Never Look Away

Oscar-winning filmmaker Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck (The Lives of Others) scores again with this intimate epic covering three tumultuous decades of German history. Loosely based on the life of artist Gerhard Richter, the story begins in the mid-1930s, when little Kurt Barnert is taken by his free-spirited aunt Elisabeth to an exhibit of so-called degenerate art. Elisabeth’s increasingly strange behavior leads gynecologist Carl Seeband (Sebastian Koch), an SS man, to order her committed to a mental institution, where she is summarily terminated. After the war, Kurt (Tom Schilling), an art student in East Germany, falls in love with high-spirited classmate Ellie (Paula Beer). When her imperious father learns of their relationship, he uses brutal means to effect a break-up, but fails. That father is Seeband, who—though a Nazi—has won the patronage of a powerful Soviet general. The final act of the film shifts to West Germany in the 1960s, where Kurt and Ellie have fled and Seeband soon follows. After years of struggling, Kurt finds his artistic voice, which paradoxically compels Seeband to realize that his wartime past is finally closing in on him. Never Look Away features many themes—including the stifling effect of dogmatism on art and the need to come to terms with history—but it can also be savored simply as an old-fashioned domestic drama set against the rush of uncontrollable events and given piquancy by its semi-biographical allusions to Richter. In any case, the Oscar-nominated Never Look Away tells a fascinating story that is at once personal, political, and aesthetic. Highly recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include a Q&A with writer-director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck (42 min.). Bottom line: a solid extras package for this Oscar-nominated foreign film.] (F. Swietek)