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Part thriller, part romance, part mystery and part black comedy, Mother Night is the intriguing and thought provoking tale of a spy who is so convincing in his role that he will never again be able to embrace his true identity. Based on the best selling novel by the highly acclaimed cult writer Kurt Vonnegut Jr., is now available on DVD from Entertainment In Video.
Directed by Keith Gordon (The Singing Detective), Mother Night boasts an all-star cast headed by Nick Nolte (The Good Thief, 48 Hours, Another 48 Hours, Down And Out In Beverley Hills), Sheryl Lee (Kingpin, Backbeat, Twin Peaks), Alan Arkin (America's Sweethearts, Edward Scissorhands), Kirstin Dunst (Mona Lisa Smile, Spiderman, Interview With A Vampire), and John Goodman (Roseanne, The Flintstones).
Set in pre-World War II Germany, Howard W. Campbell Jr. (Nolte) is an American writer who is pressed into service on a secret assignment by the US government.
With his true purpose known only to a few, Campbell's mission is to assume the role of a Nazi sympathiser in order to spy for America. Each week he delivers a speech over the radio. The speeches are full of pro-Nazi, anti-American propaganda but all contain a coded message for the Allies.
Enjoying the fame that the role brings him, Campbell never stops to think how much he must be hated in his homeland.
Shifting back and forth in time from wartime Germany to the New York and Israel of the early 60's, Mother Night follows Campbell's nightmarish misadventures when, years after the war, he is recognised as the infamous Howard W. Campbell.
All at once, he is both persecuted by outraged Holocaust survivors and US authorities whilst being embraced by neo-Nazis and white supremacists who are nostalgic for the 'good old days' when race hatred was in full flow. Ultimately Campbell is imprisoned in Israel and ordered to stand trial as a Nazi war criminal.
During his incarceration, Campbell desperately tries to prove that he was really a US spy but struggles with his own uncertainty as to whether he was actually a hero, a villain or both.