Word: beethovens
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...story of Beethoven's tormented love life seems to have the potential to titillate. Rose takes his cue from a real love letter written by the composer on his death bed. (Scholars have been unable to determine the true identity of the "immortal beloved" to whom the letter was addressed.) Anton Schindler is the heroic detective in the film's search for the mystery woman. Schindler (Jeroen Krabbe) is Beethoven's miserably earnest friend...
...soon discover that there were many women in Beethoven's life. Rose gives us shrews and muses, peasant girls and busty countesses as well as the obligtory nude romp through a picturesque garden. Unfortunately, these feeble attempts to sex up the story fail to make it any more compelling...
Gary Oldman, who hasn't had a decent movie role since he played Rosencrantz (or was it Guildenstern?), seems suited to the role of Beethoven. The actor embodies the right combination of anger and sensuality, but he's no match for the movie's ludicrous plot and bad dialogue. The film never permits him to excercise the wonderful sense of irony that underlies his best performances. The reptilian Oldman is forced to sit around in a bad wig reminiscent of the worst excesses of J.J. Jimmy Walker. Mostly, he purses his lips and sulks...
Isabella Rosselini and Valeria Golino, who play two of Beethoven's mistresses, suffer the similar fate of not having much to do. The audience is lead to belive, as Schindler does, that one of them is the "immortal beloved," and director Rose wastes a great deal of time with boring subplots concerning their lives...
...real heart of the film is the composer's relationship with his sister-in-law (Johanna Ter Steege) and her son, of whom Beethoven eventually gains custody. However charming, it doesn't win us over. The film's climactic revelation comes too late. Who on earth is the immortal beloved? Who cares...