Movie Rewind - Beethoven’s Hair (2005)
September 13th 2007 09:12
By way of some light relief from all the murder in the previous two reviews, I also went to see this fascinating documentary by Larry Weinstein.
As the title indicates, it’s the story of a lock of Beethoven’s hair, cut from his head by 15 year old music student Ferdinand Hiller the day after his death. Now, I appreciate that this doesn’t sound in the slightest like riveting viewing, but I was absorbed in the story.
The documentary chronicles the journey of the lock of hair through Nazi Germany to a tiny Danish seaside town until it was bought by two American Beethoven fanatics. They were Ira Brilliant, and Che Guevara (a urologist with a sense of humour and a reproduction fountain of the Mannequin Pis in his courtyard). There are some genuinely moving stories along the way, from the loss of Ira’s daughter decades ago at the age of ten, to the capture of Jewish refugees by Nazis hiding in the attic of a Danish church. The story of Beethoven’s physical agony and tortuous mood swings makes you appreciate his genius as a composer – he refused pain relief because it would impair his mind.
The documentary covers the forensic investigation of some strands of the hair, as Ira and Che search to find the truth of why he had suffered and what had made him deaf. The final analysis showed it was plumbism (lead poisoning) which Beethoven may have ingested in many different ways, including in the lead-based medicines his doctors prescribed.
The story, however, doesn’t end there but with a final twist. An Australian, suffering from mood-swings, physical illness, and deafness, read an article about the analysis of the hair. He recognised his own symptoms in the story, and found that he, too, had lead poisoning from working in the gold-mining industry. He is able to utilize a hearing aid and receive medical treatment for his poisoning, unlike Beethoven who used his music to overcome his suffering.
Words by Michele Clark
As the title indicates, it’s the story of a lock of Beethoven’s hair, cut from his head by 15 year old music student Ferdinand Hiller the day after his death. Now, I appreciate that this doesn’t sound in the slightest like riveting viewing, but I was absorbed in the story.
The documentary chronicles the journey of the lock of hair through Nazi Germany to a tiny Danish seaside town until it was bought by two American Beethoven fanatics. They were Ira Brilliant, and Che Guevara (a urologist with a sense of humour and a reproduction fountain of the Mannequin Pis in his courtyard). There are some genuinely moving stories along the way, from the loss of Ira’s daughter decades ago at the age of ten, to the capture of Jewish refugees by Nazis hiding in the attic of a Danish church. The story of Beethoven’s physical agony and tortuous mood swings makes you appreciate his genius as a composer – he refused pain relief because it would impair his mind.
The documentary covers the forensic investigation of some strands of the hair, as Ira and Che search to find the truth of why he had suffered and what had made him deaf. The final analysis showed it was plumbism (lead poisoning) which Beethoven may have ingested in many different ways, including in the lead-based medicines his doctors prescribed.
The story, however, doesn’t end there but with a final twist. An Australian, suffering from mood-swings, physical illness, and deafness, read an article about the analysis of the hair. He recognised his own symptoms in the story, and found that he, too, had lead poisoning from working in the gold-mining industry. He is able to utilize a hearing aid and receive medical treatment for his poisoning, unlike Beethoven who used his music to overcome his suffering.
Words by Michele Clark
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