Never Look Away

Sony Pictures Classics | Release Date: January 25, 2019

7.9	USER SCORE Generally favorable reviews based on 44 Ratings

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GreatMartinFeb 15, 2019

The film is based very loosely on, and called mostly false by him, the life of artist Gerhard Richter, here called Kurt Barnert, and his struggle as an artist and with life discovering just who he is and we go along on his journey.

We meetThe film is based very loosely on, and called mostly false by him, the life of artist Gerhard Richter, here called Kurt Barnert, and his struggle as an artist and with life discovering just who he is and we go along on his journey.

We meet young Kurt (Cai Cohrs) in 1937, about 5 years old, and follow him through the next 3 decades. In the opening scenes he goes to see the infamous Degenerate Art exhibition in Dresden, Germany, with his much-loved aunt Elizabeth (Saskia Rosendahl) who tells him "everything that is true is beautiful" and "never look away".

Shortly after Elizabeth, due to a couple of 'incidents' is hospitalized and then sterilized under the Nazi regime policy of 'cleansing' the races. This all takes place under the supervision of Professor Carl Seeband (Sebastian Koch), a top gynecologist and Nazi.

We next meet Kurt as an art student, played by Tom Schilling, who meets Ellie (Paula Beer) studying clothes designing, they fall in love and she becomes pregnant. Her father wants her to abort the baby because discovering who the father is, wants someone better for his daughter and, if nothing else, believes that would end the affair. It doesn't and the couple marry. They had met at the Art Academy where Kurt is studying modern art which doesn't quite fulfill the inspiration he needs/wants.

Just as we meet quite a few interesting fellow students at the Academy there are also many other characters that come and go through the movie but to say anything would create spoilers and would take away from the movie.

"Never Look Away" follows many stories from Nazi Germany to communism, the Berlin Wall, a divided Germany, changes in society, biological facts of life but most of all it is a love story between two people and a story of art, what it represents, how it changes over time and like life the more things change the more they stay the same.

Though epic in theme and running a little over 3 hours the only negative I have to say is that as interesting as I found this film I watched it as an observer not getting involved, mainly because of Tom Schilling. He does an excellent job as the artist in his search for meaning in his life and the love story is the backbone of the film but something just doesn't work between him and Paula Beer.

P. S. In the fight for equal rights full frontal nudity by females should be met with the same amount of time by frontal nudity by males or just eliminate both!… Expand

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BHBarryFeb 21, 2019

"Never Look Away" is a film written and directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck. He also directed two previous and notable German films, one entitled "Black Book" and the second "The Lives of Others". The latter film won an Academy Award"Never Look Away" is a film written and directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck. He also directed two previous and notable German films, one entitled "Black Book" and the second "The Lives of Others". The latter film won an Academy Award as the Best Foreign Language film in 2006 and both films received 4 stars from this reviewer because of their clarity. power and the wonderful theatrical experiences they created. One of the common threads in each of the two prior films and in this one as well is the presence of Sebastian Koch, a dominating figure on the screen. Here Mr. Koch co-stars with Tom Schilling and Paula Beer in this saga that begins in1940 under the reign of Adolph Hitler, moves forward through the era of the German Democratic Republic in the eastern part of Germany and then finally concludes its story in the west.
Loosely resembling the life of artist Gerhard Rickter, the film is filled with coincidences and drama that keep the viewer deeply involved as the young artist, portrayed by Mr. Schilling, looks for and attempts to find his own reality amidst the politics and autocratic regimes of the Third Reich and the GDR. The film is 188 minutes in length but never has a 3 hour plus film been so easy to watch and that is due mainly to the superb writing, directing and acting of those in it and responsible for it. Kudos, too, to Caleb Deschanel whose camera work has earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Cinemaphotography. I give this film a 10 rating and can easily understand why Germany made it its entry for Best Foreign Language film of 2018.… Expand