Taking Sides details
| Format: | 15 DVD |
|---|---|
| Starring: | Harvey Keitel, Stellan Skarsgard, Birgit Minichmayr, Moritz Bleibtreu |
| Director: | Istvan Szabo |
| Genre: | Drama - General |
| Studio: | GUERILLA FILMS |
| Name | Discs | |
|---|---|---|
Taking Sides |
15 Feature | |
Taking Sides - Bonus Disc |
15 Bonus |
DVD Information
| Run time: | 1 hour 50 minutes |
|---|---|
| Rental release: | Not available for rental |
| Main languages: | English |
| Hearing impaired subtitles: | English |
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Most helpful review
Art Vs Politics
By chungking (101 reviews) from London , 02 Oct 2005[Highly rated reviewer]
This film is adapted from a stage play so you wont see picturesque scenes or flashy direction. What you will see is a thought provoking, intelligent, well paced account of a true story about a famous German conductor. Was he right for staying and working in Germany during the war, how much did he know about the atrocities and how cosy was he with the Nazi party? The film doesn't fully answer these questions but it doesn't need to. It questions what kind of decisions you would make given extraordinary circumstances, how much influence can art have on a morally bankrupt society and can art ever really be totally separate from politics. The Americans go for the conductor like a MaCarthyite witch hunt. Are they right to do so given the atrocities? The film may have more questions than answers but this is appropriate for a situation that had no easy answers.- Was this review helpful to you?
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All reviews
(12)Taking Sides
By Ave (63 reviews) from Rickmansworth , 24 Jan 2010very interesting view of any, not just Nazi totalitarian society and ' how to survive it'. Brilliant acting, too.- Was this review helpful to you?
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Not as good as the recent play
By a customer from St. Albans , 05 Sep 2009having recently seen the play at the Chichester Festival Theatre, i was a little diappointed by this - nevertheless its worth seeing- Was this review helpful to you?
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Customer Review
By a customer from UK , 23 Jun 2008At first I was somewhat dismayed that Stellan Skarsgard didn't look enough like existing photographs of the conductor, Wilhelm Furtwangler. I needn't have been concerned. His performance is extraordinary. Indeed with Szabo's camera often merely inches away from his damp, blue, frightened eyes, Skarsgard conveys with great skill the confusion and outrage of a highly intelligent man who is slowly brought around to realising that, despite his idealistic motives for staying in Germany and continuing to work, he has actually endorsed a hateful political regime. Harvey Keitel has a somewhat easier role to perform in the movie but discharges it with characteristic verve and energy.- Was this review helpful to you?
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Customer Review
By a customer from UK , 23 Jun 2008A most gripping story in which Furtwangler, the greatest conductor of the century and a man who lives only for music, is challenged by an American officer about his co-operation with the Nazis during Hitler's reign of intimidation and world war. Harvey Keitel is typically bullish as the self-righteous, uncompromising interrogator; Stellan Skarsgard superb as the lofty, philosophical and haunted German maestro. To the movie's credit, there is no clear bias although it is hard to sympathise with the American's bullying, simple-minded and eventually incoherent finger-pointing. The closing footage of the real Furtwangler is very revealing. Keitel fans and those interested in the scenario shouldn't hesitate.- Was this review helpful to you?
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interesting
By alcav (91 reviews) from CANNOCK , 13 Jan 2008An interesting insight to 'after the war' goings on.Not an impactive film though, and a bit boring in places,as is sometimes the case with true story movies- Was this review helpful to you?
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