Ludwig van Beethoven Movies
There are over 200 films which quote this father of modern music's iconic compositions, discounting broadcast and filmed concerts, productions of Fidelio, numerous newsreels, documentaries, and cartoons (Fantasia 2000), most notably the Symphony No. 5. The films range from travelogues (Grand Canyon, Pride of Creation; Bagur [Paraíso del Mediterráneo]), to suspense (Murder!, 1930; Polonsky's Force of Evil), to religious pieces (The Second Greatest Story Ever Told [TV, 1994]), to sci-fi and fantasy features (Kosmichesky reys [Cosmic Journey], 1935); also quoted is the Egmont Overture in The Fighting Devil Dogs (1938), TV's Charlie Brown specials, and Soylent Green; the hypnotic theme from Symphony No. 7 is used throughout Zardoz and Tarkovsky's brooding and subtle Stalker; there is the Sonata Pathétique in Star Trek: Insurrection; and the exquisite animation of the Pastoral Symphony in Fantasia (1940).Several excellent surreal features skillfully employ excerpts: Buñuel's L'Age d'or and Viridiana; the Symphony No. 5 in Fellini's elegant and charming Nights of Cabiria; the Emperor Concerto in Peter Weir's re-creation of a strange real-life disappearance in Picnic at Hanging Rock; the lighter-than-air mystery of Man Facing Southeast.
Beethoven, an ardent democrat, scratched out a dedication to Napoléon on the Eroica Symphony (quoted throughout Carmine Coppola's brilliant score to Abel Gance's three-screen Napoléon and in Gance's Un grand amour de Beethoven, 1936). It is therefore particularly apt that Beethoven's music accompanies anti-fascist films, such as Tank Convoy (1943), Tom and Jerry's The Yankee Doodle Mouse (1943), Band of Brothers (TV, 2001, episode 9, String Quartet Op. 131, 6th movement), and TV's Heil Hitler! Confessions of a Hitler Youth. Schiller's moving poem to universal humanity, the Ode to Joy, set in the last movement of the Symphony No. 9, backs up a Sony Digital commercial, is jived up with hip-hop rhythms in the Whoopi Goldberg vehicle Sister Act 2, underscores a guy celebrating his first successful date in Two Ninas (1999), accompanies gratuitous violence in Die Hard (which, as an in-joke, names the head gangster "Hans Grüber," the composer of "Silent Night"), and serves as a horrifying psychological trigger in Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange. The second movement opened TV's The Huntley-Brinkley Report (1956), and other movements are heard in Sophie's Choice, Nostalghia, Raising Arizona, and Shakespeare-Wallah.
The modest piano piece Für Elise is played, slowly and lyrically, by a disturbed Vietnam veteran (Emilio Estevez) to his dysfunctional 1972 Texas family prior to a violent outburst in The War at Home (TV, 1996); the piece is also heard in Rosemary's Baby, Death in Venice, Kiss Me, Stupid!, and six other films.
Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 8, o. 14, o. 23, and o. 25 and the Piano Trio No. 7, Andante Cantabile accompany a turning barber pole, a blackmail plot, the slow motion of people on a street, a car accident in slow motion, an electric chair execution, and a nice young woman playing piano in a dimly lit department store in the Coen brothers' The Man Who Wasn't There (2001).
Immortal Beloved (1994) movingly follows the composer's tragic love life as he slowly loses his hearing (his interior audio sensations imitated by resonant band-rejection filters with reverberation). ~ "Blue" Gene Tyranny, All Movie Guide
- 2008
This classical performance film finds acclaimed concert pianist Jerome Rose interpreting several sonatas by Ludwig von Beethoven, including Ops. 101, 109, 110 and 111. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jerome Rose
As mounted by The Dutch National Ballet to commemorate ballet choreographer Hans van Manen's 75th birthday, the aptly-named Hans Van Manen Festival brought together representative dancers from companies around the world, who pay homage to Manen by performing many of his best known and most acclaimed dances onstage. This release features highlights from that festival; performers include Larissa Lezhnina, Tamás Nagy and others from The Dutch National Ballet on Adagio Hammerklavier; Ivan Kozlov and Uliana Lopatkina from The Kirov Ballet on Trois Gnossiennes; and much more. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- 2007
- Add Concert in Honour of Pope Benedict XVI: Beethoven - Symphony No. 9 to QueueAdd Concert in Honour of Pope Benedict XVI: Beethoven - Symphony No. 9 to top of Queue
As mounted and performed at the Paul VI Audience Hall in The Vatican, in late October 2007, this classical concert by the symphony and chorus of the Bayerischen Rundfunk pays homage to Pope Benedict XVI interpretations of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 in D Minor and Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina's Tu Es Petrus . Benedict XVI also delivers a speech to the masses. Mariss Jansons conducts. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pope Benedict XVI, Mariss Jansons, (more)
- 2007
The Opera National de Paris mounted this production of choreographer Roland Petit's ballet Proust: Or How the Heart Skips a Beat, adapted from Marcel Proust's A La Recherche du temps perdu. The production stars Eleonora Abbagnato, Hervé Moreau, Stéphane Bullion and Manuel Legris and features music by such composers as Beethoven, Debussy, Fauré and Franck. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Eleonora Abbagnato, Hervé Moreau, (more)
- 2006
Filmmaker Jay Rosenblatt explores the connection between the religious right and the gay liberation movement in this short film comprised of television news clips, commercials, and the home movies of Anita Bryant. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Anita Bryant
- 2005
The Toronto Symphony Orchestra gets a new lease on life when new music director Peter Oundjian steps on board, and music lovers get to see a firsthand account of the creative firestorm that follows in this documentary from filmmaker Barbara Willis Sweete. A former classical violinist who studied under Itzhak Perlman before being forced down another path by a career-ending injury, the charismatic Oundjian caringly utilizes innovation, collaboration skills, and vast musical knowledge to steer the troubled orchestra back into calm waters while providing the musicians with the inspiration needed to truly refine their skills. In this feature documenting the early days of Oundjian's career with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, interviews with the musicians, candid footage, and performance footage all combine to tell the tale of a one man's tireless efforts to coax beauty from the edge of a deep abyss, and the creativity that it inspired. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Oundjian, Emanuel Ax, (more)
A friendly face masks the mind of a twisted serial killer in Spanish painter-turned-filmmaker Martin Garrido Barón's disturbing tale of a man who has finally succumbed to his most violent and murderous impulses. Antonio Frau (Fernando Acaso) has just been released from prison after serving 25 years for the murder of his former girlfriend. Upon inheriting a dilapidated motel from an unknown relative, Antonio determines that his sudden good fortune is a sign from God that he is to begin cleansing the world of those tortured souls who have lost the will to carry on. With a driving urge to achieve notoriety, Antonio sets about luring a series of naïve victims to room six for a series of grueling, blood-soaked purification rites which he meticulously documents in a diary of both images and the written word -- all the while hiding his heinous crimes from his unsuspecting new wife. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Fernando Acaso, Maria Jose Bausa, (more)
- 2004
Relax with this soothing treat for both the eyes and ears from Vox Music Groups' DVD Impressions series. Moonlight Sonata pairs visual imagery of seaside sunsets and moonlight with some of the best-loved classical music in history. Among the musical selections are Adagio Sostenuto From "Moonlight" Sonata by Ludwig van Beethoven, Claire de Lune by Claude Debussy, and Vocalise by Sergei Rachmaninov. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
Directed by James Toback, the erotic drama When Will I Be Loved? revolves around Vera, the debutante girlfriend (Neve Campbell) of a fast-talking hustler (Frederick Weller) who is on the verge of making millions through a big-money gambling venture. Feeling undervalued, Vera explores her sexuality through whatever means she can think of, including explicit discussions with a potential employer, picking up random men, and videotaping steamy trysts with her female lover. When Ford (Weller) proposes that Vera spend the night with Italian media mogul Count Tommaso (Dominic Chianese), who is willing to put up 100,000 dollars for the occasion, Vera concocts a scheme to show both men what her true worth really is. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Neve Campbell, Dominic Chianese, (more)
- 2003
French filmmaker and professor of music Denis Dercourt directs the family drama Mes Enfants Ne Sont Pas Comme Les Autres (My Children Are Different). Widowed cellist Jean Debart (Richard Berry) is strict with his two children in regards to their musical education. Teenager Adele (Elodie Peudepiece) studies the cello but yearns for some rebellious independence while 11-year-old Alexandre (Frederic Roullier) is firmly committed to playing the piano and observing his father's wishes. Their stern grandfather Maître Erhardt (Maurice Garrel) is an orchestra conductor and their uncle Gerald (Mathieu Amalric) is a less-ambitious musician who finds work making background sounds. Soon Adele finds herself growing away from her father's harsh rules when she meets fellow musician Thomas (Malik Zidi). ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Berry, Mathieu Amalric, (more)
Set in Germany in 1946, Taking Sides tells the story of the investigation of Wilhelm Furtwängler (Stellan Skarsgård), the renowned conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic and Vienna Philharmonic orchestras, by the American occupying army. Major Steve Arnold (Harvey Keitel) has been told by his superiors that they want Furtwängler convicted of being a willing participant in the crimes of the Hitler regime, by virtue of his supposed support for and support from the Hitler government. They haven't got the time or resources to go after every ex-Nazi, so they want Furtwängler, as the biggest cultural target they can hit. Arnold does his loud, boorish best to first humiliate and then attack the conductor over the supposed favoritism that he was shown by Hitler, Goering, Himmler, et al. and his conducting of a concert at the 1934 Nuremberg rally and at Hitler's 53rd birthday. Arnold finds, to his eventual distress but not dissuasion, that nothing is as simple as he would like to make it. His civilian secretary, Emmi Straube (Birgit Minichmayr), a concentration camp survivor whose father was part of the German Army plot to kill Hitler, and Lt. David Wills (Moritz Bleibtreu), a German-born Jew representing the War Crimes Tribunal, keep trying to remind Arnold that life and politics in Germany only deteriorated gradually after 1933, and in ways that couldn't always be anticipated by those who were there. Germans who chose not to leave weren't necessarily casting their lot with Hitler, but with protecting what was decent or even great about Germany, including her orchestras and music. Arnold knows nothing about music and even less about Germany and her people, and won't be deterred from his goal. Wills and Straube wish to resign from working with him, until they realize that they're facing the same choice that Furtwängler faced -- to leave a horrendous situation and have no way of affecting its conduct or outcome, or remain and do their best to stand up for decency and truth. In the process of doing that, they find out that Furtwängler is not only a great artist -- which they knew already -- but a great and brave man, who also has his flaws. The latter include an outsized ego that may have caused him to participate a little too willingly at times in the dangerous game he played of maintaining the excellence of Germany's musical institutions while protecting them (and also many musicians) from the worst ravages of the Nazi regime, at the same time also keeping lesser, more compliant figures from usurping his control. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Harvey Keitel, Stellan Skarsgård, (more)
- 2001
- Add Fireplace: Visions of Tranquility to QueueAdd Fireplace: Visions of Tranquility to top of Queue
From DVD International, the people behind Digital Video Essentials, comes Fireplace, a special DVD designed for viewers who want the experience of looking at a fireplace without the high costs and backbreaking maintenance. The images of a burning wood fireplace can be accompanied by three different audio tracks. Viewers can select from the natural crackling sounds of the fireplace: "Christmas Goes Baroque" featuring "Jingle Bells," "Silent Night," "The First Noel," "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen," and "O Tannenbaum"; or "Night Music" featuring songs from Mozart, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Pachelbel, Debussy, and Chopin. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- 2001
Conductor Claudio Abbado leads the Berliner Philharmoniker in recreating two of Ludwig Van Beethoven's most beloved works in this pair of performances captured live at Berlin's Philharmonie and the Academia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome. Compositions offered here include "Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, Op. 125 'Choral'" and "Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major, Op. 55 'Eroica'". ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- 2001
- Add Claudio Abbado/Berliner Philharmoniker: Beethoven - Symphonies 4 & 7 to QueueAdd Claudio Abbado/Berliner Philharmoniker: Beethoven - Symphonies 4 & 7 to top of Queue
This concert performance by the Berliner Philharmonkier features Beethoven's Symphony No. Four and Symphony No. Seven. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide
- 2001
- Add Claudio Abbado/Berliner Philharmoniker: Beethoven - Symphonies 1, 6 & 8 to QueueAdd Claudio Abbado/Berliner Philharmoniker: Beethoven - Symphonies 1, 6 & 8 to top of Queue
This performance by the Berliner Philharmoniker under the conduction of Claudio Abbado consists of Beethoven's Symphony No. 6 in F Major, Op. 68, ymphony No. 1 in C Major, Op. 21, and Symphony No. 8 in F Major, Op. 93. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide
- 2001
- Add Claudio Abbado/Berliner Philharmoniker: Beethoven - Symphonies 2 & 5 to QueueAdd Claudio Abbado/Berliner Philharmoniker: Beethoven - Symphonies 2 & 5 to top of Queue
Recorded at Rome's Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, this release from EuroArts features the world-renowned Berliner Philharmoniker performing under conductor Claudio Abbado. The February 2001 concert includes renditions of the legendary Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 36 and Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- 1999
- G
- Add Fantasia 2000 to Queue
Initially released to IMAX theaters at the crescendo of millennial fever and 60 years after the original Fantasia, Fantasia 2000 was meant to revitalize Walt Disney's goal of a constantly evolving film, with new segments replacing old ones with each re-release. Only The Sorcerer's Apprentice remains, with seven new shorts. Angular, abstracted butterfly-like shapes fly through the air in Beethoven's Symphony No. 5; computer-animated whales take flight in Respighi's Pines of Rome; Al Hirschfeld's caricatures of New York life come alive in George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue; Hans Christian Andersen's The Steadfast Tin Soldier is retold with computer animation against Dmitri Shostakovich's Piano Concerto No. 2, Allegro, Opus 102; frantic flamingos try to stop their yo-yoing comrade in Camille Saint-Saëns' Carnival of the Animals, Finale; Donald and Daisy Duck play Noah and his wife trying to manage the ark to Sir Edward Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance; and the cycle of life, death, and rebirth are celebrated in Stravinsky's Firebird Suite. ~ Emru Townsend, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Steve Martin, Itzhak Perlman, (more)
