Summaries

Synopsis

Warning: This movie is extraordinarily susceptible to being spoiled.It is very similar to Citizen Kane in this regard. Please considernot reading past the 15th paragraph (there will be a warning) untilyou have seen the movie.

Immortal Beloved is a biographical account of Ludwig van Beethoven's(Gary Oldman) life and loves, in the form of a fictionalized treatmentof an enigmatic letter to his "immortal beloved" that was found afterhis death. (The letter, the mystery about the addressee's identity,and a great many other aspects of Beethoven's life, are treatedreasonably authentically in the movie. But the identity of the"immortal beloved" indicated in the movie should be regarded asfictional.)

The movie is structured like Citizen Kane---a mystery is revealed uponBeethoven's death, and the movie is a long series of flashbacksthrough Beethoven's life as his secretary and confidant AntonSchindler (Jeroen Krabbé) scours the countryside attempting to solvethe matter. The mystery is the discovery of an unofficial willfound among Beethoven's papers upon his death, bequeathing allhis property to an unnamed "immortal beloved", along with a passionatelove letter to her. Schindler vows to find out who she was, and thuscarry out Beethoven's last wish, keenly aware of how society hadfailed Beethoven throughout his life. He is opposed in this byBeethoven's surviving brother Johann (Gerard Horan) and Johann's wifeTherese (Alexandra Pigg), who feel that the estate should be theirs,based on an earlier official will, and as compensation for the abusethey endured from Ludwig.

Schindler (Anton Schindler really was Beethoven's secretary andassistant, and apparently really was as sycophantic in real life ashis depiction in the movie) sets out for the hotel in Karlsbad wherethe letter was sent. During this journey, a voice-over recites partof the letter, while the slow 2nd movement of Beethoven's 5th("Emperor") piano concerto plays. The letter explains his ardent lovefor this woman, while explaining that he has been delayed, by aserious coach breakdown, from seeing her.

The proprietress, Frau Streicher (Miriam Margolyes), tells him thatBeethoven had indeed come there many years before to stay with a womanwho had checked in earlier. This woman did not give her name, andcovered herself in a veil at all times. A letter from Beethovenarrived, and she took it to the room, along with a meal, after openingit to find out what room it should go to---"Immortal beloved" was notan adequate address. The woman apparently did not like the letter,because she checked out shortly thereafter. Then Beethoven arrived,saw that the woman had left, and went on a rampage, destroyingfurniture and breaking a window. An extensive search of the hotel'spast registry books yields the page on which the woman signed in, butthe name is illegible. Frau Streicher lets Schindler tear out the pageand take it with him.

Schindler then goes to see various women who were known to have beenpersonally involved with Beethoven, beginning with GiuliettaGuicciardi (Valeria Golino). She tells Schindler of her fascinationwith Beethoven, her desire to marry him, and his rather eccentric andboorish behavior. Because Beethoven was rumored to be extremely shyabout performing on the piano (the real reason was his approachingdeafness) she arranges to have a very new and expensive piano broughtto the house, and she tells Beethoven that everyone will be away andhe can try it out. He does so, playing the Moonlight Sonata while hishead is pressed against the top of the piano so that he can hear it aswell as possible. Giulietta, along with her father(Luigi Diberti), have been hiding an an adjacent room. She is somoved by his playing that she comes out of hiding, walks up toBeethoven without his seeing her, and touches him. Beethoven recoilsin horror, shouting "It is terrible to rob me in this way of my mosttreasured feelings". It soon becomes clear to Giulietta and herfather that Beethoven is deaf. Shortly afterwards, Giulietta marriedCount Gallenburg, another composer.

Schindler returns to Vienna and runs into Ludwig's brother Johann, whoreminds him that Ludwig cared only for himself, and wanted to controlother people to keep them serving him. As a case in point, when thethird brother Caspar (Christopher Fulford) (who had died earlier) wasto marry Johanna Reiss (Johanna ter Steege), Ludwig expressed hisstrong disdain for the union, making extremely crude statements: "Byall means, copulate with her. But marriage? Every farmhand in theregion has enjoyed her for free. Why should you pay more?" Justafter the marriage, Ludwig sends the police to their apartment,confronting them in bed and commanding the police to "Arrest thatwhore". Caspar shows the marriage license, and also explains thatJohanna is pregnant. Ludwig becomes bitterly estranged from Casparand Johanna for years after that. Johann explains to Schindler thatLudwig was just as strongly opposed to his own marriage to Therese,and just as abusive to them.

Schindler's travels then take him to Hungary for a meeting withCountess Anna Marie Erdody (Isabella Rossellini), who fills in a lot moreof the history. She had been present during the disastrous premiereof the Emperor Concerto, in which Beethoven's deafness made him unableto keep the orchestra together, and hence the world first trulylearned of his malady. Anna took him in at her palace, and they livedtogether for a few years. She said that those were probably thehappiest years of both of their lives, that she loved him, but thatBeethoven did not seem to truly love her. These years included thehorrifying siege of Vienna by Napoleon's troops, during which one ofAnna's three children was killed.

Schindler himself takes up the flashback narrative at this point,continuing his conversation with Countess Erdody. He describes howhe, as a budding violinist, first met Beethoven at a rehearsal of the"Kreutzer" sonata. And how Beethoven explained his ideas of themeaning of music, and that this particular piece is about a persontrying to reach his lover by coach, but the coach broke down inbad weather, causing great despair. Schindler did not realize at thetime that this was what would be described in the "immortal beloved"letter.

During this period, Beethoven became convinced that his brother Casparhad taken some of his manuscripts, and went to confront him. Theyhadn't spoken in 8 years, and things started off well, until Ludwigstarted forcibly going through Caspar's papers, and also referring toJohanna as "this foul slut you call a wife." A violent fight ensues,to the horror of Schindler, Johanna, and their 8-year-old son Karl(Matthew North). When Ludwig leaves, Caspar is profusely coughingup blood, and in fact dies a few months later. At the interment,Ludwig remarks to Shindler that Johanna seems to be seeing another manalready. "My brother's bed is not yet cold and he is climbing in."

Ludwig then takes legal action against Johanna, to take custody ofKarl, on the grounds that she is of low moral character. Just beforethe police take Karl away, Johanna tells Karl not to believe anythingthat Ludwig says about her; it is all lies.

Karl stays with Ludwig, who plans to make Karl into a great pianist.Ludwig relates to Karl that his own father had tried, unssuccessfully,to do the same with him, to make him the new Mozart. After Ludwig hadfailed at this, the flashback shows his father administering a brutalthrashing, and strongly suggesting that Ludwig's hearing loss had beencaused by this.

A further legal battle ensues because Ludwig suspects that Johanna isbribing people to allow her to visit Karl in secret. There is a highlypublic trial, and Beethoven even bribes Metternich (Barry Humphries),by promising to write an oratorio for him, a promise that he neverkept. Metternich intercedes on Beethoven's behalf, and he wins the case.

Beethoven's squalid living style and generally disagreeable characterare depicted at length. Karl, a young adult at this point(Marco Hofschneider), had been scheduled by Ludwig to give a publicpiano recital, and he tells Schindler that he is "at the end of histether." He knows that he is a very mediocre pianist, but Ludwig, dueto his deafness, can not, or will not, accept that. He also relatesLudwig's increasingly bizarre behavior, including incessantly singingsome tune, claiming that is the motif of a grand symphony. Karl singsit (badly)---it's the main choral theme (Ode to Joy) of the 9th symphony.

Schindler and Karl both go to Ludwig to talk him out of his plan.Beethoven verbally abuses Schindler, telling him to get out.

Karl, truly at the end of his tether at this point, takes a duelingpistol and attempts to kill himself. He is a very bad shot, andinjures himself but does not die. He is taken to his mother'supholstery shop. Beethoven and Schindler both go there. Karl writes toBeethoven (everyone was communicating with him by writing in notebooksor on small slates) "Never show your face to me again". Ludwig'sdesolation is complete. He is universally despised for what he haddriven Karl to. He is shown being physically abused on the street byyoung hooligans, who beat him senseless. The scene ends with himlying unconscious in the street.

WARNING: SPOILER COMING UP.

The biographical flashbacks end. Schindler explains to CountessErdody his reason for the visit; he needs to know who was the"immortal beloved" in the letter. The Countess says "The letter wasnot written to me." "Then who?" "It was she who came between us. Hecould not forget her." "Who is she?" "The answer was always in frontof you." She tells him, off camera, who she was. He gets into hiscoach, not knowing what to do. She says "Go to her".

Schindler is then seen entering Johanna Reiss's upholstery shop. Heasks to speak to her in private. She is quite cold to him, but heimplores her. They go upstairs. He asks to see a sample of herhandwriting. She continues to be hostile, but he persuades her. Hethen brings out the page from the hotel register and sees that thehandwriting matches. She demands to know what that page is. "A pagefrom a hotel registry in Karlsbad, signed by you. Did you ever meetLudwig in Karlsbad?" "You can hardly be unaware of the manner in whichI suffered at his hands. I find the question as insulting as it isimpudent. What are you implying?" Her hostility eventually subsides,and she explains that she had made peace with him, in her own mind,because of the Ode to Joy (9th Symphony.) "I could not hate the manwho could write such music."

The final three flashbacks follow. The first is the premiereperformance of the 9th Symphony. Beethoven walks up on stage at somepoint (another conductor was at the podium), and stares blankly at themusicians, being unable to hear the performance. He becomes lost in apersonal reverie. He is hearing the Ode to Joy in is mindduring this. He recalls an incident as a child when he ran away fromhis violently abusive father. He runs through the woods while the 9thSymphony plays. (This scene solves the problem of depictingBeethoven's deafness while treating the audience to his music. Hecan't hear the concert, but the Symphony is played as he runs throughthe woods in his fantasy.) He finally reaches a small pond, and, justat the big crescendo of the Ode to Joy, lies down in the water and isshown in a cosmic oneness with the heavens.

At the end of the cosmic scene, we are brought back to the concerthall. The Symphony has ended, though Beethoven doesn't realize it.The sound track has been turned off to depict his deafness. Theaudience is silently applauding, but Beethoven doesn't see them. Thenthe conductor turns Beethoven around, so he can see the audience, wholeap to their feet with loud and thunderous applause.

In the second of the final flashbacks, Johanna visits Beethoven on hisdeathbed, and he writes out a document transferring guardianship ofKarl back to her. They hold hands briefly in apparent awareness oftheir lost love.

Finally, Johanna tells Schindler "Yes, I once loved him. But heturned his back on me. I never heard a word from him. I was a fool.I never meant anything to him." "But, the letter." "What letter?"After a long pause, Schindler realizes that she never saw theletter. He gives it to her.

Schindler leaves, and we see her sobbing in the window as she readsBeethoven's letter to his immortal beloved. The slow movement of theEmperor Concerto is played one last time, with one last narration ofthe letter. The final flashback shows what had happened.

My angel, my all, my other self ... If we could be united, we wouldfeel this pain no longer ... Soon, we shall live together, and what alife it will be.

All the time that Caspar was courting her, she was actually sleepingwith Ludwig. He comes to visit Johanna at her upholstery shop. Sheis afraid that Caspar will catch them. He says that he can no longerskulk around like a guilty schoolboy. They agree to meet at a hotelin Karlsbad. She tells him that she is carrying his child. (Thatwould be Karl!)

She arrives at the hotel, but, because of a terrible storm, Beethovenis delayed. It is at this point that he writes the letter, and sendsit on ahead of him.

The journey was dreadful ... The coach had to go and break down onsuch a terrible road for no reason ... and now I am held upcompletely.

The letter arrives, and Frau Streicher places it on a food tray, butnearly hidden under a plate of pastry.

I have to see you ... However much you love me, I love you more.

Johanna takes the lid off a tureen of not-very-appetizing stew, andbecomes nauseous. (She is presumably experiencing morning sickness.)Because of that, the terrible storm, and the belief that Beethoven hasstood her up, she despairs of the situation and checks out. She neversees the letter.

I must go to sleep now. Be calm, love. Today, yesterday.What longing with tears for you.

Beethoven arrives, sees that she has left, and goes on a destructiverampage. He then picks up the letter from the floor, not knowing thatit had been nearly hidden. Since it had been opened, he assumes thatshe had read it and spurned him.

While still in my bed, my thoughts turn to you, my immortal beloved... I can live only completely with you, or not at all ... You're mylife, my everything ... Go on loving me. Ever yours, ever mine,forever.

In the final scene, Johanna visits Beethoven's grave, and the music turnsfrom the pathos of the 2nd movement to the triumph of the 3rd.