Opera senza autore

This is a fantastic movie, historical drama and philosophical essey on art at the same time. The runtime might seem a bit long, but once the movie gets your attention, it never lets you go. The well-written charcters are full of life, which delivers a complex yet relatable story throughout the history of XX. century Germany. The film is also beautiful, awesome cinematography. And an inevitable piece if you want to understand the thouhts behind modern art. While the english title is good (Never look away - the primary thesis of the movie), please also notice the original title (Art without author). Recommend 10/10

Ich spreche Deutsch ziemlich gut um zu kommunizieren aber nicht genug um die ganze Kritik auf Deutsch zu schreiben darum I'll write it in English. The new movie by Florian von Donnersmarck mesmerized me from the very beginning - the way he can capture the atmosphere, the way he portrays a main hero and even every little character is outstanding and you can literally never look away while watching this modern masterpiece. I actually don't understand why some movie titles are translated into other languages with their own meanings because "Never look away" does not fully capture the true meaning of it while "Work without author" does that almost perfectly. The author of another great one ("The lives of others", 2006) has not outdone himself but came pretty close to doing so: a movie that's so versatile, so multidimensional that you just can't fully figure it out on watch one - it needs to be watched many times. A story of a young boy growing up, facing difficulties, experiencing life changing moments, disappointments, reevaluations in search of an answer to the eternal question: who am I in this fast-changing world? - does it ever get old? I don't think so.

It's a 3 hours movie but you don't perceive so long. The plot is great. The story is well depicted. The actors are very good.

The soundtrack as well so great. Very touching in some moments.

I didn't know that Germans were so good in making movies.

It's another story totally different than Dr Zivago but great as well.

I strongly recommend to watch it. Strongly.

It is one of films who you just feel. Only feel. Because it is about family, past, Nazi regime, cold adaptation to the new realities, love, cinism and survive, art, truth and parenthood, about happiness and about be yourself. A beautiful film, many memorable scenes, great Sebastian Koch and Tom Willing and the fair story. And, no doubts, magnificent portraits . A film who, if you are real honest to yourself, can be only about you.

I watched this at home on BluRay from my public library. My wife skipped, she doesn't like to see movies with subtitles.

I studied German for two years in college, while I can't converse in it anymore I was able to fit the German dialog with the English subtitles.

While there are several intersecting stories the main thread is Kurt, a boy of 8 in 1937 Nazi Germany, being exposed to various forms of art by his 20-something aunt. As he grows, and WW2 comes and goes, he develops into a quite good painter. He eventually has to escape to West Berlin to be free to develop his talents. The story extends through the 1960s.

Part of the overlapping story is of the Nazi programs to purify their race, to see to it that even Germans who had some sort of affliction were terminated, and this was the fate of his aunt who had the occasional emotional malfunction. As it turns out Kurt unwittingly marries the daughter of one of the evil doctors who it seems had named his daughter Elizabeth, the same as Kurt's aunt.

This is a really good movie and at just over 3 hours didn't seem overly long, I can't think of any scene that I would cut. However I watched it over three different sessions with some overlap each time. In the extra on the disc the writer/director explains, in English, how he modeled his story off a real German artist who developed through this same period.