Good Night and Good Luck


So excellent. And so depressing, because history has taught us nothing. We are living through the same troubled and dangerous times for our democracy that they lived through in the time of McCarthy

Good Night and Good Luck is a must-see film, excellent is so many ways. If you think that I only loved this film because of its obvious relevance to today and its clear political perspective, you would be doing me and the film a disservice.

This film is beautifully shot, with George Clooney establishing himself as a director to watch. The black and white cinematography is gorgeous, but more thrilling is the playing with sound and silence, the camera work that moves us through crowds, but always is able to focus on the smallest expressions, the most subtle gestures. The use of Dianne Reeves' jazz singer, performing songs of the era in a studio, as backdrop and soundtrack to scenes is more than a device for the film's opening and closing sequences. It is used throughout and those extended sequences let the nuances of the scenes sink in slowly and deeply. Clooney is a director who trusts his audience. Trusts us with silence. Trusts us with the power of words. Trusts us to see the kind of American hero who blows up the halls of power and corruption figuratively, not literally.

As for the political. It is hard to describe how sad this movie made me. I am not that familiar with the McCarthy era and what happened. To see the footage of McCarthy, to see Strathairn deliver Edward R. Murrow's copy, to know that people in power today would like to do exactly what McCarthy tried to do then: demonize dissent, tear down truth tellers, disseminate deception and disingenuousness, ostracize opposition, to see how that all turned out, and to know that we have learned nothing.

Somewhere near the end of the film there is a clip of Eisenhower extolling the virtue of the habeus corpus writ. As today's Congress tries to permanently create the power to ignore habeus corpus, it is a sad statement indeed.

David Strathairn, George Clooney, Robert Downey Jr., Frank Langella, Ray Wise and Patricia Clarkson all give performances that are absolutely finely drawn and precise and without an ounce of showboating "give me an Oscar" histrionics amongst them. I have long admired Strathairn, and I hope perhaps come award time he will be admired by others. I hope the same for Clooney's direction.

Very smart and inspiring film making.

Posted: Fri - November 25, 2005 at 06:57 PM       EmailFeedback

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