Réalisation:
Keith GordonScénario:
Robert B. WeideMusique:
Michael ConvertinoActeurs·trices:
Nick Nolte, Sheryl Lee, Alan Arkin, Arye Gross, Frankie Faison, Gerard Parkes, Vlasta Vrana, Zach Grenier, Kirsten Dunst, John Goodman (plus)Résumés(1)
Keith Gordon's darkly comic film version of Kurt Vonnegut Jr.'s highly original novel stars Nick Nolte as Howard J. Campbell Jr., an unusual antihero with a twisted story to tell. The tale begins in a Israeli prison cell, where Campbell is on trial for WWII war crimes. Campbell is given a typewriter and enough paper to recount his bizarre memoir, which appears as a series of black-and-white and color scenes that shift between 1940s Germany, 1950s New York, and 1960s Israel. The American Campbell and his parents relocate to Germany between the two world wars and live a happy life. Campbell grows up to be a playwright and marries a beautiful German actress, Helga Noth (Sheryl Lee). On a day like any other, Campbell's life takes a bizarre turn as he is offered a top-secret assignment by a U.S. government official (John Goodman in an unbilled role)--to pose as a Nazi sympathizer while relaying secret American code via the radio. Campbell successfully accomplishes his mission by starting an anti-American, anti-Semitic radio program that is revered in Nazi Germany and deplored in America. In a strange twist of fate, the unknown American playwright becomes a well-known German celebrity. After the war, Campbell escapes Germany and flees to New York, preferring to remain anonymous in the booming city. Years later, Campbell's life is turned upside down when he is recognized and pursued by Holocaust survivors, eager white supremacists, neo-Nazis, and U.S. law enforcers, leading to his incarceration in the Israeli prison where he awaits his fate. As Campbell, Nolte gives one of the finest performances of his career. (texte officiel du distributeur)
(plus)Vidéo (1)
Critiques (1)
Unrivaled best adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut's novel. An exceptionally powerful film with an interesting theme, a clever screenplay, and a star-studded cast. For me, Nick Nolte delivers his best performance. The film, and maybe it's not worth adding the word "surprisingly", hopelessly failed on the American film market and was not particularly appreciated by film critics. It is a tragicomic story of a man who sacrificed his entire life, his past and future, and even his personal identity in the name of a higher purpose, namely victory in war, and ultimately paid for it with the irony of fate. Overall impression: 90%.
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