Good (2008)

Director:

Vicente Amorim

Writers:

C.P. Taylor (stage play)
John Wrathall (screenplay)

Release Date:

11 December 2008 (Hungary)

Genre:

Drama | Romance | War

Tagline:

Anything that makes people happy can't be bad, can it?

Plot:

The rise of national socialism in Germany should not be regarded as a conspiracy of madmen. Millions of "good" people found themselves in a society spiralling into terrible chaos. A film about then, which illuminates the terrors of now.

Plot Keywords:

Book | Suffering | Dementia | Novel | Germany

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Viggo Mortensen	...	Halder
Jason Isaacs	...	Maurice
Jodie Whittaker	...	Anne
Steven Mackintosh	...	Freddie
Mark Strong	...	Bouhler
Gemma Jones	...	Mother
Anastasia Hille	...	Helen
Ruth Gemmell	...	Elizabeth
Ralph Riach	...	Brunau
Steven Elder	...	Eichmann
Kevin Doyle	...	Commandant
David de Keyser	...	Mandelstam
Guy Henry	...	Doctor
Adrian Schiller	...	Goebbels
Rick Warden	...	Brownshirt
Charlie Condou	...	Bekemeier
Tallulah Boote-Bond	...	Lotte (as Tallulah Boote Bond)
Ben Segal	...	Erich (as Benedict Segal)
Kelly Wenham	...	Pretty Secretary
Declan Hannigan	...	Handsome Doctor (Movie Studio)
Anna Marie Cseh	...	Beautiful Woman (Movie Studio) (as Cseh Annamária)
Paul M. Brennan	...	Clerk (as Paul Brennan)
Matt Devere	...	SS Motorcycle Officer
Mike Kelly	...	Party Guest
Attila Szatmari	...	Policeman (as Szatmári Attila)
Peter Linka	...	SS Officer (as Péter Linka)
László Görög	...	Neighbour (as Görög László)

Directed by
Vicente Amorim

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
C.P. Taylor		stage play
John Wrathall		screenplay

Produced by
Sarah Boote	....	producer
Karsten Brünig	....	executive producer
Douglas Cummins	....	executive producer
Danielle Dajani	....	executive producer
Billy Dietrich	....	producer
Simon Fawcett	....	executive producer
Peter Hampden	....	executive producer
Stephen Hays	....	executive producer
Jason Isaacs	....	executive producer
Zsófia Kende	....	co-producer
Kevin Loader	....	producer
Dan Lupovitz	....	producer
Michel Morales	....	co-producer
Brian O'Shea	....	executive producer
Julia Jay Pierrepont III	....	executive producer
B.J. Rack	....	line producer (as BJ Rack)
Miriam Segal	....	producer
Kornél Sipos	....	co-producer

Original Music by
Simon Lacey

Cinematography by
Andrew Dunn		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
John Wilson

Casting by
Jeanne McCarthy		(casting: US)
Laura Scott		(casting: UK)

Production Design by
Andrew Laws

Art Direction by
Adrien Asztalos		(as Adrienn Asztalos)
Andreas Olshausen		(supervising art director)

Set Decoration by
Daniele Drobny

Costume Design by
Györgyi Szakács

Makeup Department
Ildikó Aradi	....	key hair stylist
Judit Endrényiné	....	makeup artist (as Judit Endrényi)
Erzsébet Forgács	....	makeup designer
Györgyi Nagy	....	makeup artist
Agnes Petrovics	....	makeup artist (as Ágnes Petrovics)

Production Management
Éva Kovács	....	unit production manager
Kevin Phelan	....	head of post-production: Lip Sync Post
Russ Woolnough	....	post-production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Eva Badacsonyi	....	third assistant director
Zoltán Bonta	....	first assistant director: Hungary
Tamás Heilig	....	assistant director production assistant
Jessica Hurles-Laws	....	first assistant director (as Jessica Hurles Laws)
Judit Kastner	....	assistant director production assistant
Gergö Marton	....	additional assistant director (as Gergö; Márton)
Rita Nagy	....	second assistant director

Art Department
László Benedek	....	dressing props
György Csarnó	....	dressing props
Maren Eich	....	stand-by property master
László Gara	....	dressing props
Róbert Hajde	....	set cleaner
Berta Halmos	....	assistant to set decorator
István Hatos	....	dressing props
Pál Hrepka	....	dressing props
Árpád Iványi	....	set designer
Csaba Kalotás	....	stand-by prop assistant
Sándor Katona	....	set decorator buyer: Hungary
Márton Kenczler	....	graphic artist
József Kiss	....	construction manager
Adrienne Kun	....	art department coordinator
József Lakatos	....	set cleaner (as Josef Lakatos)
Péter Félix Mátyási	....	stand-by prop assistant (as Péter Mátyassy)
Imre Nagy	....	set dresser
Péter Nagy	....	dressing props
Rhian Nicholas	....	stand-by art director
Ede Párniczky	....	stand-by prop assistant
Allan Rabelo	....	storyboard artist
Béla Schneider	....	art department researcher
Tamás Simon	....	buyer
László Tibériusz	....	stand-by carpenter
Zoltán Tálosi	....	art department runner
János Tóth	....	set and prop utility man
Fonseca Israel De J. Velázquez	....	stand-by painter
Matthew Meadows	....	storyboard artist (uncredited)

Sound Department
Antonia Bates	....	sound effects editor
Robert Brazier	....	foley mixer
Paul Cotterell	....	sound re-recording mixer
Paul Cridlin	....	boom operator
Paul Davies	....	supervising sound editor
Sean Hannah	....	dialogue editor
Sue Harding	....	foley artist
Steve Haynes	....	adr re-recordist
Katja Hollmann	....	mixing producer: Lip Sync Post (as Katja Lazare)
Ian Morgan	....	additional dialogue editor
Steve C. Shaw	....	assistant adr re-recordist
Steve C. Shaw	....	assistant sound re-recording mixer
John Taylor	....	sound mixer
Zoltán Tihanyi	....	cableman
Rowena Wilkinson	....	foley artist
Peter Shaw	....	assistant sound editor (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Ferenc Gombás	....	pyrotechnician
Ferenc Hábetler	....	pyrotechnician
Attila Sarkadi	....	special effects
Gábor Styevkó	....	special effects (as Gábor Styevko)
Péter Szilágyi	....	special effects master
Attila Török	....	pyrotechnician
Csaba Török	....	pyrotechnician
Ferenc Török	....	pyrotechnician
Attila Vásári	....	pyrotechnician
István Béres Wanek	....	special effects

Visual Effects by
Chris Bentley	....	digital lab operator: Lip Synch Post
Alberto Buron	....	digital lab operator: Lip Sync Post
James Clarke	....	digital lab supervisor: Lip Sync Post
Neil Culley	....	digital compositor: Lip Sync Post
Stefan Drury	....	head of visual effects: Lip Sync Post
Katja Hollmann	....	visual effects producer: Lip Sync Post (as Katja Lazare)
Alasdair MacCuish	....	head of digital film: Lip Sync Post
Aileen McIntosh	....	digital lab operator: Lip Sync Post
Peter McVey	....	senior vt operator: Lip Sync Post
Daniel Tomlinson	....	digital lab operator: Lip Sync Post
Samantha Tracey	....	visual effects coordinator: Lip Sync Post
Rick White	....	vt supervisor: Lip Sync Post
Sheila Wickens	....	lead compositor: Lip Sync Post

Stunts
Zoltán Gulyás Kiss	....	stunt coordinator (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Ernó Bacsics	....	rigging electrician
Attila Barczay	....	second assistant camera: "c" camera
Attila Bogyai	....	electrician
Istvan Bolla	....	rigging electrician (as Ifj. Bolla István)
Istvan Bolla	....	rigging gaffer (as István Bolla)
István Csehy	....	electrician
Gyorgy Darvas	....	second assistant camera: "a" camera
Gellért Drávucz	....	central clapper loader
Sándor Fábián	....	rigging electrician
Gyuri Garami	....	rigging electrician
István Gyura	....	grip
Márk Györi	....	additional camera operator (as Mark Györy)
Andras Hamori	....	best boy grip (as Hámori András)
Dermot Hickey	....	first assistant camera: "a" camera
Larry D. Horricks	....	still photographer
Árpád Horváth	....	first assistant camera: "b" camera (as Horváth Árpád)
Zsolt Hájos	....	rigging electrician
Zsolt Jámbor	....	rigging electrician
János Kiss	....	key grip
Gábor Komora	....	first assistant camera: "c" camera
Adam Korneth	....	video assist operator (as Ádám Kornéth)
Tibor Lénárd	....	rigging electrician
'Kis Gromek' László Molnár	....	electrician (as László Molnár)
Rodrigo Monte	....	additional camera operator
Gábor Nagy	....	cableman
János Németh	....	grip
Krisztián Paluch	....	gaffer
Péter Pozsonyi	....	rigging electrician
András Pozsár	....	rigging electrician
Kristóf Párdányi	....	second assistant camera: "b" camera
György Simon	....	electrician
Péter Starnfeld	....	rigging electrician
Gabor Szucs	....	grip
Gábor Szántó	....	generator operator
Zsolt Tichy	....	rigging electrician
Dániel Tóth	....	electrician
László Tóth	....	rigging electrician
István Török	....	best boy grip
Gerry Vasbenter	....	camera operator
Gerry Vasbenter	....	steadicam operator
György Vesztergombi	....	additional focus puller (as Vesztergombi György)
István Ösz	....	electrician

Casting Department
Cara Beckinsale	....	casting assistant
Péter Soós	....	casting director: Hungary
Robert Sterne	....	casting assistant
Veronika Varjasi	....	crowd casting: Open Casting

Costume and Wardrobe Department
János Breckl	....	wardrobe supervisor
Éva Csiszár	....	assistant to costume designer
László Domkó	....	dresser
Melinda Domán	....	dresser
László Donkó	....	wardrobe
Attila Jánosi	....	wardrobe assistant
Péter Palotás	....	dresser
Ágnes Pleskonits	....	dresser (as Ági Pleskovics})
Ági Pleskovics	....	dresser
Dénes Pécsi-Szabó	....	assistant to costume designer (as Dénes Pécsi Szabó)
Móni Simkó	....	dresser (as Mónika Simkó)
Ildi Tóth	....	dresser
Gyula Zámbó	....	dresser
Veronika Szigeti	....	costume assistant (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Lee Clappison	....	digital colorist
Sascha Dhillon	....	first assistant editor
Scott Goulding	....	assistant colorist
Katja Hollmann	....	digital grading producer: Lip Sync Post (as Katja Lazare)
Ádám Halász	....	telecine rushes (uncredited)

Music Department
Isobel Griffiths	....	musicians contractor
Simon Lacey	....	music arranger: Mahler song
Metro Voices	....	musicians
Jenny O'Grady	....	choir master: Metro Voices
Steve Parr	....	music recording engineer
Peter Selwyn	....	music consultant: German music

Transportation Department
Zoltán Antal	....	driver
Péter Banda	....	driver
Sándor Budai	....	driver
István Csendes	....	driver: wardrobe
Attila Farkas	....	transportation coordinator
Attila Gross	....	driver
Zoltán Kulcsár	....	driver: production trailer
Töreki Lajos	....	driver: wardrobe
László Oberfrank	....	driver: art department
Erik Orgován	....	driver
József Spáth	....	driver: honeywagon
László Szalamonidesz	....	driver: Viggo Mortensen
Zoltán Szalay	....	action car coordinator (as Zoltán Szalai)
Ágnes Szitovicza	....	driver
László Takács	....	driver: art department
Miklós Tóth	....	driver
Bálint Varga	....	driver: wardrobe truck

Other crew
Reka Angyalosy	....	assistant accountant
Reka Angyalosy	....	production accountant: Hungary
Judit Aranyosi	....	cashier
Csaba Benedek	....	security
Fraser Bloom	....	legal services: Davenport Lyons
Paul M. Brennan	....	assistant: Miriam Segal (as Paul Brennan)
Victoria Brooks	....	public relations director: Good Films
Markus Brown	....	caterer
Tamás Csutak	....	accounting services: Abacus Consult
Cathy Doubleday	....	script supervisor
Stephen Earner	....	assistant accountant
Eszter Faludi	....	location assistant
Andrea Folger	....	accountant: Miromar
Mochele Frankland	....	representative: Aramid (as Michele Frankland)
Ferenc Galambos	....	caterer
Steve Garner	....	travel agent: Mediacom 24/7
Larry Garrison	....	unit publicist
Julia Hall	....	title designer
Enikó Halász	....	accounting services: Hungary, Laurin Entertainment (as Enikó Halasz)
Zsolt Hammerl	....	caterer
Boyd Harvey	....	insurance broker: Media Insurance Brokers
Renátó Horváth	....	assistant location manager
Tara Hull	....	assistant: Miriam Segal
Fritz 'Elk' Jabelmann	....	controller: Miromar
Andrew Jack	....	dialogue coach
Anna Jürges	....	assistant: Karsten Brünig, Miromar
Ferenc Kondor	....	motor home
András Kopházi	....	security (as András Kópházi)
Emöke Krivánszky	....	office assistant
Johannes Kunkel	....	production assistant: Miromar
Gabriella Kökényesi	....	cashier
Wilferam Lange	....	accountant: Miromar
Gabor Lettner	....	production assistant (as Gábor Lettner)
Diána Lizák	....	caterer: Gourmet To U
Ágnes Lángos	....	caterer
Kai May	....	production attorney: Miromar, Unverzagt Von Have
Norman Merry	....	executive producer: Lip Sync Post
Richard Mewis	....	script editor
Lynne Montajane	....	production accountant
Lajos Nagy	....	accounting services: Abacus Consult
Zoltán Nuberger	....	security
Katalin Németh	....	production accountant: Hungary
Zsolt Pereházi	....	security (as Szolt Pereházy)
Dennis Reber	....	production assistant: Miromar
Penelope Robinson	....	production accountant: prep
Ingrid Roller	....	team assistant: Miromar
Tim Saxton	....	company accounts: Good Films, Leigh Saxton Green
Heide Schwarze	....	assistant: Michel Morales, Miromar
Klaus Schwenk	....	accountant: Miromar (as Dr. Klaus Schwenk)
Claire Smith	....	representative: Aramid
Yu-Fai Suen	....	representative: Aramid
Thomas Szabo	....	trainee: Miromar
Richard Szabó	....	security (as Richárd Szabó)
Sándor Szabó	....	location manager
Zoltán Szabó	....	security
Zsolt Tolmer	....	stand-in: Viggo Mortensen (as Tolmár Zsolt)
Dimitra Tsingou	....	representative: Aramid
Susie Tullett	....	international public relations: DDA PR
Dianne Twiddy	....	production accountant
Bence Varga	....	set production assistant
Virág Varga	....	production coordinator
Álmos Varga	....	location scout
Howard Watkins	....	title designer
Peter Weidinger	....	caterer (as Péter Weidinger)
Paula Jack	....	dialect coach: adr (uncredited)
Bendegúz Körmöczi	....	wrangler animal trainer (uncredited)
Béla Vaszary	....	medical coordinator (uncredited)

Thanks
Alan Brodie	....	the producers wish to thank
Christopher Courtney	....	the producers wish to thank (as Chris Courtney)
Howard Davis	....	the producers wish to thank
Nick Manzi	....	the producers wish to thank
Julia Jay Pierrepont III	....	the producers wish to thank (as Julia Pierrpomt)
Stuart Rosenthal	....	the producers wish to thank
C.P. Taylor	....	in memoriam
Elizabeth Taylor	....	the producers wish to thank

Production Companies

• Good Films
• Miromar Entertainment

Distributors

• Odd Lot International (2007) (non-USA) (all media) (international sales agent)
• Blue Sky Media (2008) (Czech Republic) (all media)
• Broadmedia Studios (2012) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Lionsgate (2009) (UK) (theatrical)
• Mirovision (2008) (South Korea) (theatrical)
• Seven Sept (2010) (France) (theatrical)
• Ascot Elite Home Entertainment (2011) (Germany) (DVD)
• Audio Visual Entertainment (2010) (Greece) (DVD)
• CatchPlay (2009) (Taiwan) (all media)
• Dutch FilmWorks (DFW) (2009) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Dutch FilmWorks (DFW) (2009) (Netherlands) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Imagem Filmes (2008) (Brazil) (all media)
• Nem
• Nordisk Film (2009) (Finland) (DVD)
• Nordisk Film (2009) (Sweden) (DVD)
• SP Films (2012) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Spentzos Films (2009) (Greece) (all media)
• THINKFilm (2008) (USA) (all media)
• Vii Pillars Entertainment (2010) (Hong Kong) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Lip Sync Post (visual effects)

Other Companies

• Abacus Consult  accounting services: Hungary
• Aramid Capital Partners  funding
• Aramid Entertainment Fund  funding
• Bellwood Media  negative checks and script clearances
• Bonded Services  film storage
• DDA Public Relations  international public relations (as DDA PR)
• Davenport Lyons  production legal services
• Fatts  post-production script services
• Fuji  film stock
• Hear No Evil Studios  music recorded at
• Hungarian Filmlab / Magyar Filmlabor  post-production facilities
• Kallista Marketing & PR  festival publicity
• Laurin Entertainment  accounting services: Hungary
• Lee Electric  lighting
• Leigh Saxton Green  company accounts: Good Films
• Lip Sync Post  digital intermediate
• Lip Sync Post  sound mixing
• London Session Orchestra, The  orchestra (uncredited)
• MILK Publicity  publicity
• Media Insurance Brokers  insurance broker
• Mediacom 24-7  travel agent
• Movieset  construction
• Open Casting  crowd casting
• Panavision London  camera equipment and cranes
• Sparks  camera equipment provided by
• Sparks  grip and lighting equipment
• Special Treats  epk
• Tenon Group  auditors (as Tenon)
• Unverzagt von Have  production attorney

Also Known As:

MPAA:

Rated R for language

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

UK | Germany

Language:

English | German | French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital EX

Certification:

Australia:M | Brazil:12 | Ireland:15A | UK:15 | Netherlands:12 | Hong Kong:IIA | USA:R (certificate #46201) | Japan:G | Argentina:13 | Portugal:M/12 | Finland:K-11

Filming Locations:

Budapest, Hungary

Company:

Good Films

Trivia:

Romola Garai was cast as the female lead but backed out to take some time off movies to concentrate on University. Jodie Whittaker replaced her.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: In the scene, when Halder takes a walk with his ex-wife in the cemetery, which is supposed to be in Berlin, Germany, Hungarian names are clearly visible on the gravestones.

Soundtrack:

Concentration Camp Band - Symphony No. 1 in D Major, 3rd movement

The Human Comedy: A Study of Adaptation

A new movement for change, promising a life richer in education, physical prowess, diminished crime, and increased wealth is like a magnet, and the promises that National Socialist Republic created in all forms of the media in the 1930s were probably heady enough that the post World War I Germans could turn a blind eye to the vacuous reality of a rising maniac's promises. GOOD is a film that suggests how the good common people responded to the rise of the Third Reich - the Nazi party with its loathsome guardianship in the Gestapo. It suggests how personal needs could cloud the mind to see only the benefits of a new order that would eventually destroy millions of people and attempt to transform the world in a new social order. And it is painful to watch the disease progress into every aspect of life in Germany.

John Halder (Viggo Mortensen) is a professor of literature and a writer of novels: his latest novel is a fictional story about a man who, out of love for his suffering wife, assists her dying. This novel catches the eye of Hitler and the Reichminister Bouhler (Mark Strong) who encourages Halder to draft a paper describing how euthanasia is a good and righteous act - a paper that will eventually 'justify' the massacre of Jews and other 'undesirables'. Halder's life is in such upheaval (his mother (Gemma Jones) is dying of tuberculosis while living with Halder and his piano obsessed wife Helen (Anastasia Hille) whom he divorces, Halder finds happiness only with a student Anne (Jodie Whittaker) who is fascinated with the Nazi party, and Halder's only close friend is psychiatrist Maurice Israel Glückstein (Jason Issacs) who is Jewish and loathes the Nazi party. Because of Halder's needs in life and also because of the glory he feels being praised for his novel, he agrees to be an 'advisor' to the party. His confrères include Adolph Eichmann (Steven Elder) and Josef Goebbels (Adrian Schiller) and slowly the good man John Halder becomes immersed in the Nazi party.

Maurice, being Jewish and detesting John's alliance with the Nazis, must escape Germany as the Jewish purge begins. His only hope is aid from Halder's Nazi affiliation and he desperately seeks Halder's help. Halder is unable to come to Maurice's aid; Maurice is evacuated and Halder's inspection of the concentration camps makes him face his worse fear about his selling out his morals and honor and his losing his closest friend.

GOOD began as a play by C.P. Taylor and was transformed into a screenplay by John Wrathall. Vicente Amorim directs a cast of mixed experience, but from Mortensen and Isaacs and Jones he draws fine performances. Throughout the film Halder has aural delusions: at times of stress he hears music, a factor that in retrospect makes us question his own stability. The music he hears is a sad rewriting of the works of Gustav Mahler -' Die Zwei Blauen Augen von meinem Schatz', and 'O Mensch!' from the Mahler 3rd Symphony (both sung in English translations by people on the street!), bit and pieces of score quoting phrases from Mahler in a very pedestrian arrangement, and finally orchestral recordings of moments from Mahler's Symphonies No.1 and No.3. The pedestrian quality of the score weights the film down. The cinematography by Andrew Dunn is fine (the film was shot in Hungary). Overall, it feels like this is a strong idea of a statement of what happens to the minds common men in times of crises. For this viewer it simply doesn't accomplish its goal, despite the worthy attempt Viggo Mortensen makes.

Grady Harp