GOOD IS NOT ABOUT A GOOD MAN
In Good, Germans once again can pat themselves on the back for not being “real” Nazis. The story is a fictional account about how someone unsympathetic to Nazism in 1933 (a “good” German) becomes a member of the SS during World War II (a “bad” German). Based on a stageplay by C. P. Taylor, the film focuses on erudite professor John Halder (played by Viggo Mortensen), who writes a novel about mercy killing that impresses Hitler so much that he is asked to write an oped on the subject and to join the Nazi Party. One focus is on the suffering of his ailing mother (played by Gemma Jones), who at one point tries to commit suicide by overdosing. Another focus is on his longtime Jewish friend Maurice (played by Jason Isaacs), whom he tries in vain to protect. A third pressure on him comes from SS officer Freddie (played by Steven Mackintosh), who keeps an eye on him in case he missteps. Meanwhile, amorous student Anne (played by Jodie Whittaker) aggressively pursues him into bed, prompting a separation from his wife Helen (played by Anastasia Hille). The obvious aim of the story, to demonstrate that myriad cross-pressures force Halder into caving in to self-preservation choices, is an unconvincing paradigm to explain why so many Germans supported the Nazis. The film ends with a macabre scene in which Halder is searching for his friend Maurice at a concentration camp, where Jewish musicians are playing music by Jewish composer Gustav Mahler while their brethren are queuing up to enter a gas chamber. Directed by Vincente Amorim, Good is also hampered by the use of English accents, discourse, and mannerisms, as a German filmmaker might not have insisted on the modest British demeanor portrayed in the film. MH