The Good German, directed by Stephen Soderburgh and produced by George Clooney fully confirms Clooney’s status as a highly
versatile actor.
Captain Jacob Gerseim (George Clooney),
War Correspondent, returns to Berlin July 1945 to report on the
Potsdam peace conference, he was a newspaper correspondent in pre-war Berlin.
Gerseim was picked up at Tempelhof Flughavn by U.S. driver Cpl Tully (Tobey Maguire) a black marketeer who promptly stole Gersiem’s wallet. Tully is harbouring Lena Brandt (Cate Blanchett), the wife of SS Hauptsturmbannfuhrer Emil Brandt. Tully tries to sell Emil Brandt to the Russians. There is constant and complete turmoil in post-war Berlin. The Russians, Americans, British and French are searching for known war criminals and rocket scientists at the same time. The film is atmospheric, incorporating authentic war time film of war destroyed Berlin, the film is shot in grainy black-and-white, German is the lingua franca, Clooney and Blanchett speak it quite well. Tully is found shot dead, a .32 bullet in his chest, the U.S. use .45 calibre. Gerseim meets Lena, she worked for him in pre-war Berlin, they spurn each other. Lena, who is Jewish, as is Gerseim, is desperate to leave Berlin, Gerseim helps her, she works as an escort girl. Bernie, the U.S. Military Attorney helps Gerseim, he needs to hang war criminals, he allows Gerseim access to U.S. Military archives, Lena features prominently in these files.
Lena sequesters her husband in an abandoned UBahn station. She agrees to betray him to Bernie, however the hidden SS Standartenfuhrer Bettmann, in charge of the V2 rocket program, is expedited to the U.S. to head the U.S. rocket programme, Emil Brandt his logistics chief for Operation Dora (using expendable concentration inmates), must be sacrificed. Emil Brandt is The Good German.
Lena survived wartime Berlin by exposing 12 Jews to the Germans. They say a Jewess is not a Jew, she married, betrayed and lied in order to survive. Gerseim and Lena part, she for New York, he forever disillusioned.