The above quote rings with additional clarity in today’s so-called war on terror. And it’s no accident that George Clooney decided to make his debut as writer-director on this particular subject at this particular time. It is because this has happened before, because it is happening again, that we must pay special attention to past examples.
It is the red scare of the 1950’s, an obsessively paranoid time in American history where man eyed his fellow citizen with uneasy mistrust. For the Cold War was not a battle of guns and bullets but of minds and ideologies. Enter scare tactician and Republican Senator, Joseph McCarthy, the self-appointed leader of this witch hunt. Facing off against him is CBS journalist Edward R. Murrow, a scrupulous reporter who smelled a rat and chased it through legal and professional mine fields to the end of the line.
Shot in a stark but stylish black and white, Good Night, and Good Luck is both an intricate film and an important one. As additional films like the documentary, Control Room, have pointed out we are not getting the full story here, only the official one. It’s hard to believe that even in this modern era of free information that we’re still being so easily misled by the puppet masters in charge but such is the nature of man.
As a film Good Night, and Good Luck delivers all of the integral pieces of a great picture: convincing performances (especially from lead David Strathairn), astute cinematography and script that gets the point across without becoming pretentious or overbearing.
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