Steven Soderberg has directed a film that’s being released this month called The Good German. It stars Tobey Maguire who seems to be doing what Elijah Wood did in Sin City: attempting to play against type by taking on a role as a very evil bad guy. It’s being done in a 1940’s film noir style and takes place right at the end of World War II.
Movies from the 40’s are among my very favorites (I’m a huge Humphry Bogart fan), but one thing made me immediately suspicious about what the “message” of this movie might be when I read about it over at Joblo.com: It also stars George Clooney.
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Now don’t get me wrong, I think Clooney is a good guy with good intentions. The problem is he’s one of those Hollywood actors who has branched out into political activism. I respect the fact that he appeared at the U.N. to bring attention to what’s going on in Darfur, but on the other hand I watched his recent film Good Night and Good Luck which made Edward R. Murrow out to be a hero. So the first thing that came into my head was that they were somehow going to portray the U.S. in some sort of bad light, regardless of the fact that America saved Europe from Nazism.
So I head on over to the official site for the film (link above), watch the trailer, and my suspicions seemed to be confirmed with hints of some sort of conspiracy and cover up on the part of the United States and Russia. Then I have a look at the synopsis of the film, and I had to laugh out loud when I read the following right in the opening paragraph:
U.S war correspondent Jake Geismer (George Clooney) has just arrived to cover the upcoming Potsdam Peace Conference, where Allied leaders will meet to determine the fate of a vanquished Germany and a newly liberated Europe… and, in the process, carve up what’s left of any value for themselves.[Emphasis Added]
Ooooo… the EVIL Allies are going to “carve up what’s left” for themselves.
Sure, poke fun, but you wait and see… I’ll bet you dollars to donuts that I’m right about how this film will paint the U.S. and the military, and it won’t be in a positive light.
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4 Comments
It’s not surprising to see Clooney try to branch out into politics; it’s in his blood. His dad ran for public office not too long ago. I respect his willingness to speak up, but he’s almost always too liberal for my moderate taste.
You might be right about the USA-bashing, but I suppose it would depend on the context. If we are portrayed as the villains and the Germans as the victims, I’ll be throwing something at the screen.
Brian
Too many Americans forget that there were other people fighting in that war. The comment “the fact that America saved Europe from Nazism.” is over played, America helped to save, is more correct. It is a shame that the Americans were not there in the first 2 years while other countries struggled and resources were spent, but better late than never.
Point taken, you’re right. Of course I would say that if things were transpiring today the U.S. would probably be accused of “sticking our noses in someone else’s business.”
Vic
Oh, I’m pretty sure from what I’ve seen that it will be the German people (as in population, not the military) that will be shown as victims, and their country WAS decimated. But it’s not like the Allies just decided to mosey on over and bomb the heck out of their country for no good reason.
Vic
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