Never Look Away

"Never Look Away" is essentially a film about three characters: a young artist, based on the life of Gerhard Richter, his wife, and his wife's father, a former Nazi who worked as a doctor committed to "purifying" the German race. So with the focus held so tightly on just three characters, it may seem surprising that it takes three hours to tell the story. But this film never left the feeling that too much was being told. It is a masterpiece of ideal personal relationships set against a background of truly evil and destructive behavior.

The story begins with the artist as a young boy in the care of his devoted but slightly strange aunt. We follow the artist into young adulthood and into a marriage that faces unique challenges. He carries with him his aunt's plea to "never look away."

While this tale begins at the onset of the Nazi era, much of what is presented is relevant to our contemporary world, though those political parallels are not drawn explicitly in the film.

Released in 2018, this film was honored with many award nominations and a few wins. Because of subtitles and a length of three hours, "Never Look Away" did not lend itself well to American tastes or to wide theatrical distribution. It is available on DVD or streaming and should not be missed.

"Never Look Away" is a seriously good movie. It tells the life of Kurt, a German artist born just before the Nazis took power, who survives the war and studies in East Germany under the Communists, eventually ending up in West Germany and trying to find his own style. The story is engrossing, the acting is good, there are some beautiful nude scenes, excellent camera work, interesting characters, and the insight that all totalitarian societies treat their artists as means to an end. What stops it getting a rating of 10/10 is that everything is just a bit too much. Kurt's beloved aunt Elizabeth, an early victim of the Nazis, is heartbreakingly, almost inhumanly, beautiful. Perhaps she is seen that way by her 8-year-old nephew; but he already shows the precocious artistic talent to see things as they really are. There is a Bad Guy in the film, and he is unremittingly, almost inhumanly, bad. This is not just an artistic failing. By having the Bad Guy so evil, it tends to distract the viewer from the fact that the Holocaust was conducted by ordinary people, not super-villains. The film is long, at 3 hours and 8 minutes. It doesn't feel like that, and I didn't find myself looking at my watch. But it could have lost, say, half an hour, and would have been better for it. And the music is a bit overdone, a bit too emphatic. "Never Look Away" is a very good film that could have been better.

I had time to check out this film yesterday and decided to go for it despite its 3 hour and 9 minute running length. I have seen von Donnersmarck's The Lives of Others and The Tourist (the latter of which was awful). The Lives of Others was great though, so I was in anticipation to see what he would see next. Pay no mind to the running length of this film, its an astounding and really fantastically gripping film that is actually quite inspiring.

The film is about the life of an artist named Kurt from his childhood to adulthood and the events in his life that inspire him to become the artist that he is. Early in his life his aunt is euthanized during Nazi, Germany because of suspicions that she may be schizophrenic. Growing up he struggles to find his calling in life but little does he know that the events of his past are what are present in his current day life, unbeknownst to him. I know this wasn't a really in depth summary but that is intentional as I want you to go see this film and experience it for yourself.

From the opening moments in the museums art gallery to the closing moment of Kurt staring at the camera, this is an alluring viewing. Its beautifully shot and is inclusive of a wide range of emotions and life processes including love, hate, death, despair, ambition, and determination. I liked the love story in the film as well. Normally you would see couples in films bicker but in this film its pure love, passion, and support throughout.

Apparently the film is loosely based on the life of Gerhard Richter. I can't really comment on that accuracy but I will say that the blurred paintings of photographs that Kurt paints are absolutely wonderful. Its so nice to see him finally have that moment and find his true calling and his real motivation for painting. I was actually inspired by Kurt's journey in his life and finale finding that recipe for success. In many ways I can relate.

I was a huge fan of the moving score for this film. Especially in latter stages of the film where it was so effective and just so perfect fit. The acting is good all around and at times the film utilizes subtle humor. I could have actually sat through another hour of this film because it embodies so much of what I wish films would these days.

I'm not often really moved by pictures like I was with this. Every scene in this long film is important as it comes back later. Its just pure art in cinematic form. I rarely ever hand out ratings this high but I really feel like Never Look Away is very deserving of that honor. Indeed, its hard to look away from the beauty on display in this film. Just a truly moving experience that I recommend to everyone.

9/10

I am reluctant to write my review of this film, only because I fear I won't do it justice. This film is a masterpiece of the first order. According to Wikipedia, it received a 14-minute standing ovation when it was first shown at a European film festive. I can testify that it received a 14-minute standing ovation in my living room.

We follow a small circle of characters through approximately 30 years of tumultuous history. We are intensely interested in the fate of each of them. There is humor, pathos, agony, exhilaration, discovery, closure, wonder, and astonishment in every scene. The acting is astounding, as is every other aspect of movie making. Bach's beautiful "Sheep May Safely Graze" is used throughout the movie; ironically, of course, because in Hitler's Germany, the sheep were not safe.

My life has rarely been changed, set on a new path, by a film, but I can say this one has done it. I wish the same for you. Watch it over a period of two days, because you probably won't be able to take it all in in only one.

Ich spreche Deutsch ziemlich gut um zu kommunizieren aber nicht genug um die ganze Kritik auf Deutsch zu schreiben darum I'll write it in English. The new movie by Florian von Donnersmarck mesmerized me from the very beginning - the way he can capture the atmosphere, the way he portrays a main hero and even every little character is outstanding and you can literally never look away while watching this modern masterpiece. I actually don't understand why some movie titles are translated into other languages with their own meanings because "Never look away" does not fully capture the true meaning of it while "Work without author" does that almost perfectly. The author of another great one ("The lives of others", 2006) has not outdone himself but came pretty close to doing so: a movie that's so versatile, so multidimensional that you just can't fully figure it out on watch one - it needs to be watched many times. A story of a young boy growing up, facing difficulties, experiencing life changing moments, disappointments, reevaluations in search of an answer to the eternal question: who am I in this fast-changing world? - does it ever get old? I don't think so.