The Interpreter (2005 film)

For other uses, see Interpreter (disambiguation).

For the 2018 Slovak film, see The Interpreter (2018 film).

The Interpreter
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Sydney Pollack
Screenplay by	Charles Randolph Scott Frank Steven Zaillian
Story by	Martin Stellman Brian Ward
Produced by	Tim Bevan Eric Fellner Kevin Misher
Starring	Nicole Kidman Sean Penn Catherine Keener
Cinematography	Darius Khondji
Edited by	William Steinkamp
Music by	James Newton Howard
Production companies	Working Title Films StudioCanal Mirage Enterprises
Distributed by	United International Pictures (United Kingdom) Universal Pictures (United States) Mars Distribution (France)
Release dates	4 April 2005 (2005-04-04) (Sydney) 15 April 2005 (2005-04-15) (United Kingdom) 22 April 2005 (2005-04-22) (United States)
Running time	128 minutes
Countries	France United Kingdom United States
Language	English
Budget	$80 million
Box office	$162.9 million

The Interpreter is a 2005 political thriller film directed by Sydney Pollack, starring Nicole Kidman, Sean Penn, Catherine Keener, and Jesper Christensen. It is notable for being the first movie filmed inside the United Nations Headquarters, as well as the final feature film directed by Pollack before his death in 2008.

An international co-production between the United States, United Kingdom, and France, the film was released in all three countries April 2005. It received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $162 million against its $80 million budget.

Plot

In the Republic of Matobo (a name from the Matobo National Park in Matabeleland Zimbabwe), rebel leader Ajene Xola drives two men, Simon and Philippe, to the abandoned Centennial Stadium. They briefly discuss how President Edmond Zuwanie's regime has ruthlessly exterminated most of the population, and intimidated the survivors into silence. Upon their arrival at the stadium, they discover that the informants are schoolboys, who point Ajene and Simon in the direction of corpses left by Zuwanie's security apparatus, while Philippe stays in the car.

Shouting lures Ajene and Simon back to the field, where they are promptly executed by the boys, who are revealed to be willing accomplices of Zuwanie's secret police. Upon hearing the gunshots, Philippe clambers out of the car and hides, taking pictures of a car arriving carrying Matoban officials, and then escapes the vicinity.

Meanwhile, Silvia Broome is an interpreter for the United Nations in New York City. Born in the United States to a British mother and white African father, she spent most of her life in her father's homeland of Matobo, studied music in Johannesburg, linguistics at Sorbonne University, Paris, and various other European countries, and is a dual citizen of both Matobo and the United States (with the possibility of deriving British citizenship through her mother). Her diverse background leads to UN Security Chief Lee Wu wryly describing her as "being the UN".

The U.N. is considering indicting Zuwanie, to stand trial in the International Criminal Court. Initially a liberator, over the past 20 years he has become as corrupt and tyrannical as the government he overthrew, and is now responsible for ethnic cleansing and other atrocities within Matobo. Zuwanie is soon to visit the U.N. and put forward his own case to the General Assembly, in an attempt to avoid the indictment.

A security scare caused by a malfunctioning metal detector forces the evacuation of the U.N. building, and, as Silvia returns at night to reclaim some personal belongings, she overhears two men discussing an assassination plot in Ku (the Matoban lingua franca). Silvia runs from the building when those discussing the plot become aware of her presence. The next day, Silvia recognizes words in a meeting, where she is interpreting, from phrases she overheard the night before, and reports the incident to U.N. security; the plot's target appears to be Zuwanie himself.

They, in turn, call in the U.S. Secret Service, which assigns Dignitary Protection Division agents Tobin Keller and Dot Woods to investigate, as well as protect Zuwanie when he arrives, as well as Zuwanie's personal head of security, former Dutch mercenary Nils Lud. Keller, whose estranged wife was killed in a car accident just weeks earlier, learns that Silvia has, in the past, been involved in a Matoban guerrilla group, that her parents and sister were killed by landmines laid by Zuwanie's men, and that she has dated one of Zuwanie's political opponents. Although Keller is suspicious of Silvia's story, the two grow close, in part because of their shared grief, and Keller ends up protecting her from attacks on her person.

Philippe calls Silvia to meet and informs her of Xola's death, but, unable to bear her grief, lies and says he doesn't know what happened to Simon, her brother. Silvia attempts to obtain information by way of Kuman-Kuman, an exiled Matoban minister living in New York, only to almost be killed in a bus bombing perpetrated by Gabonese national Jean Gamba, Nils Lud's right-hand man, and part of the opening scene's coterie.

Philippe is later found dead in his hotel room, and Silvia finds out that her brother was killed along with Ajene Xola. She narrowly avoids an assassination attempt by Gamba (whom Keller kills) and leaves a voicemail on Keller's phone saying she's going back home. Keller takes this to mean she's returning to Matobo, and dispatches an agent to intercept her at John F. Kennedy International Airport.

The purported assassin is discovered and shot to death while Zuwanie is in the middle of his address to the General Assembly, and security personnel rush Zuwanie to a safe room for his protection. Silvia, anticipating this, has been hiding in the safe room, and confronts Zuwanie and intends to kill him herself. Keller determines that the assassination plot is a false flag operation created by Zuwanie to gain credibility that his rivals are terrorists and to deter potential supporters of his removal. Keller realizes that Silvia returning home means going to UN, and rushes to the safe room, just in time to prevent her from murdering Zuwanie. Zuwanie is indicted, and Silvia reconciles with Keller before leaving for Matobo.

Cast

• Nicole Kidman as Silvia Broome, United Nations Interpreter
• Sean Penn as Secret Service Agent Tobin Keller, Assigned to Dignitary Protection Division
• Catherine Keener as Secret Service Agent Dot Woods, Tobin's Partner
• Jesper Christensen as Nils Lud, Head of Security At The Matoban Permanent Representative to The United Nations
• Yvan Attal as Philippe Broullet, Photographer For A French Magazine and A Broome Family Friend
• Earl Cameron as Edmond Zuwanie, President of the Republic of Matobo
• Curtiss Cook as Ajene Xola, Leader of The African Freedom Party
• George Harris as Kuman-Kuman, Exiled Matoban Minister Living In Brooklyn
• Michael Wright as Marcus, Dignitary to The Matoban Ambassador
• Tsai Chin as Luan, United Nations Interpreter
• Clyde Kusatsu as United Nations Security Chief Lee Wu
• Eric Keenleyside as United Nations Security Deputy Chief Rory Robb
• Hugo Speer as Simon Broome, Silvia's Brother
• Maz Jobrani as Secret Service Agent Mo
• Yusuf Gatewood as Secret Service Agent Doug
• Robert Clohessy as Secret Service Agent King
• Terry Serpico as Secret Service Agent Lewis
• David Zayas as Secret Service Agent Charlie Russell
• Sydney Pollack as Secret Service Director Jay Pettigrew
• Adrian Martinez as Roland, United Nations Interpreter
• Byron Utley as Jean Gamba, Nils Lud's Right-Hand Man

Production

The Interpreter was shot almost entirely in New York City. The opening sequence was shot in Mozambique with a support crew made up largely of South African nationals. The name Matobo is that of a national park, Matobo National Park (Matopos) in Matabeleland Zimbabwe.

Filming in U.N. buildings

Parts of The Interpreter were filmed inside the U.N. General Assembly and Security Council chambers. It was the first film to shoot at the location after the UN gave formal permission to the movie's producers in March 2004.

The producers earlier approached the UN about filming there before, but their initial request was turned down. The production would have relocated to Toronto with a constructed set; however, this would have substantially increased costs, and so Sydney Pollack approached then-Secretary-General Kofi Annan directly, and personally negotiated permission to film inside the United Nations. Annan commented on The Interpreter that "the intention was really to do something dignified, something that is honest and reflects the work that this Organization does. And it is with that spirit that the producers and the directors approached their work, and I hope you will all agree they have done that."

The first scenes at UN Headquarters were shot in early March 2004. Filming took place on weekends, public holidays or nights so as not to disturb the regular work of the UN, and the set was closed to tourists and UN staff.

Ambassadors at the U.N. had hoped to appear in the film, but actors were asked to play the roles of diplomats. Spain's U.N. Ambassador Inocencio Arias jokingly complained that his "opportunity to have a nomination for the Oscar next year went away because of some stupid regulation."

Matobo and Ku

The country "Republic of Matobo" and its corresponding constructed language "Ku" were created for this film. The director of the Centre for African Language Learning in Covent Garden, London, England, Said el-Gheithy, was commissioned in January 2004 to create Ku. It is based on Bantu languages spoken in Eastern and Southern Africa, and is a cross between Swahili and Shona, with some unique elements.

In Ku, the film's tagline "The truth requires no translation" is "Angota ho ne njumata".

Reception

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 57% based on 195 reviews, with an average rating of 6/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "A polished and intelligent thriller, though marred by plot implausibilities." Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 62 out of 100, based on 41 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.

Box office

The Interpreter grossed $72.7 million in the United States and Canada, and $90.2 million in other territories, for a worldwide gross to $162.9 million, against a production budget of $80 million.

The film debuted to $22.8 million, finishing first at the box office. It dropped 39% to $13.8 million in its sophomore weekend, finishing second.

Awards

In 2005, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association awarded Catherine Keener as Best Supporting Actress for her performances in several films, including The Interpreter.

See also

• Ku (language)
• United Nations
• United Nations General Assembly
• United Nations Interpreters
• Matobo National Park

External links

• Official website
• The Interpreter at IMDb
• The Interpreter at AllMovie
• The Interpreter at the TCM Movie Database
• The Interpreter at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
• The Interpreter at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Interpreter at Metacritic
• The Interpreter at Box Office Mojo
• Dialogue transcript of The Interpreter