Most of the biographical films of famous celebrities list the life experiences in detail: single-threaded descriptions such as the growing pains of early intelligence, the twists and turns of career success and failure, the colorful emotional experiences and the many fates. Zhu's personal legend...everything is like a personal resume for a job recruitment, or an epitaph on a revolutionary cemetery. For viewers who use it to commemorate or worship or gossip, it is inevitable to see too much. When I feel tired, a bird appears in my mouth. Therefore, according to the principle of "there is no road in the world, as many people take it...", when the "correct answers" (or interpretations of mainstream ideologies) of those celebrities are repeated so much that the audience loses a lot of box office After the performance was dismal, the filmmakers who were poor but wanted to change learned the magic weapons of "wrong interpretation", "misinterpretation" and "counter-interpretation" to win and turn around. Recently in the Mainland, there is a series such as "Joking About Someone" that has dominated the Mainland TV time slot for many years and is very popular. As far away as Hollywood, there is this film "The Eternal Lover" that makes bold guesses about Beethoven's life and attempts to solve one of the mysteries of Beethoven's life.
Speaking of Beethoven, children in the 1970s must be very familiar with it. His name appeared in our primary school textbooks since he was a child. However, the "ideological education course" that most prominently demonstrates its value is recommended. Every time the school launches an event calling for people to learn from Zhang Haidi, Beethoven will definitely be used as a human backdrop, and there will be another uncle "Ostrowski" running with him. These two guardians of the "physically disabled but strong" sect, after long-term propaganda and education by the ideological teacher human flesh loudspeaker, have misled me over time, that is, they have abandoned all the shortcomings and weaknesses of human nature and are made of special materials. , was born to live to realize lofty ideals. As the Supreme Directive teaches us, we are "a pure person, a noble person, a person who is free from vulgar taste, and a person who is beneficial to the people." Even Beethoven never married, and was promoted by mainstream ideology to the point of "maintaining his virginity for music." This can't help but make me, a person who pursues "low-level taste" and only thinks about what good food is on the table today on the way to school every night, to stay away from Beethoven, a music saint who does not eat the fireworks of the world. However, this impression was soon broken by a magazine called "Reader's Digest" one summer vacation. I believe that the young literary people of that time were all familiar with this magazine. It was a magazine with a sales volume comparable to that of "Story Club" and a style similar to today's "Vientiane". It generally focused on thinking about life, discussing ideals, and engaging in the bourgeoisie. Mainly composed of Xiaoqing and minor tunes, it was the reading guide and fashion symbol of the young bourgeoisie literary youth reserve forces at that time. It's quite like today's Zhang Ailing who goes to the village tree or must go to Starbucks once a week. To follow the trend, you have to follow the trend with style. At least reading "Reader's Digest" at that time was considered a style. So don't be idle during the holidays, and push yourself to become a qualified literary young man "free from vulgar taste". Finally, on the title page of a certain issue of Reader's Digest, a page usually filled with famous quotes, I came across Beethoven's three love letters, "To the Eternal Beloved." "My angel, my all, my me: you must feel the pain - alas, wherever I live, I wish you to be with me, and I will try to make it possible for me to live with you , What a life I have lived when you are not in front of me! ---I am followed by people's kindness everywhere, but I feel that I am not worthy of it and do not want it, but people's humility towards others makes me happy. My heart aches. When I look at what I am in the totality of the universe, and what the world calls the greatest person is, when I think that you may have only received the first news from me on Saturday or Sunday, I start to cry. ---You have love, too, but my love for you is stronger---Never hide yourself from me---Good night to you---Oh, God-- We are so close! Yet so far apart! Isn’t our love a real castle in the air? But it is as stable as the sky. "When such words full of passion and love come to me. , I was stunned. Is this the cold and violent Beethoven in my impression? Is this the Beethoven who "dedicated his virginity to music" and "struggled for the cause of human liberation"? "When I sleep in bed at night, my thoughts go to you, my eternal love. Some are happy, some are sad. Let's wait for the fate to listen to our words and wait for the result. Only living with you completely, I can live, otherwise, I would rather not live. Yes, we must do this.
""Besides sacrificing and not seeking perfection, there are other ways to make our love come true. You are not entirely mine, and I am not entirely yours. You can change this. ---My God, just look at the beauty of nature; be more relaxed about the inevitable ---love demands everything, and that's absolutely right, as I do to you, and you to me-- --I must survive for you and me..." Are these soul restlessness and emotional anxiety the same Beethoven who took music as his mission without any distractions? In view of the fact that before, my knowledge of love letters was limited to Xu Zhimo "I love you Momo" and Aunt Qiong Yao's "so painful and so melancholy" in "Love Letters". When I suddenly saw such a majestic love letter with religious beauty, I immediately felt ashamed of myself. This is a master of chasing girls. My affection for him grew sharply, and over the next many years, I began to slowly come into contact with his musical works and biographies, as well as various film works that reflected his life. The motivation was his three letters "To Eternity." "Love Letter".
Who is this "eternal lover" and who was so passionately and sublimely loved by Beethoven is still an unsolved mystery to this day. There are many opinions on this, but the academic circles have different opinions on this. Therefore, the film "Immortal Lover" takes a different approach and uses this as a clue, which is quite risky. And the highlight of this film is also there. How to find this "immortal lover" and how to justify it.
The film begins with Beethoven's funeral, and his student Schendler accompanied him to the end of his life while sorting out his belongings. Schendler discovered three love letters he wrote to his "immortal lover". According to Beethoven's will, his property was also bequeathed to this mysterious lady. In order to carry out the last wish of his late teacher, Schendler embarked on a search.
I. "When I reach the cold and most dangerous peak, my heart closes itself like a flower at night" - Beethoven and Julia
Video: The first stop Schindler visited was Countess Julia Chichardi in Vienna. Julia, who was in her twenties, rushed from Italy to her cousin's house in Vienna to listen. There was a concert by Beethoven that she had admired for a long time. There was a young and handsome man playing the "Pathétique Sonata" in the hall. Julia had to wait in the lounge because she was late. Just when she was bored, a man with short limbs and a handsome face appeared. The strange man suddenly appeared from behind the sofa and criticized the performer's skills. This encounter led to Beethoven becoming Julia's piano teacher, and the two quickly fell in love. While her honeymoon was still lingering, Julia's father received a proposal from Count Kalepok, the handsome boy who was criticized by Beethoven for playing the "Pathétique Sonata". Expressing that his heart belonged to him and he hoped to marry Beethoven, the father had to admit to his daughter that the public was already deaf to Beethoven, so he had to put Beethoven to the test in order to continue their relationship. In the name of testing a new piano, Beethoven was called to his house. In the empty hall, Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata" flowed from his fingers. He leaned down and put his ears on the keys to feel the flow of music. Julia, who was observing all this through the peephole next door, was also moved by this scene. Julia quietly walked up to him and put her hands on his shoulders, saying that her father would agree to his proposal. Beethoven, who had just been immersed in music, was furious at this moment. For the unruly Beethoven, this temptation was an insult and a plunder of his emotions. He left angrily, and the dejected Julia finally married the third-rate musician Count Kalebok. When Schendler took out the three letters "To the Immortal Lover", Julia was filled with sighs, but she was sure that she was not the "Immortal Lover".
Historical Facts: Whether Beethoven and Julia’s first encounter was as dramatic as Rhett Butler and Scarlett Scarlett, it is no longer possible to verify. But the cruel reality tells us that Julia's love for Beethoven in history was never as romantic as in the film. The two met in 1800 and immediately fell in love. In 1801, Beethoven told his friend Wigler that she was "a lovely and charming girl. She loves me and I love her. For the first time in my life, I feel that marriage can be a happy thing." But. He also had doubts about the future of this relationship: "Unfortunately, she is not of my class.
"Sure enough, Julia's feelings quickly cooled down, and she turned her passion to Count Kalepok, an unpopular aristocratic musician. The double blow of deafness and lovelorn put Beethoven in a desperate situation. After Julia and the count fell in love In 1802, Beethoven tried to commit suicide and wrote the famous "Heiligenstadt Testament" - "You people, treat me or let me be regarded as a resentful, crazy, Or cynical, they really insulted me! You don't know what's underneath those appearances!". Fortunately, this kind of despair and pain, both physical and mental, did not defeat him, as the will said" It's art! It's art that keeps me. Ah! Before I felt like I had accomplished all my mission. I feel like I can't leave this world. "As for whether Julia saw the three "To the Immortal Beloved", we don't know, but in her later years she fondly recalled him as "very ugly, but also very noble, with elegant emotions and training. "As for this famous "Moonlight Sonata", it was indeed dedicated to Julia by Beethoven. At that time, it was actually called "Piano Sonata in C sharp minor". Later, the German poet Lehrstab compared the music of the first movement to It was like the night on Lake Lucerne in Switzerland, so the clever publisher took "Moonlight" as the title of this piece and it has been passed down to this day. This piece uses love to soothe the anxious soul. With such tenderness as water, you can imagine that Beethoven was so passionately in love at that time. Julia. But the pain and despair that followed pushed Beethoven into a valley of isolation from the outside world. He closed his mind into his own world and only used music to communicate with the outside world.
II. "Between the lips and the voice, something is struggling desperately" - Beethoven and Anna
Video: Schendler came to Central Europe through Julia's guidance. Julia believed that this "immortal lover" was the Hungarian countess Anna. They met during a bad concert. At that time, Beethoven's conductor was in disarray because of his deafness. In the midst of the sound, Anna bravely stepped forward to help him out of the hall. At that moment, the two soul-connected people came together. The countess lived alone in Vienna with her three children, and Napoleon's iron heel to conquer Europe was crushed. Their peaceful life was destroyed, and the war took the life of her youngest son. To Anna who was immersed in pain, Beethoven gave his music, and he said, "Let us express it through music." After the war, Beethoven and. Anna and her two daughters lived in a manor. Anna told Schindler that the year she lived with Beethoven was the happiest time in their lives because they were inseparable from each other. The Count is the "God of Confession" and talks about everything to her. When Schendler was happy that he had found his "immortal lover" and decided to teach Anna the three letters, Anna rejected him. Anna thought that she was not the one. Mysterious lover, because she knew that there was always a secret lover in Beethoven's heart, so Schendler embarked on the journey again
Historical fact: The prototype of this Anna is the Hungarian noble Josephine von. Countess Brunswick, her relationship with Beethoven began in 1804. At that time, she was a charming young woman who had been married to a nobleman 30 years older than herself. She had recently become a widow with three children. Living in Vienna. Beethoven fell in love with her in 1805 and wrote her many love letters. But she made it clear that she was not ready to develop a further relationship with Beethoven. She said, "My love for you is beyond words." As one tender soul loves another," and stressed, "Can't you accept such an agreement? "Her relationship with Beethoven did not last long, and she married another nobleman in 1810. Seeing this, perhaps we will understand why Beethoven, who swept Europe in music, had many battles in love. In that hierarchical society with strict barriers, Beethoven, who was born in a humble family, had a vast heart, a noble soul and an exciting life, but he lost the right to love as a human being. Love, which was supposed to soothe lonely souls, became a kind of love. A dose of poison, emotional excitement like Beethoven, maybe you have to drink poison to quench your thirst.
III. "I love you, like something dark is loving" - Beethoven and Joanna
Video: After Anna's guidance, Schendler returned to Germany and visited Beethoven's sister-in-law Joanna, because the countess believed that Joanna was Beethoven's "immortal lover". Wife of late brother Jasper.
When Schendler took out three letters for Joanna to confirm, Joanna admitted that she was the "immortal lover" called in the letters. Schendler was shocked by this, so Joanna told the whole story. In their early years, Beethoven and his younger brother Jasper both fell in love with Joanna, the daughter of a furniture dealer, and pursued her. Soon Joanna became pregnant with Beethoven's child, and the two met at a hotel to elope. Due to heavy rain on the road, the carriage got stuck in the mud and could not arrive immediately. Joanna, who was waiting at the hotel, thought Beethoven had broken the promise and left. By some mistake, Joanna married Jasper. Beethoven believed that Joanna was a playboy, so he made things difficult for her and broke up with his brother Jasper. When Jasper died of pneumonia, Beethoven took his nephew, Karl, his and Joanna's illegitimate son, to raise him and train him to learn music. Carl was a young man with neither talent nor ambition. Under his uncle's prodigy training program, he felt suffocated and failed to commit suicide. Beethoven was in trouble both internally and externally at this time, but his late work "Ninth Symphony" still caused a sensation in the city. After listening to his "Ode to Joy" conducted by Joanna, she took the initiative to break the ice and visit the seriously ill Beethoven until he passed away peacefully. At the end of the film, against the background of the Fifth Piano Sonata, Joanna read the end of the letter in front of Beethoven's tomb, "It's time for me to go to bed now, don't be impatient, my love, today, today, I long for you to come with tears in my eyes, You...you are my life, my everything, then don't stop loving me, always yours, always mine, always ours..."
Historical facts: For any audience who knows a little bit about Beethoven's life, this plot design can be said to be outrageous. Only screenwriters like Hollywood, who are surprisingly successful, dare to make such bold conjectures. So far, there is no data to support this conjecture, and no critics have come out to agree with this design. Because Beethoven and his sister-in-law were historically incompatible, bringing them together was like sparks hitting the earth. His sister-in-law was a very unruly woman who had a bad reputation before marriage. After her husband's death, Beethoven fought with her for four years over the custody of her nephew. This became a major problem for him in his later years. He devoted a lot of effort to his nephew Carl, hoping to train him to become a musician. However, in order to resist his uncle's high-pressure policy, Carl actually committed suicide with a musket. As a result, he did not kill himself, but was seriously injured. This incident almost killed Beethoven. His health deteriorated in his later years. He even got caught in the rain while searching for Karl and developed pneumonia, which ultimately accelerated his death. This dark love story woven by Hollywood may be more suitable for the audience's curiosity. All I can say is that this kind of adaptation is too Hollywood and too un-German.
IV. "Joy, like the sun moving in that magnificent sky" - Beethoven's Love in the Sky
In fact, apart from the few women involved in this film, , historians have other speculations about the "immortal lover". For example, the famous "Alice"---Theresa Malfati. When she died in 1851, she still kept the manuscript of Beethoven's famous piano ditty, which was written "To Elise", and Elise was Beethoven's nickname for Teresa. There is also Antoni Brantano who was awarded Beethoven’s last three piano sonatas. And Emily Sebold, whom Beethoven once mentioned to his friends. In fact, Beethoven loved countless women in his life. Precisely because he has the delicacy of a poet and the passion of a musician, his need for emotion is particularly strong. As Zhao Xinshan said, Beethoven was a person with extremely abundant "libido". Some scholars believe that this "immortal lover" is not a specific woman, but a synthesis of Beethoven's inner ideal woman, a spiritual companion who is highly compatible with him and transcends the physical attraction of the mortal world. Beethoven's emotional changes are just like the changes in his music creation. From the early music conforming to the form and classical style, to the mid-term personal originality and classicism, turning to romantic style, until the late period breaking tradition. The restraint of form completely enters the romantic style.
Of course, in this movie we see not only Beethoven, but also him who we may not be able to see until we look back many years later - Gary Oldman. He looked at the noisy world just as he looked at Hollywood indifferently as an actor. The so-called hustle and bustle, the so-called ups and downs, are they not rehearsed and prescribed. He saw through it all at a glance, and that cold look made me finally remember him. Oldman is the kind of actor who shreds a script.
He sat quietly on the side, and the part of the movie that belonged to him slowly flowed by; he suddenly stood up, and the structure of the movie immediately became bumpy: the camera, the music, and the dialogue. All that's left is the wreckage, and we may realize it's over, but our first thought is that this madman is finally free. This lion-like Beethoven, this man who has struggled with himself, the world and everything all his life, for the talent that God gave him, for the stinginess of God that was not willing to let him reveal all the secrets, and for his clear understanding of this world. everything. Beethoven was so scorching, and Oldman did not abuse this scorching heat. He once again wrapped himself deeply, even though he was dripping with blood, and even though he was making waves, he looked at the world indifferently, just like looking at his own withered remains. Beethoven's genius is inseparable from his character. No "Philosophy of Art" can match his living example, which can prove that a person's destiny is first determined by his character, and secondly, it is subject to the consequences of his character. Out of options. As Lawson said in his "Theory and Techniques of Drama and Film": Drama deals with the characteristics of human character. This movie is like an oil painting, opening slowly. Oldman uses his acting skills to outline a Beethoven full of tension, one stroke after another. When the film came to an end, the deaf Beethoven (Oldman) slowly turned to the applauding audience. He was stunned, and then smiled softly: God is finally tired this time.
The film is coming to an end, and the director also intends to highlight Beethoven's creative innovation and personal emotional sublimation. When the dying Beethoven conducted the Ninth Symphony, he seemed to have returned to his scarred childhood: his widowed and unsuccessful father came home drunk every day and beat Beethoven severely. His father wanted him to practice piano and become a brilliant musical prodigy like Mozart. After being beaten, Beethoven quietly climbed into the attic and looked up at the stars. He ran towards the forest under the moonlight. In a pond that reflected the starry sky, he lay on his back on the water. The camera kept pulling up, and the water surface and the starry sky merged into one. Against the background of "Ode to Joy", Beckham was so beautiful. Fen melted into the entire starry sky. This section is the genius of the entire film, which fully demonstrates the unparalleled state of enlightenment in "Ode to Joy" that transcends the galaxy, transcends the universe, and transcends all material and spiritual supremacy. At this time, Beethoven no longer had the tension of "grabbing fate by the throat", and no longer had the unruly and sorrowful attitude. Near the end of his life, he conveyed his love for all mankind and his love for life. It is the love of space that transcends all worldly shackles and reaches eternal spiritual tranquility. His music points out the direction for the ultimate destiny of mankind, just like what is sung in "Ode to Joy", "Ah, look for him across the starry sky, God is in the sky!"
Fiction and reality, finally Once again, I passed through the map of life. With a map in hand, do we really know where we are going?
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I also transferred it, it’s a bit long but it’s well said