Never Look Away (2018)

Never Look Away has an interesting view of politics and art and how the two relate to each other. But not in terms of the currently very popular debate about the politics in the art itself, yet rather about creating art in a specific political environment (at first Nazi Germany, later the DDR). The movie opens in 1937, when are lead character, Kurt, is still a little boy. He goes to visit a modern art exhibition with his rather open-minded aunt. The museum guide gives a lengthy speech about the impurity of this certain art movement, how it is at conflict with the traditional German values and even goes as far as suggesting that this kind of work can only come from someone with a disturbed mind, and therefore it’s the government’s job to take measures. It’s already clear, art can only suffice in this world as a form of propaganda, while also giving us a little hint of what will further happen to this family unit. 

In the first 45 minutes of this movie, it gets painstakingly clear that Kurt and his family got the short end of the stick before, throughout and after World War II. The aforementioned aunt is diagnosed as a schizophrenic, and therefore gets admitted to the Nazis’ notorious ‘Purification Program”. Certain uncles are killed on the battlefield, and Kurt’s father can’t continue his profession as a teacher after the world has ended because he was a member of the SS, a party he was radically opposed to, and he only affiliated with because initially that was his only option to maintain his job. After seeing all this misery, youngest descendant Kurt hesitates to pursue his artistic ambitions, but eventually gets pushed towards the local art academy by his employer. But there it becomes instantly clear that the brand-new Communist government shares a similar disdain for modern art with the former Nazi Party, and students of the Academy are mandated to work within the boundaries of Social Realism, the only painting style that is allowed. Kurt is a very gifted artist and rapidly gains success in this field, yet can’t get rid of the fact that this is not what he wants to dedicate his life to, even though he has no fully formed idea what he’d rather like to do instead.

I didn't really know a lot about Never Look Away before entering the movie theater, I was only familiar with the notion that it had unexpectedly received multiple Oscar nominations, and was therefore expecting a more typical World War II drama. So ultimately, I was pleasantly surprised by the aforementioned look upon artistic self-expression. As someone who draws as well, I could very much relate to the search for artistic freedom as it is presented in this movie. The struggle of trying to find your own style, battling with what people expect from you to make and what you yourself would like to do, and coming to the aggravating conclusion that what you appreciate in art isn't always the same as what you enjoy making. 

This aspect of the movie, a process that isn't told too often, almost made me forgive some of the movie’s major flaws, of which there are many. The worst offender probably being our lead character himself, Kurt, a gaping hole where should be a compelling protagonist. Kurt is someone who doesn't talk too much and seemingly has no actual personality to speak of. He finds a girlfriend rather easily without us having any idea why she would fall in love with this empty vessel. The movie also doesn’t really bothers with fleshing her out. And despite the impressive length of a full 3 hours, all of the characters in this movie are limited to being unfinished sketches. We are expected to care about them because of what they are going through, instead because of who they are. Yet at the same time the movie doesn’t want to fully commit to showing their suffering. Expressions of emotion don’t last long and are swiftly forgotten. Everyone who encounters Kurt mentions how they can see in his eyes that he has been through a lot, yet Kurt himself says nothing. He never expresses anything, he never cries, complains, or protests. He barely even grieves. He never gets angry, even though he has several causes to. It seems like the filmmakers are too afraid that we might otherwise find him unsympathetic or annoying, therefore chose to rob him of his humanity instead. It is an attempt to make his suffering look graceful, adding a superficial beauty to it, almost making it look admirable. This sort of misery porn is becoming more and more common in these kind of prestige dramas, and it is honestly one of the most infuriating movie tropes currently out there. 

In the end, Never Look Away feels too standard, too didactic, lacking any real emotion depth. The kind of movie your history professor would put on in class whenever he doesn’t feel like teaching that day, and you will probably be somewhat engaged while watching it in that setting, yet its impression will not last long.