Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #47150 in DVD
• Released on: 2005-06-21
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Classical, Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: German, English, Italian, Spanish, French
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 129 minutes

Customer Reviews

A Beethoven Must See
We may all know this piece, but to see the effect of this music on everyone from royalty to below-stairs staff lends insight into the music we could obtain no other way. The acting is awesome - there is a bit done by Timothy Piggott-Smith (Passage to India), perhaps a 60 second continuous take, that is Oscar-worthy all by itself and bears watching over and over, as the old warrior is overcome by the music's funereal second movement, perhaps recalling fallen comrades. Watch for it - it is overwhelming. And compare Jack Davenport in the role of Prince Lobkovitz here with his 180 degree role in (the real BBC)Coupling. Fennella Woolgar is suberb as his wife. Key, much of the acting here is of necessity done with facial and bodily expressions only, since the entire symphony is performed. Watch what fine actors can do without a word spoken. The musical performance is satisfying, because the actual musicians, not actors, are the players, and are duly credited. It is interesting to compare this John Elliott Gardiner reading with his on CD with the same orchestra - I swear, this is better! The only flaw - some may find the Beethovenian romance angle a bit hokey, but apparently even it is based on fact. A superb add-on is the entire work performed without break; the spoken parts are replaced by a look at what appears to be the original score. Only the BBC could have or would have lavished such production values and acting talent on one complete Beethoven Symphony. We are just glad they did.

Extrodinary insights
This has always been one of my favorite classical selections, and my favorite Beethoven symphony. I first stumbled into this movie near the middle one night just before turning in. Needless to say I ended up turning in much later.
My wife and I continue to watch this film from start to finish always coming away with a refreshed inner joy. The quality of the acting is superb, and the cutting from the orchestra to the characters throughout the house, and their reactions, adds so much to an old familiar piece. I highly recommend this to anyone who: loves music; loves film; loves Beethoven, and who loves a good story told well.
My only regret is that this format has not been applied to other such classics.

Entirely unique
Just to let you know where I am coming from. I am not particularly a Beethoven fan.

This movie which includes a complete playing of the 3rd Symphony is intended to put that piece in general and musical historical context. It accomplishes that goal in a startlingly unique and entertaining way. There is no other movie quite like this one.

The reactions of every one from scullery maids to princes are expressed non-verbally. Not all are entirely approving. By necessity the acting is subtly nuanced. The social system of the time is displayed in microcosm. The politics of non-French Napoleonic Europe are hinted at, and Beethoven is placed in the center of it. The whole is really ... quite moving. The essence is finally captured by Hayden when he comments after the performance, "From this day forward, everything is changed." And indeed so it was.

(PS: if you like rock music or the movie "Amadeus", don't bother. You won't like this.)