Taking Side

10 novembre > SALA 2 ore 17

Germany, France – 2001 – colore – 108’

CREDITS

Direction: István Szabó

Screenplay: Ronald Harwood, from his play

Cinematography: Lajos Koltai

Editing: Sylvie Landra

Set design: Ken Adam

Costumes: Györgyi Szakács

Cast: Harvey Keitel, Stellan Skarsgård, Moritz Bleibtreu, Birgit Minichmayr, Ulrich Tukur, Oleg Tabakov, R. Lee Ermey

Producer: Yves Pasquier

Production: Little Big Bear Films, Jeremy Isaacs Productions, Twanpix, Satel, France2 Cinema, Canal +

SYNOPSIS

The film reconstructs the investigation into Wilhelm Furtwängler carried out by Major Steve Arnold at the end of the Second World War. Furtwängler was the most famous orchestra conductor of his generation who, after Hitler seized power in 1933, chose to remain in Berlin, whereas many of his colleagues were forced to leave Germany. Convinced of his guilt, US Major Arnold engaged in a bitter confrontation with the cultured aristocratic musician. On the one hand, the investigation revealed that the conductor had helped many Jewish musicians to save their lives, but on the other, it was undeniable that he was a prominent figure in Nazi culture. And he was accused of that until the very end of his life.

CRITICAL NOTE

“The great and unresolved question that is central to Szabó’s convincing analysis concerns above all the relationship between morality and ethics, the continuous and sometimes striking contrast that seems to exist between values and behaviours that should be universally shared and values that instead substantiate choices inevitably linked to an entirely personal condition. (…) In this film, not only does the relationship between shared morals and ethics come to the fore, but also between them and art. It becomes a motive for reflection (…) whether a great artist is allowed to remain deaf and blind to the incongruities, stupidity and massacres of history.” (Attilio Coco, Segnocinema No. 115, May/June 2002)

AWARDS AND FESTIVAL

2001 European Film Award: nomination for Best Actor (Stellan Skarsgård)

2002 Mar Del Plata FF:  Award for Best Director, Best Actor (Stellan Skarsgård), Best Cinematography