Clear message, but not a very innovative movie

Rating: 6/10 (6 March 2002)

I'd heard great stories about how brilliant this film would be, and got a little disappointed after watching it. Sure, it's a nice story  with a very clear and unavoidable message  but it did not really disturb me. I like a film to disturb me, to make me doubt my opinions. And I can get disturbed by strange and obsessive people, not by a single swastika now and then. In this movie everything was so obvious, clear cut and outspoken: the dialogs seemed to be taken from high school plays: our thesis on racism'. The filming was smooth, there even were some background violins if I'm not mistaken. But there was nothing raw, nothing hidden, nothing seductive, nothing strangely energetic in this piece. The whole story got told'. And I really disliked the black&white of the flashbacks, that did not add anything worthwhile. Conclusion: Of coarse' I can agree with the message  but the filming was a little cheap. I'm curious about the movie Tony Kaye wanted to make.