undefined_peliplat
Taking Sides_peliplat
Taking Sides_peliplat

Taking Sides (2001)

Not Rated (US) | France, UK, Germany, Austria | English, Russian, French, German | 108 min
Directed by: István Szabó
7.1

In Berlin at the end of World War II, Wilhelm Furtwängler (Stellan Skarsgård) is conducting Ludwig van Beethoven's 5th Symphony when yet another Allied air raid stops the performance. A minister in the Nazi government comes to Furtwängler's dressing room to advise him that he should go abroad, and escape the war. The film then jumps to some time after the Allied victory. U.S. Army General Wallace (R. Lee Ermey) tells Major Steve Arnold (Harvey Keitel) to "get" Furtwängler at his denazification hearing: "Find Wilhelm Furtwängler guilty. He represents everything that was rotten in Germany." Arnold gets an office with Lt. David Wills (Moritz Bleibtreu), a German-American Jew, and Emmaline Straube (Birgit Minichmayr), daughter of an executed member of the German resistance. Arnold questions several musicians, many of whom know Emmaline's father and say that Furtwängler refused to give Adolf Hitler the Nazi salute. Arnold begins interrogating Furtwängler, asking why he didn't leave Germany in 1933 like so many other musicians. Why he had played for Hitler's birthday? Why he had played at a Nazi rally? Why his recording of Anton Bruckner's 7th Symphony was used on the radio after Hitler's death? Arnold gets a second violinist to tell him about Furtwängler's womanizing and the conductor's professional jealousy of Herbert von Karajan. In a subplot, Arnold is assisted by a young Jewish U.S. Army lieutenant. The young officer begins to have sympathy for the conductor, as does the young German woman who works as a clerk in their office. This causes friction between Arnold and his subordinates. In a voice-over, Arnold explains that Furtwängler was exonerated at the later hearings but boasts that his questioning "winged" him. Footage of the real Furtwängler shows him shaking hands with Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels after a concert. The conductor surreptitiously wipes his hands with a cloth after touching the Nazi.

Review
Rate
Watch
Add
Info mistake?
just for fixed width,It is an identification bit and cannot be deleted!!!!!
Release Date
Canada
(Toronto International Film Festival, premiere)
2001-09-13
Germany
(Berlin International Film Festival)
2002-02-16
Germany
No data
2002-03-07
Show more
Also Known As (A.K.A.)
Taking Sides
(Original title)
Tomando parte
Argentina
Taking Sides
Australia
Show more
Parent Guide
Sex & Nudity
Unrated
Violence & Gore
Unrated
Profanity
Unrated
Alcohol, Drugs & Smoking
Unrated
Frightening & Intense Scenes
Unrated