Good (2008) - Mortensen stands out in under-appreciated Nazi drama

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+ Best German Movie of the Year

 

Viggo Mortensen sports a swastika on his black tie and looks dejectedly downwards on this praise-filled poster for Vicente Amorim's Good

Professor Halder, a literary man in 1930s Germany, learns to adapt himself to the new circumstances, when the Nazis assume power, and despite the protests of his Jewish friend he is appointed as an SS officer.

 

Good is written by John Wrathall (The Liability (2012)), based on the same-titled 1981 play by C.P. Taylor (And a Nightingale Sang (1977)), and directed by Vicente Amorim (The Middle of the Earth (2003)).

A heavy story comes to life here as an elegant film thanks to distinguished photography (by Andrew Dunn (Precious (2009))) and a characteristically outstanding performance from Viggo Mortensen (The Reflecting Skin (1990)) as Halder. This is a difficult character, whom we would otherwise be prone to reject swiftly as overly naive or as a fictitious construct, but here he stands out as a realistic, painful figure: A good, educated man, who simply doesn't have the imagination to realize what incredible atrocities his countrymen are actually in the midst of carrying out, and who therefore does what we humans are so apt at and simply adapts to the changing circumstances.

Good is a heavy and provocative film, - and it is very well-made.

 

Related post:

 

2008 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III] 

Top 10: Best German movies

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 15 mil. $

Box office: 1.5 mil. $

= Box office disaster (returned 0.1 times its cost)

[Good premiered 8 September (Toronto International Film Festival) and runs 96 minutes. Producer Miriam Segal had wished to adapt Taylor's play since seeing it in 1981. Mortensen had also seen and been impressed by the play in London in 1981. Shooting took place in Budapest, Hungary around May 2007. The film opened #68 to a 9k $ first weekend in 2 theaters in North America, where it peaked the following - and last - weekend at #66 in 8 theaters, grossing 27k $ (1.8 % of the total gross). The film's biggest 3 markets were Spain with 1.1 mil. $ (73.3 %), Brazil with 202k $ (13.5 %) and the UK with 89k $ (5.9 %). Amorim returned with Dirty Hearts (2011). Mortensen returned in The Road (2009); Jason Isaacs (Green Zone (2010)) in 2 TV-series and a short prior to his theatrical return in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009). Good is rotten at 33 % with a 4.90/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Good?

The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012) - An instant classic

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+ Best Movie of the Year
+ Best Adaptation of the Year
+ Best Pennsylvania Movie of the Year
+ Best Youth Movie of the Year

The young stars posing for Stephen Chbosky's The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Charlie starts in high school without any friends and serious, personal baggage. He finds two friends, Sam and Patrick, and they teach Charlie how to participate actively in life.
Right from the youthfully enhanced lights and darks in the film's aesthetic design, - photographed skillfully by Andrew Dunn (Precious (2009)), - over the eminent choice of music to the editing concept (by editor Mary Jo Markey (Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)), script, - author Stephen Chbosky (The Four Corners of Nowhere (1995)) adapted and directed his own novel, - costumes (charmingly achieved by David C. Robinson (Donnie Brasco (1997))) --- Perks is a glorious, deeply moving experience.

Ezra Miller and Emma Watson are both fantastic in Stephen Cbosky's The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Foremost though, of course, are the performances, and they leave nothing left to be wished for: Emma Watson (This Is the End (2013)) portrays maturation in-progress with extreme delicacy; Logan Lerman (Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters (2013)) is the perfect, emotional anchor of the story as Charlie; and Ezra Miller (We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011)) radiates his character's eccentric life and struggles unforgettably. - The secondary cast members are also all pitch perfect.

Logan Lerman in one of the many poignant, beautiful, evocative scenes in Stephen Chbosky's The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Perks became an instantly beloved new youth drama classic that spurred many comparisons to the highlights of the genre's late champion, John Hughes (Sixteen Candles (1984)), yet the film is totally its own. For youngsters everywhere, it became a beacon of light; for grown-ups, an unexpected and astounding return to frightening and exciting times in their own youths, as the film seems to ask its viewer implicit questions like; Can you remember ever feeling like this:

Emma Watson is infinite, in Stephen Chbosky's The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Beautiful, funny, romantic, hopeless, realistic, sad, The Perks of Being a Wallflower nails it in every aspect possible; a masterful film, the year's best.
- Watch it!

Logan Lerman and Emma Watson around their favorite buddy Ezra Miller in Stephen Chbosky's The Perks of Being a Wallflower

While Chbosky unfortunately hasn't begun any new film project, the three young stars are all involved in interesting projects: Watson will star in Alejandro Amenábar's (The Others (2001)) new memory-loss-thriller, Regression (2015). Lerman has a big part in Brad Pitt's WWII-movie Fury (2015) by David Ayer (Sabotage (2014)). And Miller, the most interesting of the three, who's also the one who has the most great movies and performances under his belt as of yet, counting City Island (2009), Another Happy Day (2011)) and We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011), is still going to star in the many times delayed Madame Bovary (2014) by Sophie Barthes (Cold Souls (2009)) as well as Judd Apatow's upcoming comedy - co-starring Tilda Swinton, his mother in Kevin - Trainwreck (2015). 
Hooray for youth!

Related posts:

2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED V]
2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2012 in films - according to Film Excess 

Pick a movie with something real on its heart: The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Budget: 13 mil. $
Box office: 33.3 mil. $
= Box office success

What do you love most about The Perks of Being a Wallflower?
Do you have a special story about the movie or the book?