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Taking Sides

2002 · 108 min

A tense, talky moral drama that feels like a claustrophobic interrogation, with classical music underscoring the ethical weight.

Directed by
István Szabó
Genres
Drama, War, Music
Overview
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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Directed by
István Szabó
Genres
Drama, War, Music
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How it feels

Written by AI. It can be wrong.

Tone
  • tensestrength 2 of 3
  • darkstrength 2 of 3
  • melancholicstrength 2 of 3
  • earneststrength 2 of 3
Pacing
measured, 2 of 4, from slow-burn to relentless
Attention
engaged, 3 of 4, from background-friendly to demanding
Themes
  • morality
  • power
  • art
  • justice
  • guilt
Places
  • big city
  • workplace
Era
period
Audience
adult
Form
  • single location
Content intensity
  • Gore none
  • Language mild
  • Violence mild
  • Sex mild
All scales, 0 to 10
Scales, 0 to 10
ScaleValue0 to 10
Action1
Horror0
Humour2
Realism8
Romance1
Tension6
Darkness6
Complexity7
Emotional weight7

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Details

Genres
drama, war, music
Directed by
István Szabó
Written by
Ronald Harwood
Starring
Harvey Keitel, Stellan Skarsgård, Moritz Bleibtreu, R. Lee Ermey, Birgit Minichmayr, Ulrich Tukur, Oleg Tabakov, Hanns Zischler
Cinematography
Lajos Koltai
Runtime
108 min
Country
Austria, Germany, France, United Kingdom
Languages
English, French, German, Russian

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