{image1} How to define guilt? That is the question at the heart of "Taking Sides," a 2001 film based on a true story starring Harvey Keitel, directed by Oscar-winning director Istvan Szabo ("Mephisto") and written by Ronald Harwood, who won an Oscar for his script for "The Pianist."
Set in Germany immediately after World War II, Harvey Keitel plays Major Steve Arnold, an American insurance salesman and official on the American Denazification Committee whose job is to prosecute war criminals.
He is given the case of renowned classical music maestro Wilhelm Furtwangler (Stellan Skarsgard), who many in Germany believed to have been independent of the Nazi regime. Thatís because Furtwangler walked a tightrope, to use his phrase, of trying not to anger the Nazis, while at the same time hoping to continue to hold his esteemed position as the conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic during the Third Reich.
Meanwhile, another allied officer wants to land Furtwangler for his countryís orchestra and begs Arnold to drop the case, which the latter refuses to do.
Furtwangler argues that he steered clear of politics and focused solely on his art. Arnold wants to know why Furtwangler chose to remain in Germany rather than flee like so many others of his stature and talents.
Furtwangler and the members of his orchestra maintain their innocence as each is questioned and denies membership in the Nazi party (sometimes true, sometimes not). Furtwangler didnít give Hitler the Nazi salute, but he shook his hand at the end of a performance not on Hitlerís birthday, but the evening previous.
The orchestra did not agree to perform at a Nazi rally, but once again it performed the night before.
Furtwangler helped many Jews to escape, yet he and the others deny knowledge of the atrocities committed against the Jews. What, then, Arnold asks, did Furtwangler think the Jews needed to be rescued from?
Also present during the interrogations are secretary Emmi Straube (Birgit Minichmayr), whose father was executed for taking place in a plot to assassinate Hitler, and Lieutenant David Wills (Moritz Bleibtreu), a Jew who grew up in America but whose parents fled Nazi Germany.
As determined and fierce as Arnoldís questioning is, he canít convince Emmi and David to take a hard line against Furtwangler. Emmi never left Germany and believes the tightrope walk was familiar to anyone living there during the period. Meanwhile, David attributes his love of music to a performance by Furtwangler that he saw as a youth.
Arnold is astonished by Davidís lack of outrage at Furtwanglerís complicity but his hard line leaves little room for debate. And that debate is what this film should spark. How much must one have protested or fought against the regime to be considered innocent?
Great performances all around, a well-written script and only occasionally turgid dialogue make this is an engaging drama and a thoughtful exploration of guilt, innocence and 20th century history.
"Taking Sides" screens at UWM Cinema, 2200 E. Kenwood Blvd., Fri.-Sun., Jan. 23-25 at 7 and 9 p.m. Admission is $5, $4 for students and seniors. The theater is located on the second floor of the UWM Student Union.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
