Never Look Away: Review

Never Look Away depicts the life of German Artist Kurt Barnert (Tom Schilling), as he struggles to find his artistic voice torn between the Socialist Realist movement of East Germany and the liberating but eccentric art world of West Germany. 

Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s new biopic inspired by the life of German painter Gerhard Richter is a beautifully shot but tonally confused piece.

Throughout this film two opposing stories are seeming to be told in conjunction with one another. One, a harrowing war drama telling the story of Kurt Barnert as he grows up in war-torn East Germany, and as he and his family struggle to find their footing under the new Socialist regime. The other, a romantic tale between two college students, Kurt and Ellie (Paula Beer) who fall in love and attempt to forge their own artistic paths in life, despite the objections of her Nazi doctor father (Sebastian Koch) and the rigid structure of Social Realism. Regardless, these two juxtaposing stories compliment each other for the majority of the film, mirroring the ups and downs of life. However, some sequences felt very misplaced, such as a montage of Kurt and three of his friends from the Arts University in Dusseldorf cleaning the stairs of the gynaecology hospital. With its quick cuts of the friends dancing and laughing, and upbeat music, it feels very reminiscent of the notorious dancing scene in The Breakfast Club. Although not an unpleasant sequence visually, it feels disjointed and tonally mismatched. As well as this, it’s arguably not a good thing that it can be closely associated with a teenage comedy film, rather than the historical drama it tries to be.

Despite this, with a runtime of 3 hours and 8 mins, Never Look Away still manages to engage and enthral in every scene. The cinematography is beautiful, with the framing of each shot reminiscent of observing a piece of art in a gallery. However, it would be interesting to see von Donnersmarck produce something different, as this and his first film The Lives of Others both focus on an era of German political crisis. Although this is obviously a huge part of German history, and it is noteworthy of von Donnersmarck for staying true to his heritage, it would be compelling to see if he can – successfully – explore another story in the way he does for Never Look Away and The Lives of Others.

Never Look Away is a beautiful and harrowing film, but with a historical narrative that von Donnersmarck seems to have settled comfortably into.