A young boy learns to appreciate the music of his upstairs boarder, Ludwig Van Beethoven.A young boy learns to appreciate the music of his upstairs boarder, Ludwig Van Beethoven.A young boy learns to appreciate the music of his upstairs boarder, Ludwig Van Beethoven.
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I think ho0vdawg was too hard on this movie. It certainly was never intended to be on par with Amadeus or suitable for the same audience. That it was made for children younger than high school age is quite obvious, and one should take that into consideration when watching and evaluating it. I would recommend this movie to any interested child.
Beethovan Lives Upstairs is a very bad movie. In my World History class, our teacher had us watch this movie and Amadeus to be able to compare the two composers or something. We watched Amadeus first and it was a very good movie, but when she had us watch this movie directly after that, I couldn't believe what I was seeing. The acting was horrific, the costumes were ugly (the little boy's was especially ugly and girlish), and the cinematography was z-grade. My Friend compared it to a home movie without the date display in the bottom right corner. I understand this was a T.V. movie from Canada and probably cost $10 to make, but please, they could have done better. I have seen a few good T.V. movies in my time, but this was not one of them. The biggest thing that I don't understand is why my World History class couldn't just watch Immortal Beloved or something. How is it possible to compare composers when given the movie Amadeus, for Mozart, and Beethovan Lives Upstairs, for Beethovan? It's not possible to do that when this is the choice of movie for Beethovan. I give Amadeus an A- (9 out of 10) if anyone cares to know, but Beethovan Lives Upstairs gets an F (1 out of 10).
This is kind of one of those kids' after-school TV movies they used to have on television before Ophra and her ilk took over on late afternoon. It's only 50 minutes long which doesn't give it much chance for us to get the know anyone's character in any depth.
The kid, Illya Woloshyn, reminds me a little of Max Pomeranc of "Searching for Bobby Fischer." The story is so-so, certainly no 'Fischer'."
I found too much yelling (raving, actually) by Beethoven and too slow a story, even for 50 minutes.
The main attributes are the some pretty scenery and some of Beethoven's music, which is beautiful and dramatic.
Overall, not very memorable.
The kid, Illya Woloshyn, reminds me a little of Max Pomeranc of "Searching for Bobby Fischer." The story is so-so, certainly no 'Fischer'."
I found too much yelling (raving, actually) by Beethoven and too slow a story, even for 50 minutes.
The main attributes are the some pretty scenery and some of Beethoven's music, which is beautiful and dramatic.
Overall, not very memorable.
This film was designed for children, and as a result, it is an excellent movie if used for that purpose only. Having said that, the fact that this film won any awards is beyond me.
Pro: Neil Munro is to Beethoven as Tom Hulce was to Mozart (in Amadeus) - absolutely and perfectly dead-on! If one were to meet the real Beethoven, this is likely the person they would see.
Cons: Everything else.
Children might not notice the difference, and that's fine, but from a factual point of view, take this one with more than a grain of salt. There are so many errors and artistic liberties taken by Heather Conkie (who I respect for her work done, both past and present) that this film can never be taken as anything more than pure fiction with regards to Beethoven and his life.
Examples: In the film, Beethoven says he's becoming deaf for six years. This would put his age at about mid-30's, yet the premise of the film is that he has just died. This wasn't about to happen for another 20+ years or so. Also, in the film, he is working on his 9th Symphony. Fact: it should have been his 7th, but Conkie has altered history for the sake of the children. And there's much more. So, in this respect alone, don't plan to do a master's thesis on the factual stuff in this film - it's mostly fiction.
Then there's the acting itself, which ranges from wooden to horrible to outright poor. Illya Woloshyn as the young boy Christoph is just terrible, as is Albert Schultz as Uncle Kurt. Veteran actor Paul Soles almost makes a convincing Schindler, who in actual life was a more dominant personality, and the only one who could boss Beethoven around and get away with it. Sheila McCarthy's only good scenes are where she goes toe-to-toe with Munro's Beethoven, and these are worth the price of admission alone.
So, providing this film is seen only by children up to the age of maybe 10, it's excellent. To anyone older, it's horribly misleading, slower than a glacier and historically butchered beyond the call of duty. Its only saving grace is that it's a children's film on Beethoven. And as far as I know, it's the ONLY one. Not hard to be number 1 in a group of 1.
Caution: Watch at own risk.
Pro: Neil Munro is to Beethoven as Tom Hulce was to Mozart (in Amadeus) - absolutely and perfectly dead-on! If one were to meet the real Beethoven, this is likely the person they would see.
Cons: Everything else.
Children might not notice the difference, and that's fine, but from a factual point of view, take this one with more than a grain of salt. There are so many errors and artistic liberties taken by Heather Conkie (who I respect for her work done, both past and present) that this film can never be taken as anything more than pure fiction with regards to Beethoven and his life.
Examples: In the film, Beethoven says he's becoming deaf for six years. This would put his age at about mid-30's, yet the premise of the film is that he has just died. This wasn't about to happen for another 20+ years or so. Also, in the film, he is working on his 9th Symphony. Fact: it should have been his 7th, but Conkie has altered history for the sake of the children. And there's much more. So, in this respect alone, don't plan to do a master's thesis on the factual stuff in this film - it's mostly fiction.
Then there's the acting itself, which ranges from wooden to horrible to outright poor. Illya Woloshyn as the young boy Christoph is just terrible, as is Albert Schultz as Uncle Kurt. Veteran actor Paul Soles almost makes a convincing Schindler, who in actual life was a more dominant personality, and the only one who could boss Beethoven around and get away with it. Sheila McCarthy's only good scenes are where she goes toe-to-toe with Munro's Beethoven, and these are worth the price of admission alone.
So, providing this film is seen only by children up to the age of maybe 10, it's excellent. To anyone older, it's horribly misleading, slower than a glacier and historically butchered beyond the call of duty. Its only saving grace is that it's a children's film on Beethoven. And as far as I know, it's the ONLY one. Not hard to be number 1 in a group of 1.
Caution: Watch at own risk.
There is none of the sentimental and heroic garbage in this movie that one sees portrayed in the lives of other great men.
This movie, while recognizing Beethoven's Genius, takes him off his Mount Olympus Pedestal and makes him a real life breathing, seeing and hearing though going deaf man who runs a business, works every day, bathes, shaves and does all the things that ordinary men do. Munroe is very convincing in his portrayal as well as his appearance. I do not know what he looks like in real life but if he looks anything like Beethoven in real life I would think that I had met Beethoven's Ghost. While the viewing audience for this film is aimed for children--it is also a good film for adults to see.
This movie, while recognizing Beethoven's Genius, takes him off his Mount Olympus Pedestal and makes him a real life breathing, seeing and hearing though going deaf man who runs a business, works every day, bathes, shaves and does all the things that ordinary men do. Munroe is very convincing in his portrayal as well as his appearance. I do not know what he looks like in real life but if he looks anything like Beethoven in real life I would think that I had met Beethoven's Ghost. While the viewing audience for this film is aimed for children--it is also a good film for adults to see.
