A couple of years ago Marian Street theatre (sadly no longer) put on a powerful production of British playwright Ronald Harwood’s ‘Taking Sides’. Paddington’s Chauvel cinema has been running a successful season of Istvan Szabo’s film version that cuts even deeper.
Szabo, most famous for the Academy Award winning ‘Mephisto’, has always been fierce and uncompromising. No wonder, he chose Harwood’s play!
In the Allies post Second World War attempt to bring guilty Germans to justice, American Major Steve Arnold (Harvey Keital) is given the commission of investigating whether the brilliant German conductor Dr Wilhelm Furtwangler (Stellan Skarsgaard) has a case to answer for. How far did his allegiances with the Nazi Party go?!
In a small office high up in what was the old Opera House, Major Arnold, along with associates, Lieutenant David Wills and secretary Emma, is desperate to disrobe the Emperor, Dr Furtwangler. Furtwangler was a leading figure during the Nazis period. He was one of the Nazi pin-up boys, their leading conductor.
As I sat through ‘Taking Sides’ it struck me how angry Harwood’s story was. Through the narrative it is established that Furtwangler did have a lot to answer for. More than anything it was his superior attitude that Major Arnold rages about. Like many artists before and after him, Dr Furtwangler had the attitude that he was a class above the rest of humanity.
Like a burst of lightning, Arnold strikes at the conductor that the burden of guilt for the massacres that took place in the camps rests on his shoulders as much as anyone else’s. We are all responsible for each other.
In the leading role, Harvey Keital gave one of his strongest performances, in a role that was clearly close to his heart.