i haven not yet read kurt vonnegut mother night ( though i have read other book of his and all outstanding piece of satire and game change novel piece ) . after see keith gordon film adaptation of his book and it will be an immediate must read in the near future . it the kind of material that i be sure if it wasn not make in 1995/96 a a film and it would be pick up right away today in the time period when many period post or present holocaust or ww2 movie be quite popular . except that this be much darker and though even more resonant and about the nature of play role and the real underlying horror of living with life after war than say the reader . it about the very real danger of pretend in wartime and which be what be a spy in ww2 be really all about . it would be one thing if mother night have a script with a lot of emotional depth and complexity about the moral choice and constant role even after the war end for howard w. cambpell ( nick nolte ) and which be do . but it also just a really strong feat of cinematic technique . keith gordon be not someone i usually think of a a director of really strong material ( more so i think back to him a an actor and oddly enough featured briefly with vonnegut himself in back to school ) and but this be a revelation . he take the story of campbell a a story of a fractured life represent a german propaganda master ( the only american leave in berlin ) and who be actually a spy for the american but can never have his identity reveal and and be before a playwright who really belong to a nation of two and himself and his wife ( sheryl lee ) . it follow him from his prison cell and await trial in israel in 1961 and a he write his memoir and tell of his disillusionment about be a pretend nazi and and then in 1960 in semi hiding in a new york apartment and which be where the bulk of the film take place . mother night can be quite heavy and like on a level one might associate with the pianist and but on another more emotional cerebral level than the stark poetry of that film . gordon and by way of vonnegut and be try to give u a strong look at a man who have nothing and except the memory ( and then later a weird transposition ) of his long lose love in a sister who have come back to him in nyc and so he leave to his own device when he befriend a painter ( alan arkin and very very good here ) and and then be find out a a nazi in hiding by a white supremacist newsletter and lead wacko to his apartment . on the surface this should be just a straightforward spy story and but not a thing be straightforward . the omething of this man life be staggering and but it ultimately of his own choosing . campbell be one of those character that could be analyze for hour on end and but the same conclusion might be reach ( and and in a way and mirror the line goebbels say ) represent the big the lie and the more people believe it . that be except for the select few who start the lie and know it secret and power . but oh and it would be one thing if it be just a wonderful and tragic comic tale and or another if it be feature some really fantastic performance ( which be do represent nolte be at his very best here and and sheryl lee and who we might remember from twin peak a laura palmer and stuns in multiple role and especially in the scene when she reveal she not really helga ) . it also a gorgeously shot film and with brilliant lighting and shot that reflect the state of mind of the character and or just the starkness or sicken color of the time ( watch the scene where an old campbell watch a film of his young self spout out a rant and the juxtaposition of face be great ) . and the music selection rise the level of tragedy . it could be argue some of the music be too much and but at other time it elevate the material past it own usual dramatic dimension and make it operatic and solemn about human nature . it not always an easy film to take emotionally and and some of the twist do have that tinge of whoa a in any spy story . but it the subversion from vonnegut that stick through and the way of take appearance and performance and of life imitate art imitate life imitate death and and make it into something worth remember . i have no idea just yet if the book be good than the film ( or the other way around ) and but at the moment it hard for me not to recommend this to anyone look for a masterpiece of post ww2 or holocaust storytelling .