Ed Harris has received four academy award nominations in the past 10 years (Apollo 13, The Truman Show, Pollock, and the Hours).And while he has never won an academy award, he is obviously someone who the Academy keeps their eye out for.
With that mind, it seems logical to keep an eye out for how Ed Harris is received in the period piece Copy Beethoven which will begin it's limited US release November 10th.
In the film Ed Harris plays Ludwig van Beethoven on the eve of his death and the premier of his most famous symphony, Symphony No. 9.In the film Diane Kruger (Troy, National Treasure) plays Anna Holtz, a young female composer who deals with Beethoven's cantankerous attitude, and "helps" the deafening composer finish his greatest masterpiece.
The film is directed by Agnieszka Holland (Europa, Europa).
The film's screenplay is written by Stephen J. Rivele and Christopher Wilkinson who together wrote the biopics Nixon and Ali. As a side note Will Smith received an academy award nomination for playing Mohammad Ali, and Anthony Hopkins received a nomination for playing Richard M. Nixon. In this same vein I would think Ed Harris has a great chance of being recognized for playing Beethoven.
Related Tags: Ed Harris, Copy Beethoven, Academy Awards, Oscar, Award Buzz, Biopic, Ludwig Van Beethoven, Diane Kruger, Anna Holtz, Agnieszka Holland, Stephen J Rivele, Christopher Wilkinson, Film
9 comments:
But Smith and Hopkins were a) playing famous Americans and b) were directed by much more profilic directors.
Apparently this movie is plenty blah, so I don't think it'll come into play. Atleast not in the major categories anyway.
I love Ed Harris. Although I don't have high hopes for this film garnering him any awards, I would love to see him recognized for his work.
Wow that doesn't even look like Ed Harris. I hope he doesn't sound like himself, because he has a distinct voice and that could be distracting. I can't say that I've seen a movie about Beethoven...interesting.
Normally, I would say that the film is too small to become a major player this year, but two things stop me:
1) Ed Harris managed to get nominated for Pollock even though it had virtually no word-of-mouth prior to the nominations AND the extraordinary fact that he lacked GG/SAG noms and still made it in.
2) It's a weak year for this race - anything goes, especially since Pitt and Nicholson have been demoted to Supporting.
As Kris Kristoffersen can ruin just about any movie he's in, so Ed Harris can redeem even a mediocre movie from the pit just by being in it. Although I haven't seen him in any mediocre movies, so I can't back that up. Anyway, he's really really good.
Angieszka Holland also directed The Third Miracle starring Harris which is a terrific and underviewed movie. It's a brilliant, understated performance in a haunting film.
And I do agree with Andrea about his voice. Although in Enemy At The Gates he played a WWII Nazi with a distinctly 90's American accent and it didn't bother me in the slightest.
RC, thanks for bringing our attention to this film. I had no idea it was coming.
Woah! RC, you pulled a coup! Will had no idea this film was coming... I've never heard him say such a thing.
Maybe it was just a botched joke.
I want to see this so bad. I've always wanted to actually make a film on Beethoven and his Ninth Symphony--looks like someone beat me to it, but it looks great, nonetheless. Ed Harris is one of my favorite actors, and I was blown away when I saw him in costume and makeup for this.
And kudos to the casting director for picking Diane Kruger. Wow. B)
I just watched the trailer for this thing and it looks really good. Kruger has yet to really impress me as more than a pretty face, but who knows, it could happen.
My only worry with this when it comes time for nominations is we've been so heavy on biopics that it may get overlooked for the wrong reason (I'm assuming it's a worthy performance - it IS Ed Harris after all). There's been 'Ray' and 'Walk the Line' and 'Capote' and so many others that were true, but not really biopics, it's starting to be a tired genre for the moment. This one at least has the advantage of being much more historical, and not within the past 50 or 60 years...
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