Ironically, the main limit of Taking Sides is how it doesn't want viewers to choose which side to take - it's clear who the filmmakers side with.
Germany, World War II aftermath: Major Arnold (Harvey Keitel) investigates the involvement of famous conductor Wilhelm Furtwangler (Stellan Skarsgard) with the Nazis. As a tense confrontation between the two unravels, the movie focuses on the moral responsibility of intellectuals who supported the regime.
Furtwangler, we learn, used his authority to help several Jews and support the nation with his art; Arnold sees him as morally bankrupt, as he accepted the regime instead of openly condemning it.
Skarsgard is exceptional as Furtwangler, playing him as a dignified man who is at the same time humiliated by his plight and proud of his work. Keitel is a great actor, but he is saddled here with a character written as boorish and one-dimensional. The movie obviously sides with Furtwangler - fair enough, but, to make sure viewers agree, the Major is painted in a very unflattering light and comes across as a straw man. It's a cheap shot for an ambitious script.
Still, Taking Sides juggles with important questions and the epilogue is powerful, with a broken Furtwangler descending a staircase in an empty building while Beethoven's Fifth plays in the background, and then footage of the real Furtwangler who seems to be wiping his hands with a handkerchief after shaking them with the Nazi authorities.
6,5/10
Germany, World War II aftermath: Major Arnold (Harvey Keitel) investigates the involvement of famous conductor Wilhelm Furtwangler (Stellan Skarsgard) with the Nazis. As a tense confrontation between the two unravels, the movie focuses on the moral responsibility of intellectuals who supported the regime.
Furtwangler, we learn, used his authority to help several Jews and support the nation with his art; Arnold sees him as morally bankrupt, as he accepted the regime instead of openly condemning it.
Skarsgard is exceptional as Furtwangler, playing him as a dignified man who is at the same time humiliated by his plight and proud of his work. Keitel is a great actor, but he is saddled here with a character written as boorish and one-dimensional. The movie obviously sides with Furtwangler - fair enough, but, to make sure viewers agree, the Major is painted in a very unflattering light and comes across as a straw man. It's a cheap shot for an ambitious script.
Still, Taking Sides juggles with important questions and the epilogue is powerful, with a broken Furtwangler descending a staircase in an empty building while Beethoven's Fifth plays in the background, and then footage of the real Furtwangler who seems to be wiping his hands with a handkerchief after shaking them with the Nazi authorities.
6,5/10