| Director: | Steven Soderbergh |
Cast: George Clooney, Cate Blanchett, Tobey Maguire, Beau Bridges, Jack Thompson
When journalist Jake Geismer (Clooney) returns to Germany after World War II to cover the Peace Conference, Berlin is a bombed out shell, peopled with cynics, opportunists and criminals, most of whom wear military uniforms. In Berlin, it seems the more things change, the more they stay the same. Geismer’s driver, Tully (Maguire), is a black market racketeer. His girlfriend, Lena (Blanchett) turns out to be Geismer’s old flame, the real reason for his return. Lena’s scientist husband, Emile, is being hunted by the Americans, which makes him a valuable commodity to all and sundry. Emile is a rare animal – a good German who wants to tell the truth about a war crime. But truth, like innocence, is the first casualty of war.
The appeal of Soderbergh is his originality as a director. The one repetitive thing about Soderbergh films is George Clooney, who’s stared in at least six of the director’s films to date. <i>Out of Sight</i> is the closest Soderbergh has come to film noir. Until now.
Based on the book of the same name by Joseph Kanon, Soderbergh takes <i>The Good German</i> deep into film noir territory, via Casablanca the lovers reunite in a bar; Lena has a husband who wants to do the right thing; and the film finishes with her leaving the country in a plane without the love of her life. Geismer is in no way as conflicted as Rick and Lena is totally corrupt compared to Ilsa. But the resonance between the films is quite strong. It’s a shame really, because it means The Good German will always suffer by comparison. It’s certainly not strong enough to stand alone. The Good German adheres to the structure, design and characterisations necessary for film noir. But at times the scenes are mechanical and lack lustre. The camera loves Blanchett, who gives good vamp, but Clooney’s performance falls short. He’s good looking, but can’t match Blanchett for screen presence. Perhaps he was trying too hard to be Bogart instead of Geismer.
Like Brian de Palma’s interpretation of James Ellroy’s <i>The Black Dahlia</i>, <i>The Good German</i> is an interesting attempt to craft a modern film noir, but in the end it’s too derivative. Like most Hollywood attempts to recapture the past with film remakes and genre mimicking, the result is a pale shadow of the original. If you can’t improve upon something that’s been done before, then why go there?
WHAT: The Good German
WHEN: In cinemas now
MORE: thegoodgerman.warnerbros.com
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