RyothChatty ridiculous rating

AshUnow This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Hadrina The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Nayan Gough A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Kirpianuscus a portrait of Beethoven. a not ordinary one. because, at the first sigh, it is a sketch. in fact, it has the virtue to become, scene by scene, a confession. not exact about the life of a great composer but about his forms of solitude, vulnerability, generosity and fears. and, a good part of the fascination about the looking for the mysterious woman, who was the choice of Beethoven, has as root the beautiful performance of Gary Oldman. not surprising, sure. but convincing at whole. for small gestures and for the dialogues. for a Beethoven who escapes from the circle of legend. for a sort of romanticism who seems be so realistic than has the status of history lesson. because , in fact, Immortal Beloved is only the story of a man. and his right to happiness.

Mr Black I've been looking for this film for quite some time and finally found a copy on DVD. I absolutely love the style of this film. The costumes, the buildings, the interiors is superb and really captures the Vienna of that era. I found a few flaws in this film. For some reason I couldn't follow the plot at the beginning. The girls goes to a concert given by the maestro,, and yet goes into another room and there is Beethoven! Turns out the guy playing the piano was not him, however the actors looks so similar I found it odd. This happened a few times in this film for me.. maybe it's just me. Also there are quite a few historical points that are not accurate. Beethoven was only 57 when he died. But the death bed scene at the beginning makes him like like he is well into his eighties. He wasn't that old. Also, one of the early scenes when he was still quite young hand him placing his ear on the piano just to hear the notes. But he wasn't that deaf at such a young age. His hearing was failing but far from being profoundly deaf. The story line is totally fictitious, which is fine. No one knows who the real immortal beloved was although there are some good guesses. It doesn't matter though, it is still a great story. Also, they try to explain that he was such a miserable person because of his hearing. But notes from the time simply explain he wasn't a pleasant guy to be around. All in all though, I thought this was a terrific period piece of exceptional production values, directing and performances. I wish they made more movies like this.

iamyuno2 I don't give out 10 star reviews very often, but this film is one of my very favorites - and not just because I'm a huge fan of Beethoven (because this film is about something much larger than Beethoven). This is a romantic tragedy on one level - and a real tear-jerker - but it is also brings to life the composer's times and the many fascinating people who surrounded him. The story is surprising on many levels and rises far above the typical movie about great composers. This movie is a great movie in its own right - from the script, to the acting, the cinematography (absolutely gorgeous), the directing, the camera work, and of course the music which is used naturally and to great effect. This is perhaps Gary Oldman's very best movie (and that's saying a lot, because he is, of course, a brilliant actor and great chameleon, able to play any kind of role) - you really believe you're watching Beethoven himself. And Jeroen Krabbe is incredible, too - what a moving performance he puts in as Beethoven's loving assistant. Isabella Rosellini puts in a fabulous performance, too, (perhaps her best) as does Johanna ter Steege. (If you didn't think Isabella was a fine actress because of her sometimes dubious choice of roles, you have to see her in this movie! Her mother would be proud.) Aside from biographical surprises, too, there are historical surprises you'll learn in this film - realities not brought out in those old history books you read in school. You'll find yourself recommending this film to all of your friends and relatives and wanting to see it again and again over the years. If you don't realize how great an actor Gary Oldman is yet, you must see this film.

rooprect This is the most creatively written historical fiction I've seen since Amadeus. Writer/director Bernard Rose did a fantastic job of piecing together scraps of history and filling in the blanks with an outrageously clever theory. Make no mistake; this is NOT a biopic. So don't think you can cram for tomorrow's Beethoven exam by watching this movie... your teacher will flunk you right out of the conservatory.But if you approach this film as a sort of "conspiracy theory", and if you have a reasonable--but not too precise--familiarity with the facts of Beethoven's life, you will be very entertained, shocked and intrigued at the story.Real quick historical synopsis: In papers found posthumously, Beethoven did indeed mention an "immortal beloved", much to the surprise of the world which thought him to be a solitary soul. The identity of this person has vexed historians for centuries, and speculation has been the cause of many a knock-down, drag-out fight amongst them (those historians can be pret-ty feisty). Here we have a possible explanation which pulls together several interesting episodes from Beethoven's life and weaves them into a believable plot. The historians can duke it out whilst we can enjoy the show.Gary Oldman, as always, delivers a fantastic performance which elevates this film to classic status. Sure, there are flaws in this film, but nothing that cannot be overlooked in light of the acting and of course the music. My only gripe is that the film focuses very heavily on plot (and rightly so, I guess), but in so doing, it sacrifices the poetry of the situation. We rarely get a good, quiet, reflective moment where we can look into the tortured soul of the composer. Instead we get plenty of fiery episodes and situational drama, which is good but can leave us exhausted after a while.Contrast this with the film Amadeus which breaks up the action with carefully crafted monologues and time to breathe & reflect. "Immortal Beloved" can seem like a fast paced action flick compared to that--but again I suppose the complex plot demands it. This is really a minor criticism. Although Amadeus needn't worry about losing its place in my list of best movies ever, Immortal Beloved is certainly worthy of playing in the same league.