The Good German, directed by Stephen Soderbergh, is a retro black & white spy thriller that could have been made fifty years ago, as the story takes place in 1945, and there is considerable filmreel footage of postwar Berlin and the Potsdam Conference, though nearly all sets are found in a studio backlot. The four-power occupation of Berlin and Germany is a necessary element of the plot, which resembles The Third Man (1949) and has footprints of Casablanca (1942), but is based on the novel by Joseph Kanon (2001). Quite early, several questions are posed. Who is the “good German”? Why does Lena Brandt (played by Cate Blanchett) want to leave Berlin so badly? Why is Lena so cool to her former lover, Jake Geismer (played by George Clooney), who was the Associated Press bureau chief in Berlin before World War II and now claims Berlin as his overseas assignment as a New Republic reporter despite a loss of his credentials due to a wallet supposedly stolen at the airport? Later, additional questions are posed. Who did Lena marry? Why is her husband, whom she first admits is dead, so eagerly sought by Americans and Russians alike? How could Lena, a Jew, survive in Berlin during the war, especially when the Nazis no longer accepted marriage to an SS officer as a valid excuse for avoiding shipment to the concentration camps? And why are the American officials so uncooperative as Jake seeks answers? Similar to The Third Man, Jake arrives in Berlin at the beginning of the film in pursuit of someone—Lena. Patrick Tully (played by Tobey Maguire) is assigned to be his driver, but Jake soon learns that he is courting Lena and even seeking to find a way to get her out of Berlin by bribing or cajoling anyone whom he can. Another puzzle is why Tully shows up dead in the Russian sector of Berlin, with his pockets bulging with cash. Jakes’s pursuit of the truth leads him to ask questions all over town, he is slugged several times, but he also learns that former Nazi scientists are eagerly sought by both Americans and Russians. The answers emerge slowly in the manner of an oldtime mystery story, but The Good German is a noir film. Filmviewers disappointed that there is no happy ending nevertheless will marvel at the intricacy of the plot. MH
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