Reviewed by Colin Jacobson (April 30, 2025)
Director Steven Soderbergh threw an experimental flick our way with 2006’s The Good German. Not only did Soderbergh place the story during World War II, but also he filmed and staged it like something made in that era.
Set in Berlin soon after the end of the European conflict in 1945, German comes on the eve of the Potsdam conference that featured leaders Harry S Truman, Winston Churchill and Josef Stalin. Cynical journalist Jake Geismer (George Clooney) comes to Berlin to cover the session, and the Army assigns him a driver named Tully (Tobey Maguire).
However, Tully’s not an ordinary driver. While he maintains an ingenuous apple pie demeanor, behind the scenes he bangs a prostitute named Lena (Cate Blanchett) and runs a thriving black market operation. Tully really cares for Lena, though, and he wants to help get her out of the country before the war trials begin.
Various parties seek Emil Brandt, a former Nazi scientist who just happens to be Lena’s husband. Some think he’s dead, but not everyone, and some authorities want possession of him.
Tully claims he can deliver Emil but wants 200,000 marks and papers to get Lena out of the country. Of course, he knows nothing of Emil’s location, but he plans to scam his way into money and out of Germany.
Matters complicate when Geismer chastises Tully and realizes he knows Lena too. They shared both a professional and personal relationship in the past, and Geismer clearly continues to maintain feelings for her. Various other complications develop as the movie follows different paths in post-war Berlin.
When Soderbergh concentrates on making films and being a real director, he’s about the best there is. When Soderbergh decides to play movie geek and taking advantage of his clout and wide array of Hollywood connections, he can become tedious.
The Soderbergh of German mostly falls into the latter category. I guess he decided to make the film this way just because he could.
German sounds like the kind of project thought up over a tipsy dinner party. “Hey, let’s make a movie just like the ones from the 1940s!”
That’s a gimmick, and not a particularly strong one. After all, don’t we already have hundreds of movies filmed using the same techniques back when those methods were moderm? Why do this in 2006?
In a confusing move, Soderbergh doesn’t even follow his concept to its logical conclusion. While he used mostly equipment and techniques that existed in 1945, German features a 5.1 soundtrack.
Shouldn’t the movie be monaural? And he also ignored the production code of the era, so we get violence, nudity and language that wouldn’t have flown in the 1940s.
Why pick and choose what elements you want to use? If you desire to experiment, go all the way.
There’s really no point to the period design, and the whole project feels woefully contrived. All of these trappings seem designed to distract us from the emptiness at the heart of German.
The story dances around in a way that makes it look like something’s happening but not much ever does. It dangles plot elements at us but it never pursues them in an intriguing manner.
Instead, it concentrates on all its fabulous production and visual choices. If ever a movie emphasized style over substance, German fits that bill. It takes pieces from better films – a little Casablanca here, a little Third Man there – but it doesn’t integrate them into a satisfying product.
At best, The Good German provides a marginally interesting mystery. Unfortunately, the movie rarely achieves its best, and most of it comes across as a confused, gimmicky piece of nonsense. Take away the quirky period trappings and this becomes a forgettable effort.
