The Ghost Writer German Trailer: Footage From Polanski's Return, Dubbed Auf Deutsch

Ask and ye shall receive. Just a couple of hours ago I wrote about the US release date for Roman Polanski's new film The Ghost Writer, starring Ewan McGregor and Pierce Brosnan. Given that Summit set February 19 as the date, I assumed that we'd see a trailer any day now. In fact, there's one right now. Only trouble is, it's in German. Check it out after the break.

The quality of the dialogue is impossible to get any bearing on thanks to the dubbing, but I love the dense, shadowy visuals. That aspect of the film is very much in line with classic Polanski. This footage reminds me quite a bit of Death and the Maiden, thanks to the tone and the lonely setting. I'm happy to see the old Polanski paranoia back in full force. Good to get glimpses of the rest of the cast, too, among whom are Kim Cattrall, Olivia Williams, Eli Wallach, Timothy Hutton and Tom Wilkinson. I hadn't realized that a couple of those names were involved, and all together they increase my interest in this one quite a bit.

Robert Harris wrote the screenplay based on his own novel The Ghost, which Publisher's Weekly described as follows. (The spoiler-wary should skip this bit, though the US trailer will likely give it all up anyway.)

Former British prime minister Adam Lang (clearly modeled on Tony Blair) is up against a firm deadline to submit his memoirs to his publisher, and the project is dangerously derailed when his aide and collaborator, Michael McAra, perishes in a ferry accident off the coast of Martha's Vineyard. To salvage the book, a professional ghostwriter is hired to whip the manuscript into shape, but the unnamed writer soon finds that separating truth from fiction in Lang's recollections a challenge. The stakes rise when Lang is accused of war crimes for authorizing the abduction of suspected al-Qaeda terrorists in Pakistan, who then ended up in the CIA's merciless hands. As the new writer probes deeper, he uncovers evidence that his predecessor's death may have been a homicide.

This trailer is cut for Germany, likely because the film has its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival on February 11; hopefully Summit will cut one for the US like, now.