Taking Sides
Picture: B- Sound: B Extras: B- Film: B
When
Istvan Szabo last offered a film, Sunshine
(1999), the story of three generations of Jewish men that ran over three hours
was one of the world class filmmakers’ rare misses. Dealing with the sins of “Old School” Europe has been a project he has been
most effective in, and Taking Sides
(2001) brings him back in his element with a screenplay by Ronald Harwood, the
writer of Roman Polanski’s international phenomenon The Pianist.
Playing
as a sort of companion to Szabo’s 1981 favorite Mephisto, the line between art and genocide collapse again, as
brilliant conductor Wilhelm Furtwangler (Stellan Skarsgard) is being accused by
the triumphant Allied forces of being a Nazi sympathizer. As they begin their clean up and sweep of the
remains of the Third Reich, General Wallace (R. Lee Ermey of TV’s Mail Call & Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket (1987)) explains the
situation to interrogator Major Steve Arnold (Harvey Keitel). Arnold has a long line of men to
question, but Furtwangler is given particular note due to his possible “artistic
leverage” against the truth.
Of
course, the film gives us a chance to see Keitel and Skarsgard in a film and
story actually worthy of their talents.
The other issue is about those who stay in the middle of the ground zero
of hell, in this case the center of the Nazis, and as to whether they were
resisting or fighting them. Like Keith
Gordon’s 1996 version of Kurt Vonnegut’s Mother
Night with Nick Nolte, where Nolte’s German playwright turns double agent
for the Allies as he becomes a radio announcer, only to be betrayed by the
Allies when the Axis collapses, Skarsgard’s Furtwangler was in the midst of the
worse activities as he was battling against it.
Unlike the Nolte case, he did what he did on his own, though he likely
would have been betrayed if the Allies had recruited him.
The
problem is those who truly are guilty of crimes against humanity could use such betrayal and denial as either an
excuse for their faked innocence if they are devious enough, or that the fact
of being left along against the worst is an excuse for people to do nothing and
not care, as doing the right thing can be thankless. Furtwangler’s guilt is controversial as a
result, as the situation is so ugly, few want to really deal with it. The counter question is, if persons did not
know about The Holocaust, why did they feel the need to save Jews?
The film
runs 105 minutes and is always offering something to make you think and/or to
build up the situation at hand. Szabo is
in his usually high form and part of that always includes the great casting of
mostly unknowns. He continues to be one
of the world cinema’s most underrated artists and Taking Sides proves he can still go a few rounds with any filmmaker
alive. He is, after all, a master and a
great survivor. See it and you too will
be impressed.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image is off of a good, clean print, and is
only hampered by some softness and Video Black limits that are nominal at
best. Once again, Szabo is paired with
his brilliant cinematographer Lajos Koltai, A.S.C., a master cameraman who has
been very influential on filmmakers all the way to Stanley Kubrick and who can
create distinct, grand images that hardly any cameraman living or dead can
rival.
The Dolby
Digital 5.1 mix is better than usual, and the film is in English. This is one of the rare such mixes that has
some fullness and naturalism at the same time rarely found in Dolby. I wished this were DTS, and it was
theatrically both, so my guess is that this Dolby is off of a DTS master. The extras include the original theatrical
trailer, a behind the scenes look at making the film not listed on the box (6:12), and nine interview
segments. They are brief but strong and
include Skarsgard, Moritz Bleibtreu, Ulrich Tukur, Brigit Minichmayr, Szabo,
Yves Pasquier, Koltai, Harwood and the genius production designer Ken Adam. When we say high caliber filmmaking, we mean
it. Get Taking Sides as soon as you can!
- Nicholas Sheffo
