Screening

About Never Look Away

Rating:

R R

Year Released:

2018

Format:

2K DCP

Genres:

Drama

Metadata:

Directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck

This “biopic” gained international notoriety for its many film awards and its charged relationship to the life of the German artist Gerhard Richter. While Richter publicly disavowed the film, the director acknowledges that it was inspired by his interviews with the artist. The result is a powerful depiction of the creative process in the face of horror and hardship. In this case, the story tracks the systematic murder (termed “euthanasia” by the Nazi regime) of people with mental illness during the Holocaust and the subsequent implications on the artist’s family. While both a moving epic about the power of love and art to help come to terms with painful memories, it also offers interesting insights into the meaning of art in totalitarian regimes, the effects of capitalism and individualism, and the practice of art education. In German and Russian with English subtitles. Contains explicit content, including violence, scenes depicting suicide, and sexual situations.