TAKING SIDES
Brilliant moral questions, but only for mature viewers.
Should You Watch It?
Taking Sides is a brilliant drama built around a difficult question: can justice survive when an investigation begins with the assumption that everyone on the other side is guilty? Its central conflict considers art, politics, materialism, spiritual reality, forgiveness, and culpability without settling the questions for you.
The film is beautifully made. The direction is flawless, the acting captivates, and the production is beautifully done. But that quality comes with serious content concerns, including repeated images of dead, naked Holocaust victims, outbursts of foul language, drunkenness, and smoking.
This is worth your time if you are a mature viewer ready to wrestle with profound moral questions and disturbing material. For family viewing, choose something else; for discerning adults, take the film seriously and discuss it afterward.
The Story
NO SPOILERS — WE KEEP THE SURPRISESDuring World War II, famed German conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler leads the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra while an air raid darkens the cathedral around him. After the war, American war-crimes investigator Major Steve Arnold is assigned to investigate Furtwängler.
With assistants Emmi and David, Steve works to build a case against the conductor. But the investigation raises difficult questions about guilt, justice, art, politics, and whether a person can stand for something good without fleeing a corrupt homeland.
Is It Any Good?
Four stars means this is an exceptionally well-made drama. The direction is flawless, the acting captivates, and every part of the production is beautifully done.
The film’s strength is also intellectual. It presents two sharply opposing points of view and gives the audience serious questions rather than easy conclusions. Its investigation becomes a compelling examination of justice, mercy, materialism, spiritual reality, forgiveness, and culpability.
The Worldview
The film asks whether there is more to life than materialism and whether a spiritual side of life exists. It also questions who deserves forgiveness, who the bad people are, and whether everyone is culpable. These are profound spiritual questions, but the movie does not take sides.
Steve Arnold is told to forget justice and mercy and to treat all Germans as Nazis. His aggressive investigation leads the film to question whether he has adopted the tactics of the Gestapo. Wilhelm, by contrast, believes in art and in a spiritual side of life. The movie also explores the tension between art and politics and whether a person should flee a corrupt society or remain to stand for something good.
The film’s moral questions align with a biblical concern for justice, mercy, forgiveness, and human responsibility. But it does not provide the simple biblical answers the reviewer says exist; applying those answers in difficult situations requires prayer, hope, and quiet wisdom. Scripture reminds us that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
The Content Guide
The specifics — spoilers included by nature — so you can judge for your own family.
Content Summary
Mild Christian worldview asking profound questions in a very subtle way, such as: Isn't there more to life than materialism? Who deserves forgiveness? Who are the bad guys?; 21 obscenities and 11 profanities; images of Holocaust victims' naked bodies being bulldozed into trenches and brief scuffling when Army Major seizes informer; no sex; nude Holocaust victims in documentary footage; drunkenness; smoking; and the whole question of art versus politics; treachery, lying, informing, and badgering. GENRE: Drama C LLL NNN AA D M V
Talk About It
Questions for the drive home, the dinner table, or the youth group.
Steve is told to forget justice and mercy and assume that all Germans are Nazis. How can fear or anger distort our judgment of other people?
James 2:13 · Micah 6:8The film asks whether there is more to life than materialism. Where do you see the limits of treating people and life as merely material?
Matthew 6:19–21 · Mark 8:36The story raises questions about guilt and forgiveness. What does Scripture say about human culpability, and what does it say about the source of forgiveness?
Romans 3:23–24 · Ephesians 1:7Wilhelm believes it is better to stand for something good than to run. When should Christians stand firm, and how should they do so with wisdom?
Ephesians 6:13 · James 1:5The Final Word
Taking Sides is brilliant, beautifully acted, and filled with questions worth revisiting. Its language and disturbing Holocaust imagery make it unsuitable for children and young teens. For mature viewers prepared to engage those concerns thoughtfully, it is WORTH THE TRIP — ADULTS ONLY. For family viewing, consider these.
