Oscar Nominated: Best Foreign Language Film. “Just nominated for an Academy Award as Best Foreign-Language Film and for the extraordinary cinematography of Caleb Deschanel, Never Look Away concerns itself with love and war and the limitless reach of art. In his third film German writer-director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck returns triumphantly to form.
“The film moves through three decades of German history, from the rise of the Nazis to the war itself and the division of East and West Germany. The connecting link is Kurt Barnert (Tom Schilling), a fictional artist based on Gerhard Richter, whose photorealistic paintings now sell for millions. Never Look Away chases the intangibles faced by an artist in the act of inventing himself and finding his place in the world.
“Lit with a poet’s eye by Deschanel and given dramatic heft by von Donnersmarck, Never Look Away lunges at the primitive forces that define our lives. It’s never less than exhilarating.” - Rolling Stone