The Interpreter (2005)

Director:

Sydney Pollack

Writers (WGA):

Martin Stellman (story) &
Brian Ward (story) ...

Release Date:

22 April 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

The truth needs no translation.

Plot:

Political intrigue and deception unfold inside the United Nations, where a US Secret Service agent (Penn) is assigned to investigate an interpreter (Kidman) who overhears an assassination plot.

Plot Keywords:

Hospice | Political Thriller | Political | Freeze Frame | Assassination Attempt

Awards:

3 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Nicole Kidman	...	Silvia Broome
Sean Penn	...	Tobin Keller
Catherine Keener	...	Dot Woods
Jesper Christensen	...	Nils Lud
Yvan Attal	...	Philippe
Earl Cameron	...	Dr. Edmond Zuwanie
George Harris	...	Kuman-Kuman
Michael Wright	...	Marcus
Clyde Kusatsu	...	Police Chief Lee Wu
Eric Keenleyside	...	Rory Robb
Hugo Speer	...	Simon Broome
Maz Jobrani	...	Mo
Yusuf Gatewood	...	Doug
Curtiss Cook	...	Ajene Xola (as Curtiss I'Cook)
Byron Utley	...	Jean Gamba

Also Known As:

Interprète, L' (France)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for violence, some sexual content and brief strong language.

Runtime:

128 min

Country:

UK | USA | France

Language:

Aboriginal | English | French | Portuguese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Taiwan:PG-12 | Canada:PG (Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Denmark:11 | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba) | Iceland:16 | USA:PG-13 (certificate #41613) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Zurich) | France:U | Malaysia:U | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Brazil:14 | Canada:G (Quebec) | Finland:K-15 | Germany:12 | Hong Kong:IIA | Ireland:12A | Netherlands:12 | Norway:15 | Peru:14 | Philippines:PG-13 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | South Korea:12 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:12A

Filming Locations:

East 9th Street & Stuyvesant Street, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Working Title Films

Trivia:

The telephones that appear in various shots of the United Nations building (Control Booth, Security Checkpoint, etc) are ITE-12S and ITS-12SD phones, used with the EADS Telecom PointSpan telephone system (and really used by the U.N. - EADS Telecom cites "The United Nations" as a customer).

Goofs:

Continuity: When Silvia and Philippe meet at the park bench for the first time, a strand of hair across the middle of Philippe's forehead appears and reappears between shots as they talk.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Simon Broome: She wouldn't tell me her husband's name. She wouldn't even write it.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Don't Crash: The Documentary of the Making of the Movie of the Book of the Radio Series of 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' (2005) (V)

Soundtrack:

Bump

Nicely textured suspense drama with a heart

Sydney Pollak has directed a lot of good films over the last 40 years, and this, though not his finest work, is one. But it's just 'good'. Pollak has a great sense of pacing and character development, and he puts both to work to good effect in this suspenseful high-stakes terrorism drama. Kidman and Penn deliver solid and memorable performances and are joined by an excellent supporting cast. The acting talent, clever though predictable plot, superior production and cinematography, and fearlessly quirky script are what makes this film work, despite a few rather absurd plot points.

Kidman unsurprisingly, dominates the screen with a powerful portrayal of a young South African translator for the UN, who overhears a plot to assassinate the genocidal president of her home country, Motambo. Penn plays a hard-nosed, recently widowed investigator assigned to the case. As the plot escalates, it becomes clear that Kidman herself is also a target and that she has secrets...

There are some problems with believability here. Most glaring is the fact that the intelligence agents and security people investigating Kidman and the plot to kill a genocidal African president in the U.N. are depicted as anything but intelligent. The identity of the perpetrator and the nature of the intended crimes should have been more or less obvious about half-way through the film, and the security team should have had a trap set and armed personnel crawling all over the entire building. It is also unlikely that anybody in Kidman's predicament would have been allowed to continue with unrestricted access to the UN, at virtually any time of day or night, more or less unwatched. And it is even more problematic that somebody with her background should be working at the UN in the first place. The actors' performances and the relationship which develops between the two main characters (which is really at least half the plot) help to gloss over the minor problems and make the film very entertaining and suspenseful. There are also some potentially powerful political messages just below the surface, but I never felt that these messages really emerged, and was left wondering if theyr were simply artistic flourishes or perhaps, posturing.