Anyone who has spent a significant amount of time with me will know that I absolutely love the story of Clara and Robert Schumann. She was such an inspiring woman and well ahead of her time in terms of her independence. In researching her life for a future historical fiction novel I plan to write, I found that Katharine Hepburn had portrayed Clara Schumann in Song of Love (1947). I already knew the story beats of the life of Robert and Clara (with some of the drama Johannes Brahms (Robert Walker) introduced), but Song of Love misses the point almost entirely.
While there were some scenes in this movie that spoke to the situation of Robert and Clara's tragic love story, they were completely lost in what I can only describe as "1940s sitcom schtick." These scenes added nothing to the narrative of the implied love triangle between Clara, Robert, and Johannes. Instead, the film focused on banal comedy, like having the maid quit but still needing to figure out how to cook a chicken for dinner. The focus of these scenes early in the film turned me off to the eventual heart of the movie.
Song of Love felt like it was pandering to the lowest common denominator instead of highlighting this real-life story of love and loss. The amount of drama that should have been portrayed paled in comparison. If this film is to be believed, Brahms basically became a live-in maid for the Schumanns without showing how desperately he loved his mentor's wife. We do get the sense that Clara was eternally devoted to Robert in this film, both as a wife and a mother of multiple children, but it becomes so boring by then that it's hardly worth noting.
A disappointing representation of a fantastic love story, I give Song of Love 2.5 stars out of 5.
While there were some scenes in this movie that spoke to the situation of Robert and Clara's tragic love story, they were completely lost in what I can only describe as "1940s sitcom schtick." These scenes added nothing to the narrative of the implied love triangle between Clara, Robert, and Johannes. Instead, the film focused on banal comedy, like having the maid quit but still needing to figure out how to cook a chicken for dinner. The focus of these scenes early in the film turned me off to the eventual heart of the movie.
Song of Love felt like it was pandering to the lowest common denominator instead of highlighting this real-life story of love and loss. The amount of drama that should have been portrayed paled in comparison. If this film is to be believed, Brahms basically became a live-in maid for the Schumanns without showing how desperately he loved his mentor's wife. We do get the sense that Clara was eternally devoted to Robert in this film, both as a wife and a mother of multiple children, but it becomes so boring by then that it's hardly worth noting.
A disappointing representation of a fantastic love story, I give Song of Love 2.5 stars out of 5.