wusmmik
03-25-2006, 01:19 PM
Good Night And Good Luck David Strathairn, George Clooney also co-wr, dir. and producer (but removed his name from this credit)
Good Night and Good Luck is the rare big-screen film that works on a variety of levels. It captures a period of time in 1953-54 when the esteemed journalist Edward R.Murrow (expertly played by David Strathairn) exposed the scare tactics and fearmongering that Sen.Joseph McCarthy was using during the series of HUAC hearings.
The film works with the history and works hard NOT to demonize or canonize anyone. Unlike popular belief, it is not Clooney and leftist Hollywood at work trying to present veiled messages about the relationship between power and government. It simply documents what happened to this group of people and how their devotion to good journalism and reporting ethics helped to censure McCarthy and end this period of the Red Scare.
Before you go firing any missives about this, watch the movie. I was very impressed with the attention that Clooney and Grant Heslov paid to the screenplay. Some of the most telling exchanges of dialogue come between Murrow and CBS chief William S.Paley (played by the underrated Frank Langella). Those conversations really key into what the motives were for all parties.
The film itself is stunning. After hours of pouring over the film in my head, I decided that Robert Elswit should have won the cinematography Oscar this year. Every single frame of this film is masterfully assembled. Most of it takes place in tiny studios and meeting rooms, here Elswit captures everything with startling beauty in black and white. His camerawork is aweinspiring from the stills of actors, to the slow zooms, to the kinetic shots of the camera in a group of people giving you the feeling of being there.
Clooney had already greatly impressed me with his adept direction of the Chuck Barris biography "Confessions of A Dangerous Mind". There he conjured up John Frankenheimer and used that as a starting point for his own style. In "Good Night and Good Luck", his starting point is Sidney Lumet's "Network"..but he really digs in this time. The scenes are orchestrated in a classic Playhouse 90 style with lovely musical interludes between the "acts" by Dianne Reeves.
This film is easily one of the best of 2005, richly deserving its nominations and yes, better than "Crash". This is a must see that will provoke much thought and several indelible images in your mind.
Good Night and Good Luck is the rare big-screen film that works on a variety of levels. It captures a period of time in 1953-54 when the esteemed journalist Edward R.Murrow (expertly played by David Strathairn) exposed the scare tactics and fearmongering that Sen.Joseph McCarthy was using during the series of HUAC hearings.
The film works with the history and works hard NOT to demonize or canonize anyone. Unlike popular belief, it is not Clooney and leftist Hollywood at work trying to present veiled messages about the relationship between power and government. It simply documents what happened to this group of people and how their devotion to good journalism and reporting ethics helped to censure McCarthy and end this period of the Red Scare.
Before you go firing any missives about this, watch the movie. I was very impressed with the attention that Clooney and Grant Heslov paid to the screenplay. Some of the most telling exchanges of dialogue come between Murrow and CBS chief William S.Paley (played by the underrated Frank Langella). Those conversations really key into what the motives were for all parties.
The film itself is stunning. After hours of pouring over the film in my head, I decided that Robert Elswit should have won the cinematography Oscar this year. Every single frame of this film is masterfully assembled. Most of it takes place in tiny studios and meeting rooms, here Elswit captures everything with startling beauty in black and white. His camerawork is aweinspiring from the stills of actors, to the slow zooms, to the kinetic shots of the camera in a group of people giving you the feeling of being there.
Clooney had already greatly impressed me with his adept direction of the Chuck Barris biography "Confessions of A Dangerous Mind". There he conjured up John Frankenheimer and used that as a starting point for his own style. In "Good Night and Good Luck", his starting point is Sidney Lumet's "Network"..but he really digs in this time. The scenes are orchestrated in a classic Playhouse 90 style with lovely musical interludes between the "acts" by Dianne Reeves.
This film is easily one of the best of 2005, richly deserving its nominations and yes, better than "Crash". This is a must see that will provoke much thought and several indelible images in your mind.