Mother Night (film)
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| Mother Night | |
.gif/220px-Mother_Night_(film).gif) |
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| Directed by | Keith Gordon |
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| Written by | Kurt Vonnegut Robert B. Weide Screenplay |
| Starring | Nick Nolte Sheryl Lee Alan Arkin |
| Runtime | 114 min. |
| Language | English |
| IMDb Page | |
Mother Night is a 1996 film based on Kurt Vonnegut's 1961 book of the same name.
It stars Nick Nolte as Howard W. Campbell Jr., an American who moves with his family to Germany directly after World War I and goes on to become a successful German language playwright. As World War II looms, Campbell meets a man claiming to be a member of the U.S. War Department and is recruited to work as a spy for the U.S., transmitting Nazi propaganda in such a way that it contains hidden messages that can only be decoded by Allied intelligence. After the war, Campbell is relocated to his native state of New York, where he attempts to live in obscurity.
The film also stars Sheryl Lee as Campbell's German wife, John Goodman as the mysterious Frank Wirtanen and Alan Arkin as one of Campbell's New York neighbours. Vonnegut himself makes a brief appearance in a later scene in New York City.
The film is narrated by Campbell, through a series of flashbacks, as he sits in a jail cell in Israel, writing his memoirs and waiting to stand trial for war crimes.
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[edit] Plot
[edit] Germany, Pre-WWII
Campbell is born in New York State but, due to his father relocating for business reasons, he moves to Germany as a child. He becomes a successful German playwright and, when his parents decide to return to America, chooses to remain in Germany, mainly because of his devotion to his wife Helga (Lee). Being of sufficiently acceptable parentage, Campbell is allowed to become a member of the Nazi party, though he only does this in order to keep up appearances as he is politically apathetic, caring only for his art and his wife, who is also the starring actress in all of his plays. He continues to write, his only associations with members of the ruling Nazi party being little more than social contacts.
During the pre-World War II period, Campbell has an encounter on a park bench in the Berlin zoo. He is approached by a man calling himself Frank Wirtanen (Goodman) who, via a roundabout introduction, reveals himself to be a Major working for the U.S. War Department. Wirtanen makes an appeal to Campbell's sense of adventure and his sense of right and wrong: "You love good, you hate evil, and you'd do anything for the sake of romance." He asks Campbell to work as a spy for the U.S. in the approaching war, though he promises no reward or recognition. Campbell immediately rejects the offer, but Wirtanen quickly adds that he wants Campbell to take some time to consider, telling him that Campbell's answer will come in the form of how he acts and what positions he assumes once the U.S. and Germany declare war on each other.
[edit] Germany, WWII and afterward
Once World War II begins, Campbell works his way up through Joseph Goebbels' propaganda organization, eventually becoming the "voice" of English language anti-Semitic broadcasts aimed at United States citizens, in which he declares himself to be "The Last Free American". Unbeknownst to the Nazis, all of the idiosyncrasies of his speech (deliberate pauses, coughing, etc) form a secret code that covertly transmits information to the Allied forces. Campbell never discovers, nor is he ever told (except in one notable instance) what the information is that he is sending.
About halfway through the war his wife goes to the Eastern Front to entertain German troops stationed there. Campbell discovers that the camp where Helga had been stationed was overrun and she is presumed dead (In a much later exchange, Wirtanen reveals that Campbell had in fact announced this very event in a coded message about a week before Campbell himself had found out). Just before the Soviet Army reaches Berlin, Campbell visits his in-laws one last time, where Helga's father (Norman Rodway), who had worked as Chief of Police in Berlin, coldly informs Campbell that he had never really liked him, even going as far as to announce his suspicion that Campbell may have been a spy. He amends his statement to say that, even if Campbell had been a spy, his propaganda was so effective that he could never have served the Allies better than he had served the Nazis. Campbell goes on to meet Helga's younger sister, Resi (Kirsten Dunst), who confesses that she has been in love with him.
Eventually, Campbell is captured when a U.S. infantryman recognises his distinctive voice as being that of a famous Nazi spokesperson. Campbell's captor shows him, first hand, the bodies of Holocaust victims, as well as the hanging bodies of other Nazis. Campbell, however, can only conclude that the dead Nazis seem at peace. Before Campbell can also be executed, Wirtanen arranges for his discreet release, telling him that U.S. forces will no longer pursue him, before going on to aid him in relocating to New York City, whence the majority of the film takes place.
[edit] New York City
In New York City, Campbell lives a lonely, nearly invisible existence, sustained only by memories of Helga and an indifferent curiosity as to his eventual fate. Mrs. Epstein, the mother of a Jewish doctor living in Campbell's building, is the only person he meets who suspects his true identity, but he seems to allay her suspicions by appearing ignorant of German.
The only friend that he makes is George Kraft (Arkin), an old painter who lives in his building and who, through an extraordinary coincidence, happens to be a Soviet intelligence agent. Over many games of chess, Campbell reveals his secret past to this undercover agent, and Kraft tries to use this information to improve his reputation with his Soviet handlers by forcing Campbell into a position where he must flee to Moscow. He does so by subtly releasing information declaring that famous Nazi propagandist Howard Campbell has been living in NYC since the end of the war, information that a white supremacist group picks up and excitedly publishes. Representatives of this organisation, who are enormous fans of Campbell, then arrive with a special gift for him: his wife Helga (again played by Lee), long presumed dead. However, it is not long before Campbell discovers that Helga is, in fact, her own sister Resi, who has taken over Helga's identity, maintaining that Resi herself no longer exists as a person.
Soon after, when an angry war veteran turns against him, the fascists shelter the now exposed Campbell, along with Kraft and "Helga", in their New York hideout. Wirtanen again makes an appearance, this time warning Campbell of Kraft's true nature and explaining that the Russian has put Campbell in an awkward position with the fascists so he can persuade him to leave the country by plane, ostensibly for Mexico, but in fact for Moscow. He explains also that that Resi is part of Kraft's plot. Campbell decides to return to the hideout to confront the pair and, in light of her exposure, Resi commits suicide. Moments later, the FBI raids the hideout but, as before, Wirtanen uses his influence to ensure Campbell walks free. Campbell returns to his wrecked apartment and decides to turn himself in to the Israelis to stand trial, returning to the flat of the Jewish doctor and his mother who had, earlier, been suspicious of him.
Vonnegut has a brief cameo as a pedestrian walking down a pavement in New York.
[edit] Israel
Campbell is taken to Haifa, Israel, where he is incarcerated in the cell below an unrepentant Adolf Eichmann. The film thus ends as it begins, with Campbell awaiting trial, spending most of his time typing his memoirs and trying to explain the convoluted story of a life in which none of the key figures, including Campbell himself, were quite who they seemed to be. The film opens with one of Campbell's guards declaring him to be the only Nazi he has known who does not have a clear conscience, and ends with the arrival of a letter from "Frank Wirtanen." This letter provides the corroborating evidence that Campbell was indeed an American spy during World War II. However, the very last scene features Campbell not preparing his defense, but instead preparing to hang himself. This is not, he says, for crimes against humanity, but rather for "crimes against himself."
[edit] External links
- Weide's website on the film
- A transcript of an AOL online interview from November 22, 1996, done by Weide and Jesse Kornbluth
- IMDB profile
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