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Director: Istvan Szabo
Distributed by: New Yorker
Films
Theatrical Release Date: September 5, 2003
A tale based on the life of Wilhelm Furtwangler, the controversial
conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic whose tenure coincided with the
controversial Nazi era. One of the most spectacular and renowned
conductors of the 30s, Furtwangler's reputation rivaled that of
Toscanini's. After the war, he was investigated as part of the Allies'
de-Nazification programme. In the bombed-out Berlin of the immediate
post-war period, the Allies slowly bring law and order--and justice--to
bear on an occupied Germany. An American major is given the Furtwangler
file, and is told to find everything he can and to prosecute the man
ruthlessly. Tough and hard-nosed, Major Steve Arnold sets out to
investigate a world of which he knows nothing. Orchestra members vouch
for Furtwangler's morality--he did what he could to protect Jewish
players from his orchestra. To the Germans, deeply respectful of their
musical heritage, Furtwangler was a demigod; to Major Arnold, he is just
a lying, weak-willed Nazi.
Cast:
Harvey Keitel,
Stellan Skarsgard
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