Sydney Film Festival 2019 - Film Review - Never Look Away

Tom Schilling as Kurt - Never Look Away

German director and screenwriter, Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck has delivered another masterful film with his sweeping perspective of three eras of German history spanning the period from Nazi Germany to a post-war resurgent West Germany. This film is equal in quality to his Academy Award winning work, The Lives of Others and tackles a different subject area with clarity and understated horror.  The film plotline follows the life of aspiring artist, Kurt from his early childhood in Nazi Germany to being a young adult in Socialist East Germany (the GDR) traversing the different societal and political standards which must be navigated during this complex part of history. 

Sebastian Koch as Professor Seeband - Never Look Away

Kurt's life intersects with Professor Seeband, whom unbeknown to Kurt was a doctor in the SS involved in Germany's eugenics program and ultimately was responsible for the sterilisation and death of Kurt's young eccentric aunt, Elizabeth. As fate would dictate, Kurt meets and falls for Seeband's daughter, Ellie who is attending the Dusseldorf Art Academy after the end of the War. Seeband has carefully disguised and hidden his Nazi past yet his racial beliefs remain unchanged and he seeks to break-up the relationship between Kurt and Ellie.

At 189 minutes running time this is a long film yet expert scripting, acting and imagery never lets the film slip in its paces. Inspired by the life of artist Gerhard Richter, Never Look Back is an excellent period piece and provides another cultural insight into Germany's difficult history in the middle part of the 20th Century.