"Good German" poster

email this story
read comments (13)
post a comment

Here's an absolute Hollywood Reporter Key Art Award nominee for best movie poster -- Steven Soderbergh's The Good German (Warner Bros., 12.8). The Berlin-based, black-and-white noir is set in the late 1940s, and the poster seems to have been designed back then also. It's not a blindingly brilliant concept -- a fairly obvious one, in fact -- but something about it is unusually authentic-looking, like it was really and truly slapped together in 1948. George Clooney, Cate Blanchett and Tobey Maguire costar.

Bend in the river<< previous | next >>Screening shut-outs

Posted by Jeffrey Wells on September 26, 2006 at 11:41 AM

comment #1

JD says ...

I hope this doesn't turn out to be Steven Soderbergh's Far From Heaven. If he's as precise as that movie was about replicating an aesthetic from another era, I worry that there won't be much room left for him to make a real contribution to the film, stylistically. Personally, I'd rather see a period reinvented cinematically than simply see a 40s story told in a 40s style. Wasn't that already done...repeatedly...in the 40s? Still, the poster looks good.

Posted by JD at September 26, 2006 12:14 PM

comment #2

JD says ...

I just noticed at imdb that Out of Sight and Ocean's 11/12 composer David Holmes wrote a score for this movie that Soderbergh rejected. It looks like he's been replaced by Thomas Newman, who worked with Soderbergh previously on Erin Brockovich.

Posted by JD at September 26, 2006 12:18 PM

comment #3

Colin says ...

Cool poster. This is going to be a highwire act for Soderbergh and company, and I can only hope that they will pull it off. In addition to making a credible period piece, Soderbergh also has to balance several genres: mystery, romance, and (post) war. I read Kanon's novel, and it's terrific, but it will be really tough to bring to the big screen. Soderbergh definitely has the chops, though, so we'll have to see.

Posted by Colin at September 26, 2006 12:20 PM

comment #4

Mark G. says ...

I can't believe that no one can see that the THE GOOD GERMAN poster is an obvious hommage to one of the CASABLANCA posters...
See for yourself:
http://eu.movieposter.com/poster/b70-1187/Casablanca.html

Posted by Mark G. at September 26, 2006 12:31 PM

comment #5

Colin says ...

Oh yeah, Mark G., it's definitely an homage, which makes sense given that the novel is definitely similar in some senses to Casablanca. That said, I'm not sure that you want to set up your film with comparisons to Casablanca, but we'll see.

Posted by Colin at September 26, 2006 12:34 PM

comment #6

christian says ...

too cool for skool...can't wait!

Posted by christian at September 26, 2006 12:59 PM

comment #7

JD says ...

That kind of goes without saying, Mark. Anyone who has the 2-disc Casablanca DVD recognized the reference immediately.

Posted by JD at September 26, 2006 12:59 PM

comment #8

Nicol D says ...

Yes the Casablanca thing definitely sets the bar high.

It also reminded me of Shining Through.

Which one do we think this has a better chance of being?

Posted by Nicol D at September 26, 2006 1:07 PM

comment #9

Joseph says ...

Personally, I think it teeters on the edge between homage and parody--probably unintentional, but there it is. It might've been better had the actors faces been drawn/painted rather than photos.

Posted by Joseph at September 26, 2006 1:09 PM

comment #10