Review of Immortal Beloved (1994) by Fernando L — 10 Aug 2010

This was the film that made me LOVE Gary Oldman as an actor. (I've seen him in The Professional before this film, but it didn't made a big impact on me.) In this movie, he BECAME Beethoven, and his portrayal was perfect, presenting Beethoven as a very strong-willed and difficult man, yet a very vulnerable and damaged individual that you had no choice but to sympathize with the great composer.

This film singularly made me appreciate classical music. After watching this movie, I literally went out of my way to learn some basic facts about classical music. I was later disappointed to learn that the mystery of Beethoven's "Immortal Beloved" was never solved actually, and the ending of the movie was just director Bernard Rose's interpretation of who it was. Nevertheless, I still love this film.