The Good German is different from most of Steven Soderbergh's films. The Good German is about While in post-war Berlin to cover the Potsdam Conference, an American military journalist (George Clooney) is drawn into a murder investigation which involves his former mistress (Cate Blanchett) and his driver (Tobey Macguire).
OMG it is in black and white!! I don't mind black and white back when they didn't have color but now why use it. When i first saw that it was black and white I was ready to shut the film off and pick another movie! But I decided that I will give it 30 minutes! And i am glad that i did! I really enjoyed this movie despite critics and most people not liking it! I thought Steven Soderbergh did a wonderful job of capturing the time period and the type of directing of the time period. It is very stylized, if the picture was just a little more fuzzy it could totally pass for being made in the 1940s. You can tell they shot a lot of the scenes on sound stages and back lots. Even though the style of the movie is right on I agree with a lot of critics when they said, there isn't enough character development. The characters I believe are 2 dimensional. You feel like they don't change through out the movie. They stay basically the same, which is really boring for a film. It may relate more to real life, but it doesn't work well for a movie.
I found as i was watching the movie there was a lot of rapid cuts and transitions for dialogue. Which reminded of a lot of old movies of time period. Also there were a lot of medium shots that focused in on characters. When there was dramatic moment Soderbergh would zoom in on the characters reactions.
A major theme in the movie is guilt. No one in this film is completely innocent. Everyone does something bad to get what they want. But the results from this is that everyone feels guilty or they are guilty. Each character feels some type of guilt.
A quote i really enjoyed was said by George Clooney,"ah yes the good old days...when you could tell the bad guy was the one shooting at you!" I thought that was a really good point. Bad guys have become way more complicated. They aren't as simple as they use to be.
In my opinion Steven Soderbergh a lot of times changes his own style to fit the film. The movie is his style. Not his style is the movie. I don't know if you understand what i am saying. But i will try to explain it. A lot of directors have a very distinctive style like Tim Burton. Just by looking at the movie you know that it is a Burton film his style is the movie. But if you look at a Steven Soderbergh's films you can't tell that it is his movie. He becomes part of the movie. I feel he tries to tell that story and he doesn't want to add his own personal flair to it. He becomes part of the film and the movie turns into his style. Does that make any sense?!?!?!
I don't know that is just an opinion. I'm i completely wrong? Or I'm i right?What are your thoughts on that concept?
OMG it is in black and white!! I don't mind black and white back when they didn't have color but now why use it. When i first saw that it was black and white I was ready to shut the film off and pick another movie! But I decided that I will give it 30 minutes! And i am glad that i did! I really enjoyed this movie despite critics and most people not liking it! I thought Steven Soderbergh did a wonderful job of capturing the time period and the type of directing of the time period. It is very stylized, if the picture was just a little more fuzzy it could totally pass for being made in the 1940s. You can tell they shot a lot of the scenes on sound stages and back lots. Even though the style of the movie is right on I agree with a lot of critics when they said, there isn't enough character development. The characters I believe are 2 dimensional. You feel like they don't change through out the movie. They stay basically the same, which is really boring for a film. It may relate more to real life, but it doesn't work well for a movie.
I found as i was watching the movie there was a lot of rapid cuts and transitions for dialogue. Which reminded of a lot of old movies of time period. Also there were a lot of medium shots that focused in on characters. When there was dramatic moment Soderbergh would zoom in on the characters reactions.
A major theme in the movie is guilt. No one in this film is completely innocent. Everyone does something bad to get what they want. But the results from this is that everyone feels guilty or they are guilty. Each character feels some type of guilt.
A quote i really enjoyed was said by George Clooney,"ah yes the good old days...when you could tell the bad guy was the one shooting at you!" I thought that was a really good point. Bad guys have become way more complicated. They aren't as simple as they use to be.
In my opinion Steven Soderbergh a lot of times changes his own style to fit the film. The movie is his style. Not his style is the movie. I don't know if you understand what i am saying. But i will try to explain it. A lot of directors have a very distinctive style like Tim Burton. Just by looking at the movie you know that it is a Burton film his style is the movie. But if you look at a Steven Soderbergh's films you can't tell that it is his movie. He becomes part of the movie. I feel he tries to tell that story and he doesn't want to add his own personal flair to it. He becomes part of the film and the movie turns into his style. Does that make any sense?!?!?!
I don't know that is just an opinion. I'm i completely wrong? Or I'm i right?What are your thoughts on that concept?
4 comments:
Hey Kate! I think I understand what you are saying about the style but you will have to let me know. So you don't believe he adds his own style because he believes it takes something away from the film/story he's trying to tell? Not really sure maybe not. Anyways I would agree that his style is all over the place and I don't think he has found his niche yet. Sometimes they never find what they are looking for but they make a lot of interesting films.
I think this sounds amazing except for the black and white thing but I think I could hack through it if it has a good ending. I hate films where it ends badly when the whole time your rooting for the underdog to make a comeback. It was like when I was watching Flash of Genius the whole time I was like NO they can't do that he better when the case or I will hate this film but I also knew that they would'nt have made the movie based on the true story if it didn't have a good result. Anyways now that I'm totally off topic. What would say kept you watching? I mean you haven't lured me in just yet, from the black and white to the story line I just don't know what to think of it. So far the only thing that makes me want to see it is the characters and the actors who play them. I don't really dig the 1900s I more the 1400s kings and queens and stuff. You know like Pride and Prejudice, the Duchess, and so on... So what makes this movie so intriguing?
Well i think the most intriguing thing about the movie is the actors! The only reason I wanted to watch this movie was because it had George Clooney and Cate Blanchett! My philosophy is that if it has George Clooney in it...it can't be a bad movie!
So far my philosophy has only been wrong once! But that was many many years ago...so i won't count it (that was when he played batman for one movie...omg it had to be one of the worst things i have ever seen!haha!!
I really enjoyed the plot of this film...but i really like world war II films! If you don't like those films i would still say give the movie a try! It has a lot going for it!
I am not trying to turn you off from the movie but i don't think you will enjoy the ending...Sorry but from what your saying you won't like it!
Why don't you like Black and white films??? I think in this case the movie pays tribute to all the old films! What makes black and white films so bad??
Is that seriously a question? How can stand black and white films when there is no need, we have color hello thats what its for. I guess when I watch a black and white film all it reminds me of is school and the white walls and how boring it is because there is no life to it. The color makes the movie a movie it allows you to see into the lives of people wouldn't normally find everywhere. Also you don't have to look at the movie and think of it as a coloring book. When I watch a movie I don't want to have think about what color their outfit should be or what color the grass is, I want have to think about the plot and what is going to happen. Maybe its something about how your raised or something but I'm used to having to watch those dumb old black and white and even color added movies and they suck. Its hard to look at those films because you can't tell if they really acuratly depicted the styles and so on it just leaves a lot of questions left up to the watchers. So my question would be why do you like them so much? Is it because they make you think about the colors or what? I guess I just don't understand how people can watch them for FUN.
i like black and white films because it pays tribute to a time in our history!! Color films were unavailable for such a long time that black and white just became part of that culture! I see nothing wrong when directors like Soderbergh want to pay tribute to that time period!
I think that black and white films tell a different story than Color films! When you said you wonder what color they are wearing in a black and white film...i think that way when i am watching a colored film. I look at the details that i forget what the actual plot is about. But with Black and white films i don't worry about that kind of stuff, i just watch the plot and the characters!
Hopefully the next movie we watch we will both like it!
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