Beethoven’s music shows up with considerable frequency in advertisements, popular
music, and movies. The new context necessarily alters the meanings the music might
have in a concert setting or on recording.
Select a film that makes use of Beethoven’s music (a partial list, in reverse chronological
order, is included below for your convenience). Write an essay in which you
discuss both the Beethoven excerpt and also the way it operates within its cinematic
setting. How does the presence of Beethoven’s music enhance the scene(s) in the film?
Does it make you hear the music differently?
Do not simply answer these questions; consider them, then present a focused argument in
your essay.
here is the list of movies you need to choose one from:
You Got Served;
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind;
The Pianist;
Bowling for Columbine;
Changing Lanes;
Band of Brothers;
The Man who Wasn’t There;
Fantasia 2000;
The Talented Mr. Ripley;
Star Trek: Insurrection;
Patch Adams;
My Name is Joe;
Romy and Michele’s High; School Reunion;
Eight Days a Week;
Jane Eyre;
Shine;
Crimson Tide;
Mr. Holland’s Opus;
Interview with the Vampire;
The Age of Innocence;
Hard Target;
Chaplin;
Howards End;
Misery;
Dead Poets Society;
Young Einstein;
Die Hard;
The Unbearable Lightness of Being;
Raising Arizona;
A Room with a View;
Day of the Dead;
Sophie’s Choice;
Soylent Green;
A Clockwork Orange;
Rosemary’s Baby;