Bruckners Entscheidung

Summary

Bruckner′s Decision

Up until the age of 43, the fame of com-poser Anton Bruckner was little more than a vague promise. Although Bruck-ner felt irresistibly drawn to music, he always managed to find new excuses to forestall living out his creative ambitions. After having studied every imaginable aspect of music, he is faced with the most important decision of his life - whether to go to Vienna and compose his opus, or stay in his home town of Linz and remain an organist and teacher. The pressure of this decision plunges Bruckner into a nervous break down. Seeking rest at the spa of Bad Kreuzen, he meets a young German architect named Otto.

Bruckner′s story is told from the perspective of this character. The composer‚s struggle parallels the decision of the heart Otto has to make for or against his lover Sophia. The portrayal of their stay at the spa, with all its eccentric methods of treatment, is intersticed with flashbacks to Bruckner′s childhood: living at the Catholic boarding school of St. Florian′s monastery, his dream of becoming court organist to the throne in Mexico, his meeting Richard Wagner, the "maestro′s maestro", and his complicated and unfulfilled relationship to women.

Source: German films Service & Marketing GmbH