Taking Sides

Name: Taking Sides
Genre: Drama, War, Music
Released: September 5, 2003
Duration: 108 min
Rating: 61

2003

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 26 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 8 Ratings

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5.4	User Score Mixed or average reviews based on 8 Ratings

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Movie Details & Credits

New Yorker Films | Release Date: September 5, 2003

Summary: A tale based on the life of Wilhelm Furtwängler, the controversial conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic whose tenure coincided with the controversial Nazi era.

Director: István Szabó

Genre(s): Drama, War, Music

Runtime: 108 min

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Critic Reviews

William Arnold

After a somewhat shaky start, the film gradually settles in to become another extraordinarily powerful and explosively acted drama that deftly probes the moral responsibility of an artist in a totalitarian society. Read full review

Stephen Holden

Sparked by the actors' powerful performances, Arnold's moral absolutism and Furtwängler's lofty aestheticism make for a dramatically compelling clash. Read full review

Roger Ebert

The movie is both interesting and unsatisfying. The Keitel performance is over the top, inviting us to side with Furtwangler simply because his interrogator is so vile. Read full review

Elizabeth Weitzman

Characters do little more than run around the same track incessantly, leaving us waiting for revelations that never arrive. Read full review

Leslie Camhi

Flawed but fascinating. Read full review

TV Guide Magazine Ken Fox

Be sure to stay for the coda, a damning piece of newsreel that casts much of what went before in a whole new light. Read full review

Mick LaSalle

The movie's promise -- to provide a balanced argument -- goes unrealized, and all we're left with is the spectacle of an idiot bullying a genius. Read full review

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