RoR: Forum

I've always liked British period drama...and I am a fan of Jack Davenport. This movie ( I haven't seen it yet) reminds me of Impromptu. Hmm, I thought Beethoven had wanted to dedicate his "Emperor" piano concerto (No.5) to Napoleon, but I could be mistaken.

Post 1

Sunday, June 26, 2005 - 10:02pm

Watched it on TV the other week.

Didn't at all capture my idea of Beethoven (for which this old posting is still the major backbone). In this flick Beethoven was just a gratuitously surly hot-headed grump, wasn't he? But that's not right. There's supposed to be something deeper to the character within which we see that it is nobility through talent, not nobility through hot anger, which is his default position.

Three stars.

Post 2

Monday, June 27, 2005 - 2:57am

Hong - I think you will enjoy this drama. I haven't seen Impromptu but your review interests me.

Rick - I don't think he came over as unnecessarily grumpy, most of his anger was due to people criticising the work for not conforming to musical tradition (which Linz also alludes to in his article).

MH

Post 3

Monday, June 27, 2005 - 4:35pm

Sounds like a great film. Do you know about US availability?

---Landon

Post 4

Tuesday, June 28, 2005 - 2:50am

Landon,

Amazon seems to have region 1 DVDs.

MH

Post 5

Tuesday, June 28, 2005 - 4:44pm

Thanks for the heads up I'll have to remember it when I get caught up on bills.

---Landon

Post 6

Wednesday, August 10, 2005 - 9:34am

A fascinating semi-'bio' of Ludwig is Gary Oldman' version Immortal Beloved ('94) which is a bit similar to Shakespeare in Love in that it hypothesizes personal circumstances as a basis for some of his creativity.

LLAP
J-D

Post 7

Wednesday, August 10, 2005 - 2:30pm

Let me say that I appreciate the recommendations of SOLOists for movies. Impromptu was recommended not too long ago and it was excellent. I subscribe to Netflix and it is sooo convenient and inexpensive. I've just now ordered Eroica.

Sam

Post 8

Wednesday, August 10, 2005 - 7:47pm

Hi Sam,
I was the one who recommended Impromptu. Glad you liked it. I had thought that my tastes may be too eccentric for the crowd here.

Hong

Post 9

Wednesday, August 10, 2005 - 9:11pm

Hong:

No, your tastes are pretty much mainstream as far as I'm concerned. Have you got any more?

Sam

Post 10

Thursday, August 11, 2005 - 8:39am

Hi Sam,

I've put up a few movies I like very much here at solo, and most of them appear not widely known. Here are them:

CS Forester's Horatio Hornblower (1999, 2001, 2003) - (I know you like sailing, so you may already seen this one).

The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988) - Based on Czech author Milan Kundea's famous novel. Starring: Daniel Day-Lewis , Lena Olin , Juliette Binoche. Director: Philip Kaufman.

Maurice (1987) - Merchant/Ivory's adoptation of E.M. Forster's novel. Starring: James Wilby, Hugh Grant, Rupert Graves. Director: James Ivory.

And a couple of Chinese themed movies:

Eat, Drink, Man and Woman (1994) - Directed by Ang Lee (one of my two most favorite Chinese directors. He also directed Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility (1995) and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.)

To Live (1994) - (Warning: very sad and traumatic.) Directed by Yimou Zhang, the second of my two most favorite Chinese directors.

Yes, there are more...maybe we can talk about it some other time!

Hong

Post 11

Thursday, August 11, 2005 - 11:32am

Yes - the Hornblower series is very faithful to the books, which loved when a kid.

Post 12

Thursday, August 11, 2005 - 1:11pm