To cinematically explore the life and times of one of the greatest musical legends is a challenging task- particularly if that legend happens to be Ludwig van Beethoven! But Copying Beethoven does a fair job of it. The film doesn’t try to be a full- length biopic but rather just concentrates on the last two years of Beethoven’s life- a period when the ageing musical maestro composed some of his finest compositions.

So the film takes us to Vienna in 1824 where Beethoven (Ed Harris) is just 4 days away from performing his newly composed 9^th symphony in front of the Royals and the city elite. His usual music-copyist is severely ill and the emergency stop -gap replacement turns out to be Anna Holtz (Diane Kruger) - a talented young woman hoping to make it big in the world of music.

For most people around him, Beethoven is just an obnoxious, insensitive, rude and grandiose old man; a once brilliant composer who has almost lost his musical powers after losing his hearing ability! But from close quarters, Anna sees a different Beethoven. Underneath his eccentric and egoistic exterior, she sees a sensitive and lonely musical genius, who is hurt and angry at his fate. His deafness has taken away his ability to listen to his own music but his mind is like a sea full of musical waves, which are waiting to be unleashed! Anna becomes his soul-mate- the only person who really understands him as a person and as a composer! She helps him in crystallizing the magical compositions making rounds in his mind and in return, he teaches her the most important lesson- ‘In order to release the music within, you must understand the silence within!”

It’s neither a masterpiece classic, nor some popcorn weekend fare. It’s just a middle-of-the-road serious, thematic period- film with good lead performances. For the classical music lovers, the highlight of the film will be the long scene where the 9^th symphony is performed on screen.