"Better a fallen rocket than never a burst of light."
~ Tom Stoppard, The Invention of Love

Monday, September 3, 2018

Countdown to Thirteen: Good (2008, R)


This is an interesting movie, although it’s certainly an uncomfortable one to watch.  Also, I know it’s from 2008, but seeing how citizens are swept up in the rhetoric felt familiar to me.  (Not to get all Godwin’s – I’m just saying that it was more disturbing to see it now than it would’ve been several years ago.)

Based on a play, Good follows the story of John Halder, a literature professor at a German university in the 1930s.  John is just trying to do his best, but between the demands of his work and his family (including an ailing mother with dementia,) he’s struggling.  When he publishes a book involving a theme of “compassionate euthanasia,” he’s surprised to attract the attention of the Nazi party, who like his ideas.  John doesn’t particularly want anything to do with the party, but the winning combination of cushy perks and veiled threats persuade him, and he soon finds himself rather disconcertingly rising through the ranks.

I need to note that the film captures an important aspect of this place and period:  by and large, people didn’t know that the Nazis were Nazis, not the way that we do.  A lot people were caught up in the promises, others didn’t know too many of the specifics of what the Nazis stood for, still others assumed that their more disturbing rhetoric was just a lot of talk, and very few had any idea just how far it would go.  Obviously, that doesn’t mitigate anything that happened, not even a shred – obviously.  But this is what feels familiar to me.  Seeing people gleefully showing up to a parade or a book burning without thinking too deeply about why they’re doing it, and seeing some who are against the Nazis and what they stand for dismissing them as mostly-ineffectual radicals; not anyone they’d want leading their government, of course, but the prospect of actual genocide wasn’t even on their radar.  It starts slowly.  Ideas get coopted, twisted.  Propaganda gets made.  Freedoms are worn away, little by little.  And before they know it, they’re in the middle of something unspeakable.

Overall, I feel like it’s a film whose ideas are somewhat better than its execution – the story feels overstuffed at times, and there are stretches where I think it loses the aim of what it’s trying to say – but it’s most effective, to me, at creating this atmosphere.  I like the scenes between John and his Jewish friend Maurice, how we see the progression of time and the growing stranglehold of the Nazi party by their changing circumstances.  John, by the way, is played by Viggo Mortensen (for the second summer in a row, I rewatched Lord of the Rings, so I was primed to see him on my screen,) and Jason Isaacs – Lucius Malfoy himself – gives a strong performance as Maurice.  The film also features Guy Henry and Kevin Doyle (Molesley from Downton Abbey) in small roles.

Jodie Whittaker plays Anne, one of John’s students.  Her character is a good window into how the Nazis rose to power.  We of course understand the horror in what’s going on, but for her, a college student who feels at a loss looking for something to believe in, they compellingly fill a void.  Anne argues that a group that gives so many ordinary German citizens such hope couldn’t be bad, and that it’s the duty of people like John to get involved to ensure that the ship is steered in the “right” direction.

Disturbing stuff, needless to say.  When this is the focus of the character, I’m intrigued by Anne as a dark reflection to help understand this horrific period of history.  I’m less interested, though, in her attraction to John and the will-they won’t-they of him potentially having an affair with one of his students.  It’s predictable, and what’s worse, it distracts from the larger story at hand.

Accent Watch

RP (everyone is speaking “The King’s German” in this film, hehe.)

Recommend?

In General – Maybe.  Though not as good as I think it could’ve been, it’s engrossing.

Jodie Whittaker – Again, maybe.  This is a very “half and half” character for me.  When her scenes aren’t about whether or not John is going to sleep with her, Anne is quite interesting.

Warnings

Disturbing images, violence, language (including anti-Semitic slurs,) sexual content, and strong thematic elements.

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