!

clanciai This is all fiction and an experiment, but not bad at all as such. The direction of Agnieszka Holland is admirable as always, her films are always more than interesting, and her challenge here is more out of the ordinary than ever. Ed Harris has been generally lauded extensively for his virtuoso acting throughout, and he deserves all praise, but so does Diane Kruger as the copyist. The concept of the film is bold indeed, inventing an impossible female copyist for the completely deaf Beethoven, and most of the film, just like in "Immortal Beloved", is a complete fake, but it makes a good film and a good enough complement to "Immortal Beloved". That film was completely convincing in all its fantastic speculations, while this is not: it's just not possible that Beethoven could have had a female copyist. So the whole film is based on an impossible concept, but it's a film, not a documentary or biopic or in any way a true story (except for the Karl bit), and on the screen anything is allowed. Joe Anderson as Karl is another asset, just like Jean-Louis Barrault in Abel Gance's monstrous failure of a Beethoven film, and Oscar Werner in the only perfectly good Beethoven film - a very interesting character as the one true victim of the tragedy of Beethoven and as such a success in every Beethoven film. Unfortunately, the weak point of the film is Ed Harris, who has got Beethoven wrong, no matter how much he tries to make the best of it, almost desperately over-acting his effort to reach the truth, which he never does. It's great acting, but it's not Beethoven. As I said in my review of the Austrian Beethoven film "Eroica" of 1949 - Ed Harris in all his virtuoso acting is but a shadow to the definite Beethoven of Ewald Balser.Nevertheless, it's a great film and a very interesting thought experiment. The highlight is of course the actual first performance of the 9th, in which the film gets closest to the truth - that's about exactly how it was performed - but for the female assistant.

violetta1485 No, it didn't happen that way, and yes, it's derivative, with the obnoxious genius trope from "Amadeus" and the young girl inspires jaded artist trope from "Girl with a Pearl Earring." Why is it still worth it? Because it makes you feel something of what it is like to write music--even if you don't write music. It also makes you understand what it is like to be around a genius, not just from the main (fictional) character of Anna, but even from minor characters, i.e., the neighbor who finds Beethoven a nuisance personally, but gets to hear all his music before anyone else. It also gives you some idea of Beethoven's matter- of-fact acceptance of his dual nature, that he can write such heavenly music while being an utter boor as a man.

tarosh rao I feel cheated as well as betrayed after watching "Copying Beethoven" as i had great expectations from this flick especially after watching "AMADEUS",a movie based on Mozart. I was really excited before seeing this movie as for me it was more of a battle between the two great musicians,Mozart and Beethoven. I had thoroughly enjoyed "AMADEUS" as it has been superbly made and the characters of Mozart and Saleri have been executed with sheer brilliance. However,in this flick there is no life to the portrayal of Beethoven and the movie was completely pivoted around his female Copyist which according o me made no sense at all and made the movie boring. Acting wise the movie is good but factually as well as emotionally the movie is completely unreal as i never felt any sympathy for neither Beethoven nor her Copyist. What was the need of creating all the hype about the female copyist when you already have a mind-blowing plot of Beethoven's later life struggle. The only good elements in the movie are the philosophical aspects of Beethoven,his dialogs full of substance and the heavenly music but again if u compare it with the way it has been shown in "AMADEUS", you will feel for yourself that its a no match to the completely power-packed,entertaining,gripping and soulful AMADEUS !!!!