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The Good German
by Warner Home Video
| List Price: |
$19.98 |
| Price: |
$17.99 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. |
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$1.99 (9%) |
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DVD
Warner Brothers
Publisher: Warner Home Video
Format: AC-3, Black & White, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD-Video, Subtitled, NTSC
Actors: Jack Thompson, John Roeder, George Clooney, Tobey Maguire, Cate Blanchett
Who knows what American journalist Jake Geismer (George Clooney) expected to find in postwar Berlin? Peace, maybe. Or at least a story. But certainly not Lena (Cate Blanchett), his beautiful, embittered one-time love. And not the trail of secrecy and deception that leads from Lena to the scheming young corporal (Tobey Maguire) who's her new lover...and to a murder no one seems interested in solving. Except Jake. Steven Soderbergh directs three of today's top talents in this zigzag thriller that's both an atmospheric homage to 1940s filmmaking and a deft modern film noir. The Good German is "haunting and hypnotic, it's pure moviegoing bliss" (Peter Travers, Rolling Stone).
Despite its flaws, The Good German is a welcome gift for every film lover who laments that "they don't make 'em like they used to." Steven Soderbergh's affectionate, knowing tribute to the black-and-white melodramas of Hollywood's golden age may lack the emotional depth and romantic passion of Michael Curtiz's Casablanca--the 1946 classic it intentionally emulates--but as Soderbergh approximates Curtiz's studio style, he delivers a shimmering, shadowy reminder that movies can be enjoyed for the sheer pleasure of their craftsmanship. Once again serving as his own cinematographer (credited as "Peter Andrews"), Soderbergh went to great lengths to technically and aesthetically re-create the look and feel of a Curtiz production, and Joseph Kanon's source novel (adapted by Quiz Show screenwriter Paul Attanasio) provides a twisting plot set around the historical Potsdam conference in post-World War II Germany. An American military journalist, Capt. Jake Geismer (George Clooney) is in rubble-strewn Berlin to cover the event, and is quickly drawn into a murder plot involving his appointed driver (Tobey Maguire), an old flame-turned-wartime prostitute (Cate Blanchett) and her missing husband, a scientist who possesses pivotal secrets coveted by Americans and Russians in a pre-Cold War bid for power. Violence, sexual content, and salty dialogue make it clear that this R-rated drama is a brashly contemporary homage to films of a bygone era, and not a slavish attempt to copy the past. This yields mixed results in terms of the film's overall appeal; it's gorgeous to look at, but the plot and performances exist in a vacuum, and the entire film feels oddly disengaged from any sense of genuine human emotion. It's probably fair to say that Soderbergh had more fun making the film than most people will have watching it. And yet, as Clooney's character is repeatedly beaten and deceived on his path to cynical enlightenment, The Good German has many qualities that make it recommendable, not the least being the pleasure of following a talented director as he indulges his penchant for bold experimentation. --Jeff Shannon
| Customer Reviews: |
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| um... IT'S SODERBERGH?!!! |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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seriously. Soderbergh directed (and did the cinematography) for this film... above and beyond all THIS IS A SODERBERGH FILM. He's up there with the likes of David Lynch and Cronenberg and various other experimentalists or avant-garde-ists. "The Good German" is beyond simply being a film noir, or having A-List actors in it (which he always does)- the film is to produce an effect and evoke something more than your average or even above average film can accomplish.
when you deal with a director with this much vision and true artistry, viewers are bound to be polarized (even the "thinking" ones). None of his films do particularly well at the box office and are usually very limited run and more often than not they will be sitting on your local Blockbuster's shelf waiting to be rented by YOU.
Solaris: based on a book AND a prior Russian film. lots of people "didn't get it", others hated it because they felt it was a bad 'adaptation'... simply, it's sodergergh's way of doing it.
Kafka: for those that think they didn't like "The Good German" or Kafka, try this one on, then put your critic's hat on (or live under it).
i could go on, but i'm really just trying to say that when you watch a Soderbergh film, that's exactly what you going to get- not your film and not anything else.
...and if your precious little Spider Man suddenly has a foul mouth, a scum-fk personality, and is abusive to women and it stopped you from enjoying the film, then i guess his character was conceived just right ;)
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| worthy and entertaining homage |
| Customer Rating: 3 out of 5 |
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THE GOOD GERMAN isn't bad. C'mom, comparing it to the classics it is inspired by and ripping off isn't fair. Enjoy it for what's it's worth, which isn't a whole, whole lot, but is still better than most junk coming out of Hollywoodland. The acting is good as is, in my opinion, the script. I found the story involving American efforts to snatch up Nazi rocket scientists, a quintessential American jack ***, a murderous lying prostitute, the cool well intended George Clooney trapped in a film noir plot, the score, the black and white picture, and war ravaged setting add up to a something worth the price of a rental fee. Guess I like the films THE GOOD GERMAN copies and don't mind that Steven Soderbergh didn't make a new classic on their level. Kind of a tall order there folks. I give him props for his efforts. Film snobs, just stick to your library of Criterion Collection films and your expensive wine and cheeses.
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| The Bad Idea |
| Customer Rating: 1 out of 5 |
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They must have thought this was great in the studio producers' suite when they saw the bleached, scratchy, black and white film and the big name 'stars' hamming it up for all they're worth in a 'film noir' wartime thriller. Another artistic intelligent classic, eh, guys... one for the Oscars!
But when you watch it and you realise the only thing going for this dreary and stultifyingly dull slice of old tat IS the grainy black and white film, you know you're in deep trouble. Mind, chances are you'll be fast asleep long before you give up caring what's going on, i.e. after about 10 minutes.
Get Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid with Steve Martin instead - at least that's REALLY clever AND funny, and you have some fun watching the big screen stars of yesteryear grafted into it with some genuine style and panache.
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| The Book Was Much Better |
| Customer Rating: 2 out of 5 |
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I loved the black and white format of this film, but found the acting wooden and the plot tired. The book was much better. This film, albeit an interesting and creative technical piece, sorely lacked the nuance and brilliance of the book. One star for effort and one star for the black-and-white.
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| Dark and moody |
| Customer Rating: 3 out of 5 |
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I was disappointed in this film considering the top class actors playing the main roles. I understand the intent in filming in black and white but, as a viewer, I like to be entertained not only by the story but also the scenery, particularly on a widescreen HD TV. This picture doesn't measure up. It would be ok on an old square TV. I thought the film was drawn out.
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