<p><i>The Good German</i><br>Director Steven Soderbergh<br>Warner Brothers Pictures<br><img src=http://www.dailybruin.com/ae/paw.jpg width=25><img src=http://www.dailybruin.com/ae/paw.jpg width=25><img src=http://www.dailybruin.com/ae/halfpaw.jpg width=13> <br/>It only gets worse in Berlin. <br/>Or so say the characters in Steven Soderbergh?s latest film, ?The Good German,? an attempt at film noir about post-World War II Berlin. <br/>But, like the city itself, the movie only spirals downward because of its convoluted plot, which includes political figures (American and Russian primarily), former SS members, rocket scientists and a prostitute with a mysterious past. The confluence of these characters and their interests turns out like an inept metaphor. <br/>For all the faults in its plot, as a period piece, ?The Good German? delivers on the aesthetic front. The film, shot entirely in black and white, uses real footage from post-war Germany and plays with a motion-picture chiaroscuro of shadows, dark corners and windows steeped in sunlight. The costumes are authentic 1940s couture: coats, hats and shiny shoes. The authentic set is complete with buildings ruined by fire and bombings with staircases of rubble and collapsed roofs. <br/>However, the history lesson embedded in the story of the U.S.-Russian politics that would lead to the Cold War is only tangential to the plot despite the fact that it is one of the more interesting elements. <br/>The manipulation more inherent to the plot is too complicated to continue throughout the entire film. And, unlike most political movies of late, including Soderbergh and George Clooney?s last collaboration, ?Syriana,? there are no real contemporary resonances. The movie stands alone as a piece of art. <br/>?The Good German? is an attractive film with a good cast but, perhaps for lack of a coherent story, the actors too have their faults. <br/>The talented Cate Blanchett delivers the strongest performance as a German prostitute, a Jewish woman and the wife of an SS official. Her character?s internal conflict provides much of the drama for the film. But of all the cast members, Blanchett overacts the least. <br/>Most of the other performances, including Clooney?s, are marked by melodrama only heightened by musical crescendos at inopportune moments. <br/>Shot in black and white, the movie harks back to film noir of the ?40s and ?50s and tries to mimic the quality of films such as ?Casablanca? and ?Witness for the Prosecution.? <br/>However, Clooney is no Bogart and, though she is incredibly talented, Blanchett is no Bergman. <br/>It seems that, for all its good intentions, ?The Good German? falls short of the subtlety and intelligence of the films it imitates. <br/><hr><div align=center><img src=/images/2006/9/29/Ratings.jpg></div></p><br><br><a href='; target='_blank'>;