In Search of Beethoven is essentially a biography. Through studies of his music and fragments of letters written by Beethoven, the film traces the chapters of his life and his growing musical prowess.In the beginning of the film, there is an assertion that Beethoven might be the greatest composer of all time. The film sets about making its case and--no surprise--it is fairly successful. No one seriously doubts the prodigious talents of Ludwig van. Nevertheless, the film places his musical development within the historical happenings of Europe, helping the viewer to better understand the forces that were at play in his life. His life touched the lives of other great composers, Napoleon, and Goethe, for example. And these contacts helped shape his musical career.As someone who was fairly knowledgeable about Beethoven's circumstances, I still found the film entertaining. The timeline of his life helped to clarify. And the numerous performances of Beethoven's music illustrated his genius and his extraordinary creativity.The film makes the case that though Beethoven's life was tragic with regard to his health and his romantic choices, he was ever the optimist--a well-supported position that I consider a pleasing discovery.However, am I the only viewer who thought that the Ninth Symphony was represented by a somewhat weak performance (maybe because that orchestra was dedicated to performing in the style of the piece's time, without anachronisms)?Those who enjoy classical music or Beethoven's works should appreciate this film. Anyone who wants to learn about western classical music should find the film informative.

A fascinating story, very well structured and put together in a narrative sense, but very lacking cinematically. I imagine it would work well as a two-parter for TV, but in the cinema, after two hours, I was longing for some relief from the (almost all) poorly composed close-ups of the (very interesting) interviewees, from the constant shots of twigs and of wintry rural miscellany, and from the unimaginative coverage of musical performances. There are far too many close-ups of instruments being played, without a wider perspective, or a contextual association.. geography. And why were almost all the talking-head shots framed to exclude people's hair, yet include much of their shirts? Was it because the director hadn't thought of subtitles and had to reconfigure the compositions in post-production? The most extreme close-up was of a man with unfortunately large ears. There are more flattering ways to photograph such people; and the audience is more likely to pay attention to what he is saying, and not stare at his ears. For Mr Grabsky's next film, may I suggest - if he can afford it - hire a full-time cameraman, someone who sees stories visually. This is a great story, but not a very good-looking one.

Philip Grabsky, whose film In Search of Mozart was one of the highlights of last years' Vancouver International Film Festival, has returned this year with an investigative study of the great 19th century German composer Ludvig Van Beethoven. The documentary, In Search of Beethoven, seen at a VIFF pre-screening, follows the same linear framework as the film about Mozart, sampling sequential compositions of the artist while interspersing the comments of performers, conductors, composers, and music historians such as Emanuel Ax, Hélène Grimaud, Louis Langrée, and Roger Norrington. Performed in the film are snippets of all of Beethoven's nine symphonies, five piano concertos, his only violin concerto, his opera Fidelio, several piano sonatas including the famous "Moonlight" sonata, and several sonatas for violin and piano, beautifully performed by seventeen orchestras, fourteen pianists, four cellists, six singers, and one string quartet. It is a veritable aesthetic feast.The 138-minute documentary (cut from fourteen hours) explores a unique individual who, while a transformative figure whose music was capable of evoking ecstatic emotions, was a dark, reclusive, and almost unfathomable individual whose cantankerous personality and battles with his growing deafness are legendary. Grabsky follows Beethoven's life from his birth in Bonn in 1750 as the son of a court musician to his adulthood in Vienna where he was quickly recognized as one of the city's most promising musical talents. Developing a reputation as a piano virtuoso, his performing abilities were in great demand yet he also began to be known as a drinker with a personality that could be surly.With the onset of deafness and a growing frustration with his inability to develop a satisfying and lasting relationship with a woman, Beethoven became depressed and even thought of suicide. In his Heiligenstadt Testament written in 1802 to his brothers Johann and Carl and discovered after his death, he declared that he rejected suicide only because he had to fulfill his destiny to share his music with the world. David Dawson from the Royal Shakespeare Company reads from Beethoven letters, some of which illuminate the composer's state of mind, explore the nature of his illnesses, and discuss his obsessive desire to gain custody of his nephew Karl. The film also mentions the composer's growing indifference to social conventions including the unkempt condition of his person and his general misanthropy, though attempts are made to put his personality problems into perspective.Unfortunately, however, the spiritual side of Beethoven's nature is left mostly unexplored. Although Grabsky does point out the ethereal nature of some of his later piano sonatas and string quartets, the connection is only tentatively made between his heroic struggle against the afflictions of his life, his ultimate acceptance of them as necessary to his creativity, and the sublime nature of his final works. I would have loved to hear Beethoven quoted in the film saying (as he does in the biography "Beethoven: His Spiritual Development" by J. W. N. Sullivan), "I must despise a world that does not know music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy, the wine which inspires one to new generative processes. I am the Bacchus who presses out this glorious wine for mankind and makes them spiritually drunken." In spite of its limitations, however, In Search of Beethoven takes us beyond the stereotypes of the dishevelled, out-of-control genius and the clichés of films like Immortal Beloved, providing a context to appreciate both the music and the man and the enormous revolution his genius engendered. Conductor Fabio Luisi of the Vienna Symphony Orchestra says it this way: "I have two impressions of Beethoven: a large brain and an equally large heart. These two elements often fight against each other, but frequently they love each other, too. There is so much love, so much empathy and ability to endure suffering. All this comes from his heart."

It must be an exceptionally rare person, who is not moved by Beethoven's music. Thus, a film, like this, that includes lots of his music, in some very good performances, is bound to please many. However, it did not live up to the advertisement, which drew me to the Siskel Film Center to see Grabsky's opus, and which promised new insights into the life of this musical god. I think that the film tries to cover too much, and ends up being fragmentary and rehashing old ground. Even a film that is 139 minutes long, cannot adequately encompass most of Beethoven's life and music, as this documentary attempts to do. There are a few revealing insights, like the story of the young Beethoven's attempt to con his teacher, Haydn, into interceding with the Elector of Bonn to increase Beethoven's stipend, when he was studying in Vienna. But even this (new to me) story is not used to try to explain more about Beethoven. For the most part, this is a static film, that relies on talking heads and interminable footage of Beethoven's familiar portraits. One of the few talking heads, who actually has interesting things to say about Beethoven's music, and who also reveals himself as a very human, self-deprecating artist, is Emanual Ax. Too many others offer no special insights, and only mouth the same tired platitudes. In summary, this film is enjoyable for the music, but don't expect to learn many new insights about this great composer.