History mixes with soap opera in Dominik Graf's highly speculative treatment of the love life of 19th-century German playwright/poet Friedrich Schiller, whose “Ode to Joy” became the basis for the famous finale to Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. Graf uses bits of contemporary correspondence to construct a “tell-all” tale about a ménage à trois involving Schiller, his wife Charlotte, and her older sister Caroline, who—in this account—was trapped in an unhappy marriage and encouraged Charlotte to wed the man they both loved so they could, in effect, share him. Scholars can argue about the truthiness of the tale, but Graf's presentation here is decidedly more cerebral than passionate, relying on numerous shots of characters scribbling letters to one another (and often reciting the contents for the audience's benefit), together with extensive narration that provides context but slows the story down to a crawl. While Hannah Herzsprung and Henriette Confurius deliver vivid performances as Caroline and Charlotte, Florian Stetter cuts a rather stiff, uncharismatic figure as Schiller. Running nearly three hours, Beloved Sisters is ultimately a rather turgid, pallid presentation of an intriguing, if also historically doubtful, chronicle of events. A strong optional purchase. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include a “making-of” featurette (22 min.). Bottom line: a solid extras package for this uneven biographical portrait.] (F. Swietek)
Beloved Sisters
Music Box, 171 min., in German w/English subtitles, not rated, DVD: $29.95, Blu-ray: $34.95, May 12 Volume 30, Issue 4
Beloved Sisters
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