An epic that begins in Nazi Germany, continues into the GDR, and ends in 1960s West Germany, as we follow a young man (Tom Schilling) who grows up to become an artist and falls in love with the daughter (Paula Beer) of a doctor (Sebastian Koch) who knew how to serve each regime with equal devotion.

The man behind The Lives of Others (2006) feels like the right person for this engrossing portrait of Germany, inspired by the life of the artist Gerhard Richter.

The film offers a comment on liberty and the role of art in totalitarian regimes; often moving and riveting, beautifully shot, but perhaps a tad too polished at times.

2018-Germany. 188 min. Color. Written and directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck. Cinematography: Caleb Deschanel. Cast: Tom Schilling (Kurt Barnert), Sebastian Koch (Carl Seeband), Paula Beer (Ellie Seeband), Saskia Rosendahl, Oliver Masucci, Hanno Koffler.

Trivia: Original title: Werk ohne Autor. Co-produced by the director. 

Last word: “We had to show Germany in all its glory before it was bombed and that involved a lot of building sets and digital cobbling together based on shots from Prague and Vienna that had a similar look to Dresden. We then had to show the aftermath which was a world in ruins. We found a place in Poland where they wanted to demolish a city and they ran out of money half way through. We then had the challenging of adapting it and making it look like a bombed out Germany in 1945. […] I thought we were going to have to build massive models and I was already working with model makers to create that but they never quite looked real.” (Henckel von Donnersmarck, The Film Pie)