A rambling, occasionally insightful and thoughtful but ultimately superficial exploration of art and life. Werk ohne Autor (Work Without Author, a much more appropriate title) follows artist Kurt Barnert (loosely based on Gerhard Richter) from his Dresden childhood at the end of World War II, the social realism of the GDR to free expression in the west via the Dusseldorf Academy.
Haunted by the loss of his beloved young aunt under the Nazis and frustrated by the artistic restrictions of the east, Barnert (Tom Schilling) eventually gets to the West. Confused in 1960s West Germany under the tutelage of a modernist professor (a thinly veiled fictional Joseph Beuys) and a bullying, interfering father-in-law, Barnert plods on regardless. It’s all a bit of a slog (188 minutes!) that lacks the magic of director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s superb Oscar-winning The Lives of Others. But, having said that, with its seriousness of intent, Never Look Away remains readily watchable.
Nominated for 2 Oscars in 2019 – best foreign language film & cinematography.
Rating: 59%
Director: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck (The Lives of Others, The Tourist)
Writer: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck (The Lives of Others, The Tourist)
Main cast: Tom Schilling (Oh Boy, Crazy), Sebastian Koch (The Lives of Others, Bridge of Spies), Paula Beer (Transit, Frantz)
An Opinion or Two 