2006 film by Steven Soderbergh
The Good German is a 2006 American neo-noir crime film. A film adaptation of Joseph Kanon's 2001 novel, it was directed by Steven Soderbergh, and stars George Clooney, Cate Blanchett, and Tobey Maguire. Set in Berlin following the Allied victory over the Nazis, it begins as a murder mystery but weaves in elements involving the American postwar employment of Nazi rocket scientists in Operation Paperclip.
The film was shot in black-and-white and is designed to imitate the appearance of film noir from the 1940s, although it also includes material – such as sex scenes and swearing – that would have been prohibited by the Production Code. Its poster is a homage to the poster for Casablanca (1942, also from Warner Bros. Pictures), as is the closing scene at an airport. Besides being shot in black-and-white, the film was also shot in the traditional 1.37:1 aspect ratio (known as the Academy ratio), which declined in use from about 1953. The DVD release keeps the original aspect ratio, though the theatrical release, and other DVD Releases, used the slightly more modern but still unusual 1.66:1 ratio.
The film was released by Warner Bros. Pictures on December 15, 2006, receiving mixed reviews and grossed $6 million worldwide against a budget of $32 million. It was nominated for the Berlin International Film Festival Golden Bear and the Academy Award for Best Original Score.
Plot summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.