The Good German

Director Stephen Soderbergh takes a big risk by making a black-and-white noir thriller that’s not only set in the 40s, but also made exactly the way people made films in the Casablanca era. That means old school lighting, studio back-lot sets, back projection for driving scenes and 60 year old cameras. It’s July 1945 and as the victors of WW2 gather to carve up post-war Europe, war correspondent Jake Geismer (George Clooney) returns to the ruins of Berlin to find Lena (Cate Blanchett), the girl he left behind. When he finds that Lena is being pimped out by black marketer soldier Jake (Tobey Maguire), the story takes the first of many unexpected turns.