Synopsis
One of the most spectacular and renowned conductors of the 1930s, Wilhelm Furtwangler's reputation rivaled that of Toscanini's. After the war, he was investigated as part of the Allies' de-Nazification programme. In the bombed-out Berlin of the immediate post-war period, the Allies slowly bring law and order to bear on an occupied Germany. An American major is given the Furtwangler file, and is told to find everything he can and to prosecute the man ruthlessly. Tough and hard-nosed, Major Steve Arnold sets out to investigate a world of which he knows nothing.
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Cast
- Harvey KeitelSteve Arnold
- Stellan SkarsgårdWilhelm Furtwängler
- Moritz BleibtreuDavid Wills
- R. Lee ErmeyGeneral Wallace
- Birgit MinichmayrEmmi Straube
- Ulrich TukurHelmut Rode
- Oleg TabakovColonel Dymshitz
- Hanns ZischlerRudolf Werner
- Armin RohdeSchlee
- Daniel WhiteSergeant Adams
Recommendations
- 80
The New York Times
Sparked by the actors' powerful performances, Arnold's moral absolutism and Furtwängler's lofty aestheticism make for a dramatically compelling clash. - 75
Christian Science Monitor
Ronald Harwood's screenplay, based on his stage play, brings an impressive range of moral and political issues into play. The acting is also strong. - 70
The New Yorker
The deep drawback of Taking Sides is that it forgets to be interested in music. [8 September 2003, p. 100] - 70
Variety
Its soul rests in Skarsgard's performance, a powerful mixture of buttoned-down anger and personal disappointment that combines the filmmaker's self-questioning with the real-life character's conflict. - 63
New York Daily News
Characters do little more than run around the same track incessantly, leaving us waiting for revelations that never arrive. - 63
New York Post
A compelling look at a vexa tious question, Taking Sides is, at times, hamstrung by its own ambiguity. - 60
New York Magazine (Vulture)
Taking Sides has a padded-out, stagebound quality that is anything but lyrical. And Szabó, a Hungarian best known for "Mephisto" and "Colonel Redl," is not at his best here. - 60
Village Voice
Flawed but fascinating.