Mother Night (1996)

An American spy behind the lines during WWII serves as a Nazi propagandist, a role he cannot escape in his future life as he can never reveal his real role in the war.

Director:

Keith Gordon

Writers:

Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (novel), Robert B. Weide (screenplay)

Stars:

Nick Nolte, Sheryl Lee, Alan Arkin

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Nick Nolte	...	Howard Campbell
Sheryl Lee	...	Helga Noth / Resi Noth
Alan Arkin	...	George Kraft
Bernard Behrens	...	Reverend Dr. Lionel Jones
Anna Berger	...	Epstein's Mother
Arye Gross	...	Dr. Abraham Epstein
Norman Rodway	...	Werner Noth
Frankie Faison	...	Robert Sterling Wilson
Gerard Parkes	...	Father Patrick Keeley
Vlasta Vrana	...	August Krapptauer
Zach Grenier	...	Joseph Goebbels
Kirsten Dunst	...	Young Resi Noth
Anthony J. Robinow	...	Prison Warden
Michael McGill	...	Prison Official
Shimon Aviel	...	Guard Bernard Liebman

Storyline

Howard W. Campbell, Jr., an American expatriate playwright, Nazi radio propagandist, and Allied spy, writes his memoirs during his pre-trial confinement in 1961 Haifa and learns that people are what they pretend to be.

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Plot Keywords:

american | spy | nazi | germany | escape | 

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Taglines:

The truth is more shocking than the uniform he wears... HE WAS AN AMERICAN SPY.

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Genres:

Drama | Romance | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for a scene of sexuality

Details

Official Sites:

Fine Line Features

Country:

USA

Language:

English German Yiddish

Release Date:

1 November 1996 (USA)

Also Known As:

Confessione finale

Filming Locations:

Montréal, Québec, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$6,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$48,661 (USA) (1 November 1996)

Gross:

$363,905 (USA) (6 December 1996)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fine Line Features, New Line Cinema, Whyaduck Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

114 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Kurt Vonnegut Jr.:  Towards the end of the film when Campbell (Nick Nolte) stands frozen in the street one of the people who pass by him in slow motion is the author of the book the film is based on (the man with a mustache in a beige suit and a blue shirt with a tie.)

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Quotes

[first lines]
Prison Warden: Do you prefer German of English?
Howard W. Campbell Jr.: English.
Prison Warden: You are to write down your memoirs for the Haifa Institute. for the documentation of war criminals. You have three weeks to complete your memoirs before your trial begins. Do you have a any questions?
Howard W. Campbell Jr.: No, this is great. Thanks for everything.

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Connections

Follows Slaughterhouse-Five (1972)

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Soundtracks

"The Star Spangled Banner"
Music by John Stafford Smith
Lyrics by Francis Scott Key
Courtesy Audio Action

User Reviews

The Underappreciated Masterpiece

As Alan Rudolph's "Breakfast of Champions" slides into theaters with little fanfare and much derision it makes me think back to 1996 when Keith Gordon's "Mother Night" came out. Now for all the talk of Kurt Vonnegut being "unfilmable" it's surprising that he has gotten two superb cinematic treatments (the other being "Slaughter-house Five"). "Mother Night" is certainly one of the most underappreciated films of the decade and I cannot understand why. It's brilliant! It stays almost entirely faithful to Vonnegut's book (without being stilted or overly literary) and adds to it a poetry that is purely cinematic. How many film adaptations of any author's work can claim that? Vonnegut himself even puts in a cameo appearance towards the end of the film, and can you ask for a better endorsement than that? Not only is it a beautiful film, it is a beautifully acted, written and directed film and it is among my picks for the top five or so American films of the 1990s. It's a mournful, inspired, surreal masterpiece that does not deserve to be neglected. I would sincerely encourage anyone to see "Mother Night" - it doesn't even take a familiarity with Vonnegut's work to fully appreciate it (as "Slaughter-house Five" sometimes does). It is a powerful, affecting piece of cinema.