Although George Clooney is a Hollywood first-line superstar, this is only the second feature film he directed. Starting from the role of director, Clooney is slightly inferior to other famous directors such as Lars von Trier and Hou Hsiao-hsien, regardless of their qualifications or weight. The New York Film Festival gave "Good Night, and Good Luck" the honor of the opening film. In addition to focusing on local filmmakers, the theme of this film is exactly what American society currently needs.
"Good Night, and Good Luck" tells the story of well-known news anchor Edward R. Murrow and the CBS programming team against Senator Joseph McCarthy in the 1950s. McCarthy is a Republican senator and one of the most notorious politicians in American political history. Americans hate him more than President Richard Nixon, who was involved in the Watergate scandal.
In the early 1950s, McCarthy used his influence to exaggerate how communism had infiltrated the country through various channels. For a while, everyone is in danger. As long as they are not politically correct, they will be labeled as spies and become so-called subversives. McCarthy, while ostensibly patriotic, has actually achieved his political ambitions through such irrational destructive tactics. The so-called McCarthyism has not only brought no help to national security, but has become a means of purging dissidents, and many famous actors (such as Charlie Chaplin) and scientists have been persecuted for this. Under the cover of McCarthy's inflammatory remarks, most people are worried that they will be labeled as "gangsters", so they have to swallow their breath to seek self-protection, and justice and rationality appear to be shaky.
In such a dark time, Edward R. Murrow and program producer Fred Friendly used their courage and stubbornness to resist pressure from the military, government and TV high-level. Through the news program "See It Now", they gradually exposed the inconsistencies in McCarthy's words and deeds, so that his ambitions were hidden, and public opinion was finally able to rise. In December 1954, the Senate overwhelmingly condemned McCarthy's actions against Senate tradition. Three years later, McCarthy died of hepatitis due to chronic alcoholism and morphine consumption.
The film begins with a 1959 dinner in honor of Edward R. Murrow, which takes the audience back to the CBS studio through flashbacks. Clooney was shot in black and white, giving Good Night, and Good Luck a documentary-like quality. In addition, the pictures of McCarthy himself in the film are all genuine historical images, which not only avoids the difficulty of using contemporary actors to reproduce McCarthy, but also does not make people question the over-interpretation of history. It seems that McCarthy has the opportunity to defend himself. Let the audience recognize his ugly face again, it is indeed a clever trick. In order to ease the potential tension at any time in the film, Clooney also used the jazz actress Dianne Reeves as a retouching role between cutscenes, and the melodious music really achieved the effect of decompressing the film.
"Good Night, and Good Luck" precisely captures the social atmosphere of the 1950s. It was a time when you could smoke in the studio, when smoking was considered healthy, when everyone wore side-parted suits, and it was a time of jazz. David Strathairn expresses Murrow's restrained and serious image perfectly, which can be regarded as a masterpiece since the film. Clooney also added fat for the film, wearing a baggy suit as producer Fred Friendly, which is very different from the image of the libertine in his past movies.
For Clooney, the film is a love letter to a bygone era. Clooney's mother has been working in the TV station for a long time, and her father is a news anchor. Clooney was brought to the TV station as a trainee when she was very young, and she is no stranger to journalism. He hopes that "Good Night, and Good Luck" will remind contemporary audiences how powerful TV news was in the 1950s and 1960s, rather than the money-making machines that have transformed from the late 1970s to the present, based on business and entertainment.
As we all know, Clooney is also a Democrat and a liberal. A magazine once put a portrait of him and Sean Peen on the cover and stamped the word Traitor on their chests to "condemn" them against the US government's policy of sending troops to Iraq. Therefore, through this film, people can not only recall Edward R. Murrow's piercing demeanor, let us understand how a news anchor used his courage to really change something in the world; Clooney also delivered another message. An important concept: be stubborn in choosing the good, and always stand against the corrupt establishment.
Look at the United States, think about Taiwan, our media chaos doesn't seem to get better one day. If you don't expect TV stations to broadcast "good news", it is still very far from the level of "broadcasting the news well". I don’t expect news anchors to be able to serve as social conscience. At present, many young anchors who have nothing to show can not even play such a simple role as a manuscript reader, let alone maintain justice and justice. "Good Night, and Good Luck" is a film that every student of journalism and communication should see. This is not a Hollywood drama with hype, but a historical event that actually happened.
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