Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

My favourite film about collaboration with Kieslowski's 'No End', in which a weary lawyer tells an opponent of the state "You decided to collaborate the day you decided not to throw yourself in front of a tank." The truth is, that faced with evil (and poor odds of beating it), only a few adopt a policy of outright resistance. But sometimes life forces one into taking sides; and 'Taking Sides' is the name of this film, about the German conductor Furtwangler and his relationship with the Nazis. It covers the usual ground, with less subtlety than Kieslowski's film, although there are similar arguments: at one point Furtwangler alleges that the American officer trying to indict him for Nazism is blaming him for his "failure to be hanged." In the case of the Nazis, however, the utter wickedness of their government reduces our capacity for sympathy for those who did not resist, which, the film suggests, in Furtwangler's case was at least in part a consequence of his utter devotion to his music: that his compromises were motivated not solely by fear, but also by his professional ambition. What doesn't quite ring true is the slant of the officer's antagonism: he wants to hold Furtwangler responsible more for the German people's collective acceptance of the concentration camps than his own direct collaboration; this is not implausible, but the film would work better if we were presented with his motivation also in personal terms, but it passes unquestioned. And the ending of the film lacks power, again because we don't know enough about this character to wholly share his sentiments at the end of the interrogation. But it's still a strong movie, thought provoking and a reminder of how lucky many of us are not to live in times where we have to make choices on which many lives, our own and those of others, hang.

Here is an arty film of the new millennium. One that reflect upon whatever happened in the last century, and one that in fact deals with the favourite theme of the arty films based on the 20th century: the aftermath of the second world war. It is an interesting period to be talking about, particularly when it deals with such a delicate matter as the inquisitions of the people that were suspects of having been members of the Nazi Party. America on one side, the nation that wants to capture all the Nazis, and Russia, that wants to keep the talented ones. In other words, the country of Germany, stunned by what had been the Nazi period, stunned by whatever they had been kept obscure of, being screwed from both sides.Here is a film where you can't take sides, because the filmmaker takes it for you. Szabo makes it very clear that Dr. Furtwangler is not evil. In fact, this is what we think in Music Box by Costa-Garvas, which is why until the end, we must wonder whether Szabo is playing us, fooling us in actually believing in the kindness of strangers. And on the other side of the good side is the Harvey Keitel side, who makes no gimmicks of the fact that he is playing on the evil, tough side.The outcome is not goofy, it's cheesy. Us being told that we are wrong. Us being told by European filmmakers that Americans were bold. Of course, that is probably true. Perhaps Furtwangler wasn't a buddy of Hitler's. But were the Americans wrong in seeking revenge. under such a dubious and biased ligght, we cannot take sides, when we are not given an opportunity to take sides. Keitel's Maj. Arnold hates the Nazis not because of what they did, but because he is brainwashed. And if that wasn't enough to prove his instability, we get his shakiness when he catches his two associates out on a date, and he is angry at the fact that the woman didn't pick him.The film plays out more like a stage play than a film. In fact, the film is based on a stage play. That wouldn't even be so bad, because Skarsgard is really good at playing the guy we must pity and Keitel is really good as playing the guy we must hate. It's all set out for us. The sides have been picked, we have been cheated. This is another film where the filmmaker manipulates our thoughts, which wouldn't even be so bad. But when the film drags on and is sucked dry of inventiveness as this one, it shouldn't be forgiven. In fact, the only parts where the film flows are the interrogatory scenes, that display Maj. Arnold's rude and aggressive methods that are good at drawing out attention. And Skarsgard is good as the helpless victim.The photography is not perfect, strange, because he decides not to move the camera itself so much, and yet, he doesn't take his time to think through the mise-en-scene. I suppose, however, that you could be doing worse, counting that there is no character in the play that is particularly sexually appealing, which is ever so important on the silver screen.WATCH FOR THE MOMENT - When, after the second time, Skargard's character gets up off his seat. He is angry, scared, defeated. He has no chance is succeeding. That is a brilliant performance. Too bad it's an easy performance, for the rest of the film.

"Taking Sides" powerfully depicts difficult questions most thinking people have had: who is really responsible for genocide? Are all Germans responsible for Nazism? (All Rwandans ... Cambodians ... ? This list could continue forever until we are all in the prisoner's dock.) How is it that highly cultured people, who loved Beethoven, could commit inhuman crimes? Harvey Keitel plays an American officer in post-World-War-Two Germany who is given the job of dealing with Wilhelm Furtwangler, perhaps the best classical music conductor in the world. The question is, can Furtwangler be associated with the crimes of Nazism? Harvey Keitel and Stellan Skarsgaard give equally riveting performances, but Skarsgaard stands out because he depicts a type that films don't often focus on: a man so dedicated to his high art that he comes across as an extraterrestial when confronted with concrete concerns. His performance was certainly Oscar worthy.In a scene as heartwrenching as any I've seen in any film, Furtwangler attempts to present his carefully prepared philosophy of art. To say that he is rudely interrupted is an understatement. I cried for him, and for humanity.Keitel depicts a driven man who wants justice, but who arrived too late to exact it. Nazism's victims are already dead. He can't save them. And, so, he embarks on a Quixotic quest to bring down a man whose relationship to Nazism is questionable.Keitel's character wants desperately for the world to be painted in black and white, with heroes on one side and devils -- a word he uses -- on the other. At a key moment, his secretary, whose WW II family history is pertinent, makes a key disclosure that might have served to widen and deepen his view of the world. But this is a man who does not want a wider or deeper view of the world. He wants justice, something others might call revenge.Moritz Bleibtreu, Birgit Minichmayr and Ulrich Tukur are poignant, heart breaking, and thought provoking in smaller roles.Kudos to Ronald Harwood for his merciless script. Like characters on screen, I often wanted to take a break, to say, "This is just too much." The script falls like a hammer on very difficult issues.

The whole film is a perfect poem.seriously.don't want to mince words about it because it simply speaks for itself.heartbreakingly simple yet more profound than a thousand philosophies put together.one may talk and talk and talk but that one scene in the end when he walks away down that symbolic staircase with both the secretaries looking on...its simply mind blowing.i have seen this movie only once and that too 2 years ago,but the scene is etched in my brain forever.art versus politics....the eternal battle.the direction is flawless and the characters are unforgettable.simply like a poem.stoic and poignant.no words of mine can do justice to the poem ...because the scenes speak for themselves.