| Mother Night | | Cast : | Nick Nolte, Sheryl Lee | | Director : | Keith Gordon | | Studio : | New Line Home Entertainment | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen, Dolby | | Released Date : | November 01, 1996 | | DVD Released Date : | August 22, 2000 | | Language : | English (Dubbed), English (Subtitled), English (Original Language) | | Audience Rating : | R (Restricted) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | July 03, 2005 | | Summary | "Well Howard, what did you think of that war...?" | Content
 | One of the strange footnotes of the Second World War is that a handful of citizens from Allied countries became propaganda broadcasters for the Axis. The best known of these included "Lord Haw Haw", "Axis Sally" and "Toyko Rose". But there were several others, many of whom used clever aliases and created recognizable on-air gimmicks to draw listeners. These people were a combination of political fanatics, malecontents, and blatant exhibitionists who would even go over to the enemy to hear their voice on the air.
This film creates such a character played marvelously by Nick Nolte. Nolte is Howard Campbell, Jr. or as he calls himself on the air, "the last free American". Campbell is in reality an American playwright living in the Third Reich. A totally apolitical personality ("I'm not a political man, I'm just not.") he is nonetheless wooed into the idea of broadcasting by an American agent who convinces the playwright that he is offering him the chance of a lifetime - creating the most difficult role, and then playing it himself, because the Americans have more in mind for Campbell.
The Campbell character enjoys his celebrity in Nazi Germany even though what he is actually doing is sending out coded messages to the Allies through various cues in his radio script, put there by another unseen agent. With the war over the US recovers Campbell but isn't about to celebrate the radio wave hatemonger as a hero - they prefer to keep their clever secrets under wraps, just in case they need them again. Campbell is then left in a New York purgatory where his only friends are a motly collection of right wingers and Germans yearning for the glory days.
Brilliant writing and a stand out performance from Nolte. |
| Rating | | | Date | November 01, 2004 | | Summary | Sterling piece of cinema | Content
| There is something to be said for Kurt Vonnegut's work. His novels are indescribable masterpieces that can seemingly only exist in the mind and never on screen. But, what if he helped direct the movie?
Vonnegut's role in the making of "Mother Night" was surely instrumental in its success as a piece of cinematic brilliance. Nolte and Company certainly put on exceptional performances and they cannot be overlooked, either. However, the story is where the meat of the matter lies and it is laid out beautifully in front of us.
What is more important is, having read the book, it is 99% line for line translated to the screen. I am tempted to say that if you watch the movie, you will have read the book, it's that close. Still, I highly recommend both book and movie, though the latter is what I am writing on today.
It makes one pine for Kurt to work with more Hollywood directors in making his works shine in a different medium. This is one of his few pieces, though, that is easily leant to cinema. Thank goodness it was done right. A must see! |
| Rating | | | Date | June 28, 2004 | | Summary | One of the Best Adpatations Of A Novel To A Film | Content
| "Mother NIght" in not one of my favorite Vonnegut novels, but the film adaptation is superb. This is one of the best adaptations I've ever seen from page to screen, and extremely thought provoking. I give it my highest recommendation. |
| Rating | | | Date | December 03, 2003 | | Summary | Fictional Fate of an American Nazi Collabotator | Content
| This is the story in which Kurt Vonnegurt tackles the heavy topic of a fictional character:- an American Nazi Collabotator, at least partially based on the true-life examples of 'Axis Sally' and Lord Haw Haw, American/British collaborator who worked for the Reich Broadcast Service and beaming out anti-Allies propaganda in WWII. A dangerous and difficult topic at best of times, an explosive one if it is not handled well. But the director pulls it off with great skill, sensitivity and panache with this adaptation, blending the tension of war, personal tragedy, picaresque twists of fate and "X-files" like paranoid conspiracy theory. A remarkably keen-eye and un-preachy treatment of the issue of Nazi collaborator and their subsequent lives living incognito amidst their arch-enemy, America. The director wisely avoided moralising, crude evil/good comparisons, and cut-out stereotyping of Nazis as ogres or monsters, but instead produced a thought-provoking & sensitive account of the picaresque twists of fates endured by the lead character, an American Nazi Collabotator who married the daughter of the Chief of Police of Nazi Berlin. If you are interested you may also wish to try 'Apt Pupil' (DVD also available on Amazon.Com), which is a uniquely insightful & tautly directed psychology thriller about an aged SS officer living under an assumed identity in idyllic American suburbia, whose true identity was discovered by a teenager and who was subsequently 'blackmailed' into telling the youth his true-life experience as a death camp commandant in Poland |
| Rating | | | Date | June 08, 2003 | | Summary | As good as Vonnegut | Content
| This movie captured the essence of the novel in such a way that i really believed the actors read it. This is not typical of movies based on books. I truly believe that those involved with the production of this film were concerned with the ideas and intentions of the author. |
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