The Good German (2006)

Regisseur:

Steven Soderbergh

Drehbuchautoren (WGA):

Paul Attanasio (screenplay)
Joseph Kanon (novel)

Premierendatum:

14. Februar 2007 (France)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Werbezeile:

If war is hell then what comes after?

Plot:

While in post-war Berlin to cover the Potsdam Conference, an American military journalist is drawn into a murder investigation which involves his former mistress and his driver.

Plot Keywords:

Old Flame | Jewish | Rape | Adultery | Money Falling Through Air

Filmpreise:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 2 wins & 2 nominations

Nutzerkommentare:

Not-so-good German

Besetzung

Jack Thompson	...	Congressman Breimer
John Roeder	...	General
George Clooney	...	Jake Geismer
Tobey Maguire	...	Tully
Cate Blanchett	...	Lena Brandt
Dominic Comperatore	...	Levi
Dave Power	...	Lieutenant Schaeffer
Tony Curran	...	Danny
Ravil Isyanov	...	General Sikorsky
J. Paul Boehmer	...	British Press Aide
Igor Korosec	...	Russian Soldier
Boris Kievsky	...	Russian Soldier
Vladimir Kulikov	...	Russian Soldier
Yevgeniy Narovlyanskiy	...	Russian Soldier
Aleksandr Sountsov	...	Russian Soldier

Alternativ:

The Good German (Deutschland) [de]

MPAA:

Rated R for language, violence and some sexual content.

Länge:

105 Min

Produktionsland:

USA

Sprache:

Englisch | Deutsch | Russisch

Farbe:

Schwarzweiss

Seitenverhältnis:

1.37 : 1

Tonverfahren:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Altersfreigabe:

Finland:K-15 | Netherlands:12 | Germany:12 | UK:15 | Argentina:13 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | USA:R (certificate #42615) | Portugal:M/12 (Qualidade) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Singapore:NC-16 | Australia:MA | Ireland:15A | Brazil:16 | Sweden:11

Drehorte:

Backlot, Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Firma:

Sunset Gower Studios

Dies und das:

Cate Blanchett studied Marlene Dietrich and Ingrid Bergman in order to play a German character. Ingrid Bergman, however, was Swedish.

Pannen:

Faktische Fehler: The newsreel speaker says the Potsdam conference takes place in "Emperor William's former palace". This is not correct. The Cecilienhof palace was built for the last crown prince of Germany, who lived there from 1917-19 and from 1926-45.

Dialogzitate:

Patrick Tully: [threatening a Jewish double amputee] Don't you jew me over the price!

Bezüge zu anderen Titeln:

Verweis/Anspielung/Erwähnung in The Dialogue: An Interview with Screenwriter Paul Attanasio (2007) (V)

Soundtrack:

You're Some Pretty Doll

Not-so-good German

A clever look: imitation vintage B-movie in black and white; Steven Soderbergh's appropriate, artful gimmick for this film set in Berlin in the immediate aftermath of WWII.

Cate Blanchett turns in an apt theatrical performance given "The Bad German's" archly retro conceit. As the film's mother/whore femme fatale, Cate is sphinx-like, world-weary and made up like a drag queen at Mardi Gras. George Clooney, meanwhile, turns in his routine performance that is altogether too modern and casual. Put him in scrubs and he's ready again for the ER. Together, they create no chemistry nor any other natural science. Toby McGuire, as a sleazy, black-marketing GI, is so painfully hammy you'll find yourself begging for him to stop.

The storyline is awkwardly developed and unnecessarily opaque, its characters cold and remote. There's really nobody to cheer for or identify with; no emotions to hook us into this world. When was the last time that international intrigue, on-screen, was so unintriguing? It's too bad we've been served such an exciting cinematic look -- an overly lit, noir-like one -- only as window dressing on a story as bleak and dreary as the blitzkrieged landscapes on view.