''Collision'' (a.k.a. ''Intersections'') is an English-language French romantic thriller film written and directed by American filmmaker David Marconi, produced by

Luc Besson Luc Paul Maurice Besson (; born 18 March 1959) is a French film director, screenwriter and producer. He directed or produced the films ''Subway'' (1985), '' The Big Blue'' (1988), and '' La Femme Nikita'' (1990). Besson is associated with the ' ...

and starring

Frank Grillo Frank Anthony Grillo (born June 8, 1965) is an American actor and martial artist. He played Brock Rumlow in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films '' Captain America: The Winter Soldier'' (2014), '' Captain America: Civil War'' (2016), '' Avengers ...

Jaimie Alexander Jaimie Lauren Alexander (born Jaimie Lauren Tarbush; March 12, 1984) is an American actress. She is known for portraying Jessi on the TV series '' Kyle XY'' and Lady Sif in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films '' Thor'' (2011), '' Thor: The Dark ...

Roschdy Zem Roschdy Zem (born 27 September 1965) is a French actor and filmmaker of Moroccan descent. He shared the award for Best Actor for his role in the film '' Days of Glory'' at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival. Career Versatile and determined to not ...

Marie-Josée Croze Marie-Josée Croze (; born February 23, 1970) is a Canadian actress. She also holds French citizenship, which she obtained in December 2012. Early life Croze was born in Montreal, Quebec, was adopted, and grew up in Longueuil with four other ch ...

and

Charlie Bewley Charles Martin Bewley (born 25 January 1981) is an English actor and producer best known for his role as the vampire Demetri in '' The Twilight Saga'' films, Charles Wentworth on '' Nashville'', and Galen Vaughn on ''The Vampire Diaries''. Pe ...

. The film was released in France on January 30, 2013.

Plot

Taylor and Scott Dolan (

and

) are on their honeymoon in

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...

where Taylor plots to kill her rich husband with help from her lover, Travis (

). The plan goes awry when all parties are involved in a bloody car accident on a remote desert road. They escape the multi-car pileup at a desert intersection and encounter the group of survivors, including a wanted

smuggler Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations. There are various ...

, Omar (

Moussa Maaskri Moussa Maaskri ( ar, موسى معسكري) (born 15 November 1962) is an Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital ...

), a French woman, Audrey (

), with a sick baby and Saleh, a mysterious "repairman" (

). They embark on a journey of

deceit Deception or falsehood is an act or statement that misleads, hides the truth, or promotes a belief, concept, or idea that is not true. It is often done for personal gain or advantage. Deception can involve dissimulation, propaganda and sleight o ...

and

revelation In religion and theology, revelation is the revealing or disclosing of some form of truth or knowledge through communication with a deity or other supernatural entity or entities. Background Inspiration – such as that bestowed by God on the ...

that culminates in the

medina Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the second-holiest city in Islam, and the capital of the ...

of Essaouira.

Cast

as Saleh *

as Scott Dolan *

as Taylor Dolan *

as Audrey *

as Omar *

as Travis * Affif Ben Badra as Ayub *

Carlos Leal Carlos Leal (born 9 July 1969) is a Swiss rapper and actor. Leal was born in Lausanne to Galician immigrants. In 1990, he co-founded Sens Unik. The group produced four gold records and contributed music to the films ''La Haine'' (1995) and '' Neu ...

as Cyril *

Gabriella Wright Gabriella Wright (born 19 June 1982) is an English actress and model, best known for playing Queen Claude of France in the series ''The Tudors,'' Viola in the film '' The Perfect Husband,'' and Gina in the action thriller '' The Transporter Ref ...

as Odette

Production

Development

''Collision'' marks David Marconi's return to directing, twenty years after '' The Harvest''.

Brooklyn Decker Brooklyn Danielle Decker (born April 12, 1987) is an American model and actress, perhaps best known for her appearances in the ''Sports Illustrated'' Swimsuit Issue, including the cover of the 2010 issue. In addition to working for Victoria's ...

and

Gemma Arterton Gemma Christina Arterton (born 2 February 1986) is an English actress and producer. After her stage debut in Shakespeare's ''Love's Labour's Lost'' at the Globe Theatre (2007), Arterton made her feature film debut in the comedy '' St Trinian's'' ...

were considered for role of Taylor but lost out to Jaimie Alexander.

Filming

Filming started in February 2012 on location in Merzouga and Essaouira, Morocco and lasted a month and a half, with most of the shooting done in sequence. The film was shot mainly in English, however there is also a substantial amount of Arabic dialogue between Moussa Maaskri and Roschdy Zem's characters as well as a some French dialogue, involving Zem's, Marie-Josée Croze's and Carlos Leal's characters. The key car crash scene was filmed practically, without visual effects, using DSLR cameras in the cars.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by Richard Horowitz https://soundcloud.com/richard-horowitz/sets/intersections The opening sequence tracks are sung by

Sussan Deyhim Sussan Deyhim (born December 14, 1958) is an Iranian American composer, vocalist, performance artist and activist. She is internationally known for her invention of a unique sonic/vocal language. LA Times quotes her as "One of Iran's most potent ...

Release

Initially set for November 2012, the film was eventually released in France on January 30, 2013 in 304 theaters, after a premiere on January 25 at the UGC Ciné-Cité Rosny outside of Paris, attended by Roschy Zem and Marie-Josée Croze. In Belgium the film was released a week later, on February 6, in 15 theaters.

Reception

Box office performance

The film fizzled at the French box-office, debuting at the twelfth spot, behind five of that week's other new releases (which included ''

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincol ...

'', ''

Silver Linings Playbook ''Silver Linings Playbook'' is a 2012 American romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by David O. Russell. The film was based on Matthew Quick’s 2008 novel '' The Silver Linings Playbook''. It stars Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Law ...

'' and ''

Seven Psychopaths ''Seven Psychopaths'' is a 2012 satirical black comedy crime drama film directed, written, and co-produced by Martin McDonagh and starring an ensemble cast featuring Colin Farrell, Sam Rockwell, Woody Harrelson, and Christopher Walken, wit ...

'') and making a little over 260,000 euros with an 871 euros per theater average, attracting 52,485 film goers. It fared even worse in its Belgian release where it debuted at the nineteenth spot, behind five of that week's other new releases (which included ''

Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...

'' and '' Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters'') and making a little over 26,000 euros with a 1,750 euros per theater average. As of March 3, 2013, ''Intersections'' has made a little over 300,000 euros.

Critical response

The film received an overwhelmingly negative critical response in France. Writing for ''Critikat'', Vincent Avenel calls the script "incoherent", a sentiment echoed by ''Les Fiches du Cinémas François Barge-Prieur. Avenel goes on to call the film "absurd" and "empty", all the while criticizing the abundance of product placement and finding Jaimie Alexander's beauty to be the picture's sole saving grace. In ''

Le Monde ''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...

'',

Jacques Mandelbaum Jacques Mandelbaum (born 1 May 1958, in Neuilly-sur-Seine) is a French journalist and film critic, currently working for the newspaper ''Le Monde'' which he joined in 1995. He is the author of numerous works on the cinema including a biographical ...

says the film a " reality TV version" of a survival film while in ''Version Femina'', Anne Michelet laments the lack of tension. A rare positive review came from ''Staragora'', which praised the film's numerous twists and flawed characters while stating the film was of the kind "one remembers for weeks after having seen it".

Home media

''Collision'' was released in France on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

and

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of st ...

in an extended version on May 30, 2013.

References

External links

* {{Luc Besson 2010s romantic thriller films 2013 films Films about road accidents and incidents Films set in Morocco English-language French films EuropaCorp films Films produced by Luc Besson