In Search of Beethoven (2009)
87%RT Audience Score: 79%
Awards & Nominations: NA
With a wealth of insightful talking heads and deft musical performances, In Search of Beethoven is a thorough, thoughtful examination of the great composer’s life and times
If you’re looking for a documentary that will make you feel like a classical music expert, In Search of Beethoven might not be for you. But if you’re looking for a fun and informative look at the life of one of history’s greatest composers, then grab some popcorn and settle in. Sure, there are some talking heads and performance clips, but they’re balanced out by some juicy details about Beethoven’s tumultuous personal life. Plus, who doesn’t love a good smack-talking punk? Overall, In Search of Beethoven is a great way to spend an evening, whether you’re a die-hard classical music fan or just looking for something new to watch.
Production Company(ies)
Distributor
NA
Release Type
Filming Location(s)
MPAA / Certificate
Not Rated
Year of Release
2009
-
Color:Color
-
Sound mix:Stereo
-
Aspect ratio:1.78 : 1
-
Runtime:NA
-
Language(s):English
-
Country of origin:United States
-
Release date:Release Date (Streaming): Jun 28, 2011
Genre(s)
Documentary
Keyword(s)
documentary, Beethoven, music, composer, Phil Grabsky, produced by Phil Grabsky, directed by Phil Grabsky, Phil Reynolds, film editing, talking heads, live musical performances, life story, humanizing specifics, creative monuments, insightful, thorough, thoughtful, examination, critics consensus, wealth, deft, musical performances, genre, English, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Jeremy Eichler, reviewed by Joshua Kosman, reviewed by Kevin Thomas, reviewed by Michael Phillips, reviewed by J.R Jones, reviewed by Evan Williams, reviewed by J.M Suarez, reviewed by Leigh Paatsch, reviewed by Don Groves, reviewed by Phil Hall, reviewed by Mark R Leeper, starring none, MPAA rating none, produced by none, written by none
Worldwide gross: $233,545
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $322,785
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,834
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 35,200
US/Canada gross: NA
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend:
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Phil Grabsky – Producer
Phil Reynolds – Film Editing
Director(s)
Phil Grabsky
Writer(s)
NA
Producer(s)
NA
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
NA
Academy Awards
All Critics (41) | Top Critics (22) | Fresh (38) | Rotten (3)
Tells the story of its subject in a clear, accessible, and gimmick-free manner while still preserving, or perhaps even cultivating, a core sense of wonder at the creative monuments he bequeathed to us all.
January 7, 2010 | Rating: 3/4
Jeremy Eichler
Boston Globe
TOP CRITIC
In Search of Beethoven trudges through the composer’s life and works, pausing along the way for the usual smorgasbord of talking heads and performance clips. The results are shapeless, drab and mostly predictable.
December 17, 2009 | Rating: 1/4
Joshua Kosman
San Francisco Chronicle
TOP CRITIC
With In Search of Beethoven, documentarian Phil Grabsky has created a splendid work that will be a revelation to the uninitiated and a joy to music lovers.
October 30, 2009
Kevin Thomas
Los Angeles Times
TOP CRITIC
Grabsky’s appreciation of Ludwig van Beethoven follows the familiar contours, but it pays attention to the humanizing specifics that bring us closer to the subject.
October 30, 2009
Michael Phillips
Chicago Tribune
TOP CRITIC
Grabsky does manage to convey how shockingly dramatic Beethoven’s music seemed to the first people who heard it, and the musicians’ sensitivity and articulation–both verbal and musical — fire this chronicle of one man’s extraordinary artistic journey.
October 30, 2009
J. R. Jones
Chicago Reader
TOP CRITIC
There are too many snippets of music, too many talking heads, too little to define that great arc of the composer’s life and spiritual development. But no one who cares about the man and his music will miss it. For that I give credit to its subject.
October 30, 2009 | Rating: 3/4
Evan Williams
The Australian
TOP CRITIC
Where In Search of Beethoven excels is in the details. For all the grandness of Beethoven’s music, the documentary makes a real effort to present Beethoven the man as fairly and unsentimentally as possible.
September 23, 2020 | Rating: 6/10
J.M. Suarez
PopMatters
Dispensing with all the cliched claptrap and generalisations that inevitably plague movies like this, Grabsky successfully reassesses and revitalises the imposing reputation of his subject.
September 23, 2020 | Rating: 4/5
Leigh Paatsch
Herald Sun (Australia)
Illuminating bio of musical genius hits a few flat notes.
December 31, 2010 | Rating: 3/5
Don Groves
sbs.com.au
Puts far more focus on a Wikipedia-shallow explanation of the composer’s various compositions than on his tumultuous life.
June 2, 2010 | Rating: 2.5/5
Phil Hall
Film Threat
[Grabsky] is documenting the life of Beethoven, he is illustrating the life with brilliant concert performers playing the music, but he is also having those same experts talking about what is in the music itself.
April 1, 2010 | Rating: 8/10
Mark R. Leeper
rec.arts.movies.reviews
An intriguing portrait of the man as a hopeless romantic, a smack-talking punk, a sickly individual tormented by his deafness and thoughts of suicide, and an “eternal optimist.”
January 7, 2010 | Rating: 3/4
Shaula Clark
Boston Phoenix…
Plot
The first truly comprehensive feature length cinema documentary ever made about Beethoven. With over 60 live performances.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Fresh Kernels says that In Search of Beethoven features “insightful talking heads and deft musical performances.”
Phil-Grabsky.jpg
