Beethoven's Hair
Directed by Larry Weinstein
2005Documentary90 minCanada
The strange journey of a lock of Beethoven's hair, from his deathbed through Nazi Germany to a Sotheby's auction, and the secret it reveals about his death.
Synopsis
Beethoven's Hair traces the unlikely journey of a lock of hair cut from Beethoven's corpse and unravels the mystery of his tortured life and death. The film begins in modern times, when a pair of Beethoven enthusiasts purchase the hair at a Sotheby's auction. The story then looks at the lock's previous owners and culminates in the science that reveals Beethoven's "medical secret". Set to a lush score of some of Beethoven's most glorious music, the film explores the world of forensic testing in sharp relief against the romance of 19th-century Vienna and the horrors of 20th-century Nazi Germany.
The director
Larry Weinstein is a Toronto director and a co-founder of Rhombus Media, with more than 40 productions to his name. He is celebrated for unconventional, emotionally charged music documentaries, among them Ravel's Brain, Beethoven's Hair and Mozartballs.
