Mother Night (1996)
A film review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1996 James Berardinelli
RATING (0 TO 10): 6.5 Alternative Scale: **1/2 out of ****
United States, 1996 U.S. Release Date: 11/1/96 (limited) Running Length: 1:52 MPAA Classification: R (Profanity, nudity, sex, violence) Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Cast: Nick Nolte, Sheryl Lee, Alan Arkin, John Goodman, Kirsten Dunst, Arye Gross, Frankie Faison, David Strathairn, Bernard Behrens Director: Keith Gordon Producers: Keith Gordon and Robert W. Weide Screenplay: Robert W. Weide based on the novel by Kurt Vonnegut Cinematography: Tom Richmond Music: Michael Convertino U.S. Distributor: Fine Line Features
"A man, the microcosmic fool, down in his soul Is wont to think himself a whole, But I'm part of the Part which at the first was all, Part of the Darkness that gave birth to Light, The haughty Light that now with Mother Night Disputes her ancient rank and space withal, And yet 'twill not succeed, since, strive as strive it may, Fettered to bodies will Light stay." -- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, "Faust"
No one is likely to question the inherent greatness of Kurt Vonnegut's work, whether the novel in question is SLAUGHTERHOUSE FIVE, MOTHER NIGHT, BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS, or something else. Even an incomplete survey of his books makes it clear why Graham Greene called him "one of the best living American writers" and why the NEW YORK TIMES labeled him "a true artist." Nevertheless, the writings of top authors don't always translate effectively to the motion picture medium, as MOTHER NIGHT illustrates. The material dealt with in the novel -- guilt, perception, and identity -- is heavy, powerful stuff. Director Keith Gordon's (A MIDNIGHT CLEAR) handling of it, however, is uncertain, and, on at least one occasion, seriously flawed.
Nevertheless, because the premise and storyline are so compelling, it's impossible not to be drawn in, at least on some level, by MOTHER NIGHT. In fact, for the first forty-five minutes, it's an example of solid, albeit stylistically unconventional, film making. Then comes Gordon's serious miscalculation, and, in a matter of minutes, all of the carefully-developed characters and situations collapse in a jumble of poorly-realized, surreal satire. MOTHER NIGHT eventually recovers from this misstep for a thought-provoking ending, but the bad taste lingers.
MOTHER NIGHT takes place in two different time periods -- World War II Germany and early '60s Israel. Borrowing a page from MRS. PARKER AND THE VICIOUS CIRCLE, the "present-day" scenes are in black-and-white, while the flashbacks (which make up more than two-thirds of the material) are in color. Nick Nolte plays Howard W. Campbell Jr., an American transplanted to Germany during his youth. Years later, Campbell, a successful playwright, is recruited by a mysterious United States government operative (John Goodman) to go under cover as a secret agent. Seduced by the romance of the idea, Campbell allows himself to be swept along by the surging tide of Nazi propaganda, and, in the guise of a pro-Hitler radio commentator, he provides encoded information to the Allies. His anti-Semitic speeches are so inflammatory, however, that everyone views Campbell as an upper-echelon Nazi. Members of the party congratulate him on his great work, and his social circle includes the likes of Goebels and Hoess. When the war ends, he faces trial -- and possibly execution -- for war crimes, because those elements of the U.S. government that recruited him refuse to acknowledge his status.
Questions of identity lie at the heart of MOTHER NIGHT. As Campbell warns in his voice-over narrative, "We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be." His appearance as an anti-Semite does at least as much to forward the Nazi cause as it does to help the United States. Eventually, Campbell has to face the issue of whether the gains from his time under cover justify all the damage he does. As Adolf Eichmann informs him in a critical scene, "About those 6 million [dead Jews] -- I don't need credit for all of them. I can spare a few for you." In Goethe's "Faust", from which Vonnegut took the title, MOTHER NIGHT, Mephistopheles asserts that there can be no light without darkness. Here, Campbell must ponder how inextricably the good in his actions is dependent upon the evil. After all, had he not stirred up the hatred against Jews, he wouldn't have been trusted enough to possess the sensitive information that he passed on to the U.S. government.
In developing Campbell's story, Gordon sets a staid, somber tone that remains in effect until the story skips ahead to the early 1960s, where Campbell is eking out an anonymous existence in New York City. A group of white supremacists learns his identity and comes to pay tribute. Suddenly, instead of real characters, we're given ill-defined caricatures. Indeed, the film's entire tone becomes satirical and falsely comic. It's a jarring, off-putting transition. The intention of this approach is to avoid glamorizing neo-Nazis, but the result lends an aura of artificiality to portions of MOTHER NIGHT. For a parallel, consider how much weaker SCHINDLER'S LIST would have been had Ralph Fiennes' character not been so horrifyingly three-dimensional. Trivializing evil doesn't make it less appealing -- it just makes it less believable.
Following in the wake of his work for MULHOLLAND FALLS, Nolte's performance here can only be considered a step up. For the most part, he finds the right tone, although Campbell is typically kept at an arm's distance from the audience. Early in the film, Nolte gives us a cocky, passionate man. Later, as the scene shifts from Germany to America and Israel, he shows us a world-weary, morally uncertain person who views life as an aimless journey through purgatory.
Sheryl Lee, forever doomed to be known as TWIN PEAKS' Laura Palmer, has a pivotal role as Campbell's lovely German wife, Helga. Her importance to his rise and fall cannot be underestimated. As one Nazi official says of their relationship, "If that woman walked off a cliff, I swear Howard would follow her." Lee's performance, however, is variable. She's very good at the beginning, but her effectiveness diminishes as questions arise about who Helga really is.
Another character with more than one face is George Kraft, a lonely painter played by veteran actor Alan Arkin. Other supporting performers include Kirsten Dunst (INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE) as Helga's younger sister, Arye Gross (A MIDNIGHT CLEAR) as a Jewish doctor, David Strathairn (DOLORES CLAIBORNE) as the American soldier who captures Campbell after the war, and Frankie Faison (THE STUPIDS) as a black neo- Nazi. LAUGH-IN regular Henry Gibson supplies the disembodied voice of Eichmann.
Gordon gives us a number of scenes laced with irony, such as Bing Crosby's rendition of "White Christmas" playing while the screen holds an image of the Israeli flag, or a romantic interlude between Campbell and his wife while Hitler's voice can be heard ranting in the background. However, these, and other, notable stylistic moments can't eclipse the central flaw. Ultimately, MOTHER NIGHT is one of those films that it's more rewarding to talk about than see.
- James Berardinelli e-mail: berardin@bc.cybernex.net ReelViews web site: http://www.cybernex.net/~berardin
"We go away from our parents in youth and then we gradually come back to them; and in that moment, we have grown up." -- Ingmar Bergman
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