Product Details

• Actors: Wolfgang Reichmann, Dietmar Prinz, Jane Birkin, Nathalie Baye, Mathieu Carrière
• Directors: Paul Morrissey
• Format: Color, EP, NTSC
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Anchor Bay
• VHS Release Date: November 29, 1994
• Run Time: 106 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• ASIN: 6303341047
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #290,953 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

The stormy music, life and struggles of Ludwig van Beethoven have served as subject matter for a number of films from Abel Gance's BEETHOVEN to Bernard Rose's IMMORTAL BELOVED. For his third and final costume-historical film, Paul Morrissey (BLOOD FOR DRACULA, FLESH FOR FRANKENSTEIN) crafts his own version, choosing to focus on the destructively possessive relationship between Beethoven and his nephew Karl. After successfully winning the custody of Karl from his mother (Jane Birkin), alleging that she is an immoral prostitute, Beethoven (portrayed here as a tantrum-throwing, greedy, and cantankerous maniac) proceeds to exercise insane control over his young nephew's life. Not unlike the master-servant relationships from Morrissey's previous horror films, Beethoven acts as a mad master, following Karl into his boarding school, thwarting any meetings with his mother, and preventing amorous liaisons. After an unsuccessful suicide attempt, Karl takes a mistress, only to further provoke his uncle's ire. As Karl's independence increases, so does Beethoven's musical passion and subsequently the decline in his health. In the process of slyly mocking the pretensions of historical costume dramas and the concepts of genius and family, Morrissey simultaneously draws the viewer in to a very real tragedy in which each character is equally troubled and sympathetic.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Daring subject, December 6, 2001

By 

art240a - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beethoven's Nephew [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Independent filmmaker Morrissey sheds his well-deserved reputation as a sensationalistic chronicler of life on the fringe in this thoughtful and opulent story of the destructively possessive relationship between Ludwig Von Beethoven and his handsome nephew. In a rewrite of history, Morrissey shows Beethoven in his later years as a furious and demanding "superstar" who, after winning a vicious court battle for the custody of his sister's son, becomes consumed with an insanely jealous love for the boy. With surprising control in its examination of the composer's obsession, the film elicits a deep sympathy for his torment without compromising the severity of his tyrannical grip on the boy's life. The homosexual desire of the muscial genius is palpable, yet never overt. (Filmed in English)