Structuring the plot around narrations by Beethoven's lovers as well as letters written by Beethoven provide sympathetic descriptions of the events that occur by emphasizing the emotions behind the scenes. The verbal narration allows Bernard Rose to tell the audience what to feel. For example, the scene where he meets Anna Maria Erdody for the first time is narrated by Anna herself. She begins the scene by saying " they way they treated him was awful." Through this narration, Bernard Rose prepares the audience for the humiliation Beethoven will experience in the scene as a result of his handicap. By prefacing the scene with Erdody's description of what happens, the audience enters ready to feel sympathetic towards Beethoven. The harshness of the scene that follows illustrates Beethoven's struggles with publicly handling his deafness. This scene depicts his struggle in a realistic manner, creating a sensitive moment that does not glorify his condition. By utilizing voice-over narration, Bernard Rose communicates the emotion of the scene without forcing Beethoven to come across as a weak character. In this way Beethoven remains strong, allowing the narration to generate the audience's sympathy for him. Another example occurs when Anton Shindler reads Beethoven's letters aloud, revealing Beethoven's deepest thoughts and insights to the viewers. Through these letters Bernard Rose relays the emotions of Beethoven to the audience, avoiding a sappy scene in which Beethoven has an emotional breakdown in order to reveal his thoughts. The narration allows for the feeling to be communicated without Beethoven's acting out of character. The audience gets a better feeling of the inner workings of Beethoven without Beethoven's breaking out of the self-imposed isolation that has resulted from his hearing loss. The narration acts as a road map in the wide range of emotions depicted in the film, guiding the viewer to a deeper understanding of Beethoven.

Bernard Rose solidifies the connection between the audience and Beethoven's character through key moments of silence which allow the viewer to experience Beethoven's hearing condition. The powerful music of Beethoven serves as the soundtrack of the film. The strength and beauty of the music captures the attention of the audience. However, the few moments of silence Bernard Rose utilizes accent Beethoven's condition. These few moments communicate more of Beethoven's internal struggle than the array of pieces used throughout the film. In these key moments, the viewer gets a feeling for what Beethoven had to struggle through. As critic Roger Ebert points out, "Beethoven writes to Schindler at one point, arguing: '[i]t is the power of music to carry one directly into the mental state of the composer. The listener has no choice. It is like hypnotism.' The viewer of 'Immortal Beloved' likewise has no choice, and for the same reason" (Ebert). The music acts as the driving force of the film, pulling the audience through the tale of Beethoven's life. The silence, on the other hand, breaks this hypnotism and pulls the viewer out of the fantasy created by Beethoven's music into the reality of his life experience. Critic John Nesbit claims that the silence "makes it easier for us to empathize with Beethoven and his tempestuous outbursts. How cruel it seems that Fate would decree that he can never hear his greatest compositions" (Nesbit). As Nesbit noted, the silence creates a strong sympathetic appeal for Beethoven. The irony of a composer's not being able to hear his own music resonates in the viewers and sparks a feeling of sympathetic outrage for the musician with the hearing impairment. These feeling serve the double purpose of increasing sympathy for Beethoven and showing that success can be achieved in the face of disabilities.

One of the most forceful examples of silence's power in this film occurs during the performance of the Ode to Joy symphony. In this scene, Beethoven walks onto the stage during the performance to begin conducting. As the music begins, Bernard Rose flashes back to Beethoven's youth in order to suggest some of the motivating factors behind this particular composition. After the flashback, the camera zooms in on Beethoven's face, absorbed in the music. When the music stops, Beethoven remains preoccupied with the music in his head, completely unaware that the movement has ended. The crowd begins to cheer, but Beethoven does not notice this until he turns around. The viewer sees the audience clapping yet can only hear a low hum, simulating the effect of Beethoven's disability. By including one of Beethoven's greatest accomplishments in a way that also depicts his hearing impairment, Bernard Rose shows that disabilities are surmountable. This encourages the viewer to gain greater appreciation for Beethoven's talents, instead of pitying him.

Bernard Rose also uses creative camera angles and movements to better convey the many effects of Beethoven's impairment. Beethoven isolated himself from society because of his troubles in dealing with his condition in society. He was fearful of admitting to the condition because his craft required a higher level of hearing. Through the use of medium and long shots, Bernard Rose effectively communicates this aspect of Beethoven's character. In a review of Immortal Beloved, Scott Renshaw argues, "... the fragmented nature of the narrative allows us only unsatisfying glimpses of the man Beethoven might have been, and even Rose's tendency to film Oldman in medium and long shots contributes to this distancing effect" (Renshaw). Renshaw neglects to mention that Bernard Rose accompanies the long and medium shots with close-ups of Oldman's face. This combination conveys Beethoven's sense of isolation at the same time that it draws the audience into his private space, and also depicts Beethoven's conflicted longing for both friendship and solitude. The audience can invest their emotions in such a realistically conflicted character.

Bernard Rose also includes shots where Beethoven is in focus and the background is blurry. These shots represent Beethoven's decision to isolate himself from society and live an insular life. Bernard Rose utilizes these shots to clearly communicate this self-imposed condition to the audience. This visual representation of his emotional state helps to demonstrate that the effects of hearing impairments go beyond the loss of hearing. These scenes leave the viewers with a better understanding of the life that someone afflicted with hearing disability faces.

In Immortal Beloved, Bernard Rose manages to portray the hearing impairment of Beethoven in a realistic light without causing the viewer to pity towards him. Bernard achieves this state of sympathy in the audience by using emotional narration from the lovers of Beethoven, key moments of silence, and camera angles that accent the emotions displayed throughout the film. The synergy of these elements effectively connect the audience with Beethoven's character, allowing the viewer to see into and beyond his handicap.

By Jack Coman

Works Cited

Ebert, Roger. "Immortal Beloved." rogerebert.com. 06 Jan 1995. 21 Apr 2007
0302/1023>.

Immortal Beloved. Dir. Bernard Rose. Perf. Gary Oldman, Jeroen Krabbé, Isabella Rossellini,

Valeria Golino. DVD. Columbia Pictures, 1994.

Nesbit, John. "Immortal Beloved." ToxicUniverse.com. 23 Apr 2004. 22 Apr 2007
.

Renshaw, Scott. "Review for Immortal Beloved (1994)." The Internet Movie Database. 20 Apr 2007 .