Copying Beethoven (12A) ** (From Richmond and Twickenham Times)

Copying Beethoven (12A) **

1:07am Thursday 16th August 2007 in Leisure By ALISON ROWAT

Dir: Agnieszka Holland
With: Ed Harris, Diane Kruger

Ed Harris, a fine actor, is partial to playing great men. Having previously walked around in the shoes of artist Jackson Pollock and astronaut John Glenn, his subject here is Beethoven.

A big enough topic for any biopic one might think, but the composer is not the centre of attention. This being a film by Polish director Agnieszka Holland, who is known for placing the focus on female characters, the fictionalised account of the composer's last years is told from the perspective of a young woman who copies Beethoven's notes on to sheet music.

A very odd account it is, too. Twentieth-century feminism comes to 19th-century Vienna as Anna (Diane Kruger) attempts to tame the maestro at the same time as showing him she is a talented composer in her own right.

If this doesn't strike a jarring enough note, the film adopts a Janet-and-John approach to Ludwig. Rather than take it for granted that the audience might know he was deaf, for example, the script has Harris bellowing: "What?" over and over again.

The dialogue is littered with Americanisms - "I don't wanna play the goddamn piano!" Beethoven's nephew cries.

And there are lines so forced that they make the eyes water - "Loneliness is my religion," says Harris, managing to keep a straight face, which is not easy when you're wearing a false nose.

If you can ignore the silliness, there is a genuine warmth between Harris and Kruger - he crusty and driven, she sweet and innocent - early Vienna looks authentically grand and the music, when it eventually arrives, is sublime.