Louis van Beethoven

Louis van Beethoven follows the composer from his childhood in Bonn, where he is known as a musical prodigy, through his teenage years and his eventual departure for Vienna to study with Joseph Haydn in 1792. The film shows how the boy learned to follow his own path, to the discomfort of those around him, and how his father's attempts to teach him ended in failure, with the court organist Christian Gottlob Neefe taking over his education. It also portrays his encounters with Mozart, the influence of the political upheavals of the French Revolution, and the family tragedies and unrequited love that tested him along the way. Three actors play Beethoven at different ages: Colin Pütz as the child, Anselm Bresgott as the teenager and Tobias Moretti as the adult composer. Ulrich Noethen appears as Neefe, with Ronald Kukulies and Cornelius Obonya as the composer's father and brother.

Niki Stein wrote and directed the film, which sits between his 2012 drama Rommel and his 2025 film Stammheim - Zeit des Terrors. Made for the 250th anniversary of Beethoven's birth as a co-production between German and Austrian broadcasters and other partners, it runs 120 minutes.

It holds an IMDb rating of 6.3 from 763 votes and a TMDB rating of 6.7 from 68 votes, placing it in moderate territory with audiences.