TAKING SIDES
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
CAPSULE: This is a film that avoids easy answers. Wilhelm Furtwangler, then the world's greatest orchestra conductor stayed in Germany and cooperated with the Nazis. What were his views, was he a war criminal or a secret resistance fighter? How much did he know about crimes against humanity? The US government investigated him after the war and this film is a dramatization of that investigation. Rating: 8 (0 to 10), high +2 (-4 to +4)
In my opinion one of the best films of the last few years is Istvan Szabo's SUNSHINE, a film that covers the fortunes of a Jewish Hungarian family under the reigns of three different regimes, Hungarian aristocrats, Nazis, and Communists. Szabo's follow-up film, a German production, is much more limited in scope. It is about the post-war investigation of who criminally supported the Nazis and who opposed them. Ronald Harwood's screenplay ambiguously looks at the investigation of a great classical music conductor who stayed on in Germany when the Nazis took power and became the most popular conductor of the Third Reich.
Maj. Steve Arnold (played by Harvey Keitel) has been assigned by his superiors to investigate Wilhelm Furtwangler (Stellan Skarsgard), perhaps Europe's greatest classical music conductor. When other artists fled Germany, Furtwangler remained behind and conducted for the Hitler and his henchmen. After the war is over Arnold assigned to interview Furtwangler and members of his orchestra and if appropriate to prosecute him for war crimes. He secretly is told by his commanding officer to find Furtwangler guilty. From there we follow him and learn a little about Arnold and something about Furtwangler and his orchestra. As he interviews members of the wartime orchestra Arnold starts noticing odd peculiarities that may or may not point to a conspiracy against his investigation. There is a certain sameness to the responses that he is getting. Perhaps any cooperation he is getting has been in some ways managed. If so, perhaps he can never come to the truth.
In large part the film is about mind games that Arnold uses to manipulate his interviewees and especially Furtwangler. Where the script has problems is that in the end it is so ambiguous. It has no obvious resolution and not much of a final act. When it is over whether anything has been established is open to interpretation. Perhaps that is better than so many films that make it all to obvious what the audience should believe, but it is like watching a murder mystery and never finding out who the killer is. We are given clues to something but they are never tied up. In the end we just know more about both Arnold and Furtwangler.
The film is basically a stage play. The visual is not very important. Corners are cut visually including touches like filling windows with photographs to avoid having to shoot on location. As with a stage play, what this film centers on the dialog, and that is intriguing. I rate the film an 8 on the 0 to 10 scale and a high +2 on the -4 to +4 scale. [There is one piece of sloppiness few people but me would notice. At one point we clearly see Arnold's desk calendar say "Jan 16 Tues." A quick mental calculation told me that combination could occur in 1945 and then not again until 1951. The events had to take place in 1946 or 1947. A possible date could be obtained from any World Almanac.]
Mark R. Leeper
mleeper@optonline.net
Copyright 2001 Mark R. Leeper
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