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Rating:  -
Steven Soderbergh unfortunately is a hit, miss, miss, miss, miss, miss director. Kafka still remains, to this day, my favorite of his films and it is not even on DVD.
This film was terrible.
Awful.
Rating:  -
The film in black and white is breathtaking and I actually caught myself thinking for a second here and there that I was really back in 1945. The actors were good if a bit archetypal. But there was not much character development so it seemed ludicrous that the George Clooney character kept being beaten up. He was certainly a slow learner! Especially since he had lived in Berlin before and was no greenhorn.
The SS and their wives were vetted so thoroughly at the time for their Aryan backgrounds that I found it a bit of a stretch that the Cate Blanchett character, married to an SS officer, was actually Jewish. But stranger things happened during the war; of itself it was not totally implausible. The plot however seemed a bit unclear and the action repetitive. Also, none of the characters were particularly likeable. True to life, perhaps, but it muddies the lens.
I kept asking myself what point the film makers were trying to illustrate. I know if I were younger I would have enjoyed this less critically--it was a chilling peek at the early days of the cold war--but it didn't seem to have any new messages for the viewer.
Rating:  -
I found the portrayal of Cate Blanchett to be the high point of this movie. Well shot in black and white with superb support from Toby Maguire, this was a consumate performance in an otherwise dull film. I am not a fan of George Clooney and his performance here left a lot to be desired. The movie raises a lot of questions of the morality of war and those who are involved in it from whatever perspective. It gives the lie to the black and white sides of a wartime experience and allows the viewer to examine the multitudeinous shades of grey.
Survival of the fittest is also a central concern and highlights some of the difficulties arriving at an ethical judgemt whenever our own survival is threatened. The backdrop to this whole story is the dirty business of politics and the dividing of the spoils as exemplified by the biblical story of the roman soldiers dividing up Jesus' gaments after his crucifixion.
Cate Blanchette reminds me of Jody Foster in some of her exceptional performances where one is drawn in to the story though that where the rest of the film is below par.
Rating: -
One of the characters in "The Good German" remarks that the best champagne has the smallest bubbles. The film unfortunately, has a few big bubbles that impress initially, but vaporize and leave a flat, bitter fluid later.
The big bubbles are the name actors and homage to film noir. The overweaning style, heightened by the best component of the film (Thomas Newman's music) is intriguing to lovers of the genre, but the actors, professional as they are, can't bring much to their roles, probably as a result of the direction. Clooney is likeable as always but doesn't project the necessary intensity of caring for Cate Blanchett that the action demands. Blanchett does create a character, but it's too Dietrich-like to stand in its own right. So, after the plot ends and the actors leave the screen, you're left with disappointment, even though your hopes were up and you were saying to yourself, "This film isn't as bad as they were claiming!"
The bottom line for me is: the real comparison film is Lars Von Trier's "Zentropa" (or "Europa") of 1991. That film has 10 times more noir techniques of interest, and a stronger symbolic element that makes the necessity of characterization less important. For me it is one of the greatest films ever made, something for which Soderberg was striving, but didn't have the talent to bring off.
"Zentropa" has trillions of little bubbles in the details. The best!
Rating: -
I watched this movie twice. The first time I watched it in French without subtitles. Then I watched it in English, because I'm not fluent in French. :) Steven Soderberg directed this picture. He won the Best Director Oscar for "Traffic" in 2000 & has directed "Sex, Lies & Videotape" & "Erin Brockovich." Using the name Peter Andrews, he also served as cinematographer. I think it is a valid question with the scene setup at the airport at the end why did he choose to copy "Casablanca," without adding anything significantly to that setup. We do get the profound twist [spoiler] that Lena survived by turning in other Jews to the Gestapo, but it only serves to take what we think is going to be a romantic ending and shatters it. Perhaps like the Wizard of Oz, the film should suddenly have burst into color as the lights come on in Clooney's head.
Thomas Newman's score was nominated for the Oscar from this film and is one of the best elements of the picture.
George Clooney won his Best Supporting Actor Oscar for "Syriana" in 2005. He's an actor who brings depth to even a thin character. As Captain Jake Geismer, he broods and carries a torch romantically for Lena, even as he gets beaten up by Toby MacGuire. While Clooney does a good job IMHO, the plot seems to beat him back consistently, "You should have never come back to Berlin." We might have had a more interesting film if he'd been elsewhere.
Cate Blanchett filmed "Notes On a Scandal" & "Babel" this same year. She does a journeyman's job. She's got a distinctive, lovely face and turns in an expressive low-key performance that smolders from the pressures of trying to survive. While she won her Best Supporting Actor Oscar for "The Aviator" in 2004, she did not add to her honors with this film.
Toby MacGuire's got boy-next-door looks. The plot undercuts his appeal by showing his character Tully boffing Blanchett from behind bent over the bed. Then he clubs Clooney into a clump and jumps into the Jeep for a getaway. MacGuire's only acting recognition at this point is a Best Supporting Actor award from the Toronto Film Critics Association for "The Wonder Boys" in 2000. Unfortunately, his best Good German moment was as a corpse pulled from the river with debris clinging to his face.
Shown to best advantage is Christian Oliver as Emile Brandt. Oliver has not worked extensively with credits like "The Baby Sitters Club" in 1995 and "Subject Two" about vampires in 2005. But as Lena's husband hidden away, he brings depth and good looks in his brief camera appearances.
Who knows why Beau Bridges signed on to play Col. Muller in this film. The best thing about his performance is that he showed up for work and shot the scenes.
This is neither a wonderful film nor an awful film. It's an average film. I'd watch it just to see Cate Blanchett. With lowered expectations, it's good for an evening's viewing. Enjoy!
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