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Title: Poor Adaptation
Review: Soderburgh's attempt at noir failed and seemed more like an excuse to use footage from war-ravaged Berlin than a real embrace of the genre. Soderburgh's noir attempt also fell flat because there was too much unneceessary violence and voyeristic embrace of the bizarre (the legless Jew who had been experimented on, but suddenly is running a shop in Berlin a few months after surviving a concentration camp?) whereas genuine noir is understated. Noir aside, the real problem with this film is a disastrous screenplay. The novel's rich texture of minor characters (and even major figures like Gunter) disappear and, as has been mentioned other reviews, Lena's character is completely transformed and ruined. The "surprise" at the end of the film was a poor attempt of making a profound statement about morality and survival in the Third Reich.
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