Mother Night: Coded Creativity

"Interesting" best describes the movie Mother Night. The film intrigues the reader by beginning with black and white cinematography as the sound of Bing Crosby's "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" plays in the background. THe film's main character, Howard W. Campbell Jr. (portrayed by Nick Nolte) tells of his birth in America, move to Germany with his family, development into a succesful playwright, and marriage to a beautiful actress. He does in the writing of his memoirs. He then speaks of his "blue fairy godmother" (portrayed by John Goodman) who works for the United States government, who had asked him to take part in relaying coded messages through a radio program to American spies, the only catch being that the American government would deny any association with him. Howard agrees to take part. War takes his wife from him, though only physically for emotionally she is still very real. Campbell then moves to America after the war. Campbell becomes friends with George Kraft. Campbell bonds with this firend and tells him of being a spy for the Ameican government. Campbell's dead wife, Helga, apparently appears in the United States, yet Howard soon finds out that Resi, Helga's younger sister, is pretending to be Helga. A Nazi-oriented group, led by Dr. Jones and his awkward African-American male friend, huge in build and also a Nazi, takes him in and decides that Campbell, Ressi, and Kraft would fly to Mexico to escape the constant criticism and harassment. The "blue fairy godmother" tells Campbell that Resi and Kraft only act as his friends, when actually they are Russian spies. When Campbell confronts his "friends", Resi commits suicide, and Kraft disappears. Howard feels guilty about his part in the war. Even though it helped the Americans, it also supported the Nazis. So he turns himself into the Israelis to be prosecuted as a war criminal. After finishing his memoirs, Campbell hangs himself with his typewriter ribbon. The creativity displayed in the different realities presented, the theme of love, ane the irony involved in the plot, makes this a magnificent story.

The presentation of the different realities intrigues the audience. The story begins in black and white, yet changes to color. Throughout the story, the movie switches back and forth between the two. The audience sees the present in black and white, and the past in color. Campbell's present seems unreal to him, hence the color coordination in the movie. Howard's past seems so much more vivid. The past, being vibrant with color, is a stark comparison to the present where his life is dull and lacks emotion. He feels guilty for his part in the war in helping the Nazi spirit stay alive. The black and white imagery best expresses his guilt and also his otherwise lack of emotion.

Emotion plays an important part in this movie. Love, the main theme in the movie conveys how much of a role emotion plays. Campbell can best be describes as a romantic at heart. He loves good, hates evil, deep down, and does anything in the name of romance. Howard loves his wife very much, even after her death; he still has an imaginary relationship with her. Campbell displays his feelings through art, not politics. His plays express his feelings and emotions. The death of Helga destroys the most important thing in Howard's life, his "nation of two," and this takes the biggest toll on him emotionally. His final demise can quite efficiently be decided by the lack of his "nation of two."

Though his final demise fits the story, a weird irony affects the situations that take place. The American government had Campbell relaying coded messages, his purpose in the war seems clear. However, in the latter part of the story, Campbell's Nazi-extremist father-in-law tells Campbell that his speeches over the radio were what kept him from thinking all of Germany had gone crazy. He says that all of his racist views stemmed from Campbell's broadcasts. Campbell does not feel that he helped the Nazis that much until the very end, when he realizes that his broadcasts helped spread the hatred that killed so many Jews in concentration camps. He realizes this in his apartment building when he meets an elderly woman and her son who were both in concentration camps during the war. He sees the effects that it has on them and the pain that they still suffer through. Campbell questions his morals for he felt he did the right thing for his country, yet he knows that his broadcasts were filled with hate, adn he distributed that hate amongst the Germans. As much as Campbell tries to help the Americans, he actually makes it worse for them and the German Jews at the same time, hence the irony of the story.

"You are what you pretend to be" is the main point of the movie. Campbell "pretends" to be a hardcore Nazi, though when he sees the footage of his broadcast, even he himself can see the rage and hear the hatred in his voice. Overall, excellence best describes the movie. The drama in it keeps the audience asking for more yet by the end of the movie, has that same audience questioning itself morally. Who would tell the world that he was actually working as an undercover agent? Or rather would he take the road Campbell did and face every day a day at a time, hoping people would forget his sins? The movie provokes feelings and questions that are getting harder to express in today's society.