Anthony Zimmer
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''Anthony Zimmer'' is a 2005 French romantic thriller film written and directed by
Jérôme Salle Jérôme Salle (born 1971) is a French film director and screenwriter. Salle is known for directing the films '' Anthony Zimmer'', the Belgian comic book adaptation '' Largo Winch'', and its sequel '' Largo Winch II''. His 2013 film '' Zulu'' wa ...
and starring
Sophie Marceau Sophie Marceau (; born Sophie Danièle Sylvie Maupu, 17 November 1966) is a French actress. As a teenager, she achieved popularity with her debut films ''La Boum'' (1980) and ''La Boum 2'' (1982), receiving a César Award for Most Promising Act ...
,
Yvan Attal Yvan Attal (; ; born ) is a French actor, scriptwriter and film director. Life and career Born in Tel Aviv, Israel, to History of the Jews in Algeria, Algerian-Jewish parents, he grew up in the outskirts of Paris. His acting debut was in Éri ...
, and
Sami Frey Sami Frey (born Sami Frei; 13 October 1937) is a French actor of Algerian and Italian descent. Among the films he starred in are '' En compagnie d'Antonin Artaud'' (1993), in which he portrays French poet and playwright Antonin Artaud, and '' Ba ...
. Set mainly in southern France, the film is about a highly intelligent criminal—pursued by international police and the Russian mafia—whose extensive plastic surgery makes him unrecognizable, even to his girlfriend, who enlists the help of an unsuspecting stranger on a train. The film was shot on location in Gare de Lyon in Paris 12, the Hôtel Carlton in Cannes, the Hôtel Negresco in Nice,
Ibiza Ibiza (; ; ; #Names and pronunciation, see below) or Iviza is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is 150 kilometres (93 miles) from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of th ...
in the Balearic Islands, and on the
TGV The TGV (; , , 'high-speed train') is France's intercity high-speed rail service. With commercial operating speeds of up to on the newer lines, the TGV was conceived at the same period as other technological projects such as the Ariane 1 rocke ...
Paris-Nice train. ''Anthony Zimmer'' was released on 27 April 2005 in France, and was critically well received—described as "better than average" by ''Variety'', "a good, strong story with a final twist well told" by Urban Cinefile, and "an especially well-made Hitchcock-style odyssey" by Shadows on the Wall. The film did well at the box-office, with 774,469 seats sold in France, and eventually earned $6.3 million internationally. For his directorial debut, Jérôme Salle received a nomination for the César Award for Best First Feature Film.


Plot

Anthony Zimmer is a genius
career criminal A habitual offender, repeat offender, or career criminal is a person convicted of a crime who was previously convicted of other crimes. Various state and jurisdictions may have laws targeting habitual offenders, and specifically providing for enha ...
wanted by police around the world. He has used ingenious methods to
launder money Money laundering is the process of illegally concealing the origin of money obtained from illicit activities (often known as dirty money) such as drug trafficking, sex work, terrorism, corruption, and embezzlement, and converting the funds in ...
legally, using dummy corporations that file lawsuits against firms outside France. Zimmer is also being pursued by the "White Collar Barons"—a powerful
Russian mafia The Russian mafia ( or ), also known as Bratva ( ; ) less as Obshchak (Общак) or Brigades (Бригады) , is a collective of various organized crime related elements originating or/and operating in Russia. In December 2009, Timur ...
with whom he once did business. Zimmer is an elusive character, however, with no known description of his appearance following his recent plastic surgery. One standout detective named Akerman is getting close to catching the criminal mastermind; he knows that Zimmer will risk everything to reunite with the lover he left behind, Chiara Manzoni, who has not seen him since his plastic surgery. Anticipating a reunion with Zimmer, Chiara arrives at a restaurant, where she receives a message from her boyfriend, telling her to "pick up" a stranger whose general appearance matches his own in order to mislead his pursuers. Chiara boards a
TGV The TGV (; , , 'high-speed train') is France's intercity high-speed rail service. With commercial operating speeds of up to on the newer lines, the TGV was conceived at the same period as other technological projects such as the Ariane 1 rocke ...
high-speed train and chooses François Taillandier, a bland 38-year-old translator who reads detective novels and whose wife left him over six months ago. Fascinated by this beautiful mysterious woman, François has difficulty concentrating on his yogurt and reading. When they arrive at
Cannes Cannes (, ; , ; ) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions Internatio ...
, Chiara invites François to stay over with her at the Carlton Hotel. She also gives him a watch that bears Zimmer's name on the back. The next morning, François wakes up alone and finds himself the target of two hitmen. He frantically escapes and seeks shelter at a nearby police station. There, he befriends Lt. Camel Driss, who provides him with clothes and a room at a nearby hospital. They discover that Chiara checked out of the Carlton Hotel that day. Driss believes François' story after seeing a bullet hole in the hotel room, which is now occupied by members of the White Collar Barons and their leader, Nassaiev. Later that night, Driss is murdered. When he sees Nassaiev and his goons outside his room, François escapes and unexpectedly reunites with Chiara, who takes him to a secret hideout in
Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one millionHotel Negresco The Hotel Negresco is a luxury hotel and site of the restaurant ''Le Chantecler'', located on the Promenade des Anglais on the Baie des Anges in Nice, France. It was named after Henri Negresco (1868–1920), who had the palatial hotel construct ...
, hoping to get more answers from her. Soon François is nabbed by the police and interrogated by Akerman, who reveals to him that Chiara is in fact an undercover DGDDI agent. That night, Akerman secretly meets up with Chiara to discuss the rendezvous Zimmer proposed in a classified ad. Akerman tells her that while she will be at the rendezvous point, he will keep an eye on François. With François in custody, Akerman and his men park their surveillance truck and post their snipers within the vicinity of the rendezvous point: Zimmer's old mansion. Chiara enters the mansion and confronts the White Collar Barons and Nassaiev, who threatens to kill her if Zimmer does not arrive within five minutes. François leaves the truck and rushes into the mansion to save her, but is immediately placed on the ground at gunpoint by Nassaiev's men. After Nassaiev rejects her claims that François is not Zimmer, Chiara gives the signal and the snipers shoot down the Russian mobsters. As the police remove the Russian bodies from the scene, François reveals to Chiara that he is, in fact, Anthony Zimmer. She tells him to flee, but Zimmer refuses, even though he knows Chiara is an agent. He opens a secret safe and takes out a notebook filled with his banking information, and leaves it by the front door for Akerman—his way of giving up his life of crime for the woman he loves. Knowing what he's given up for her, Chiara decides not to reveal his true identity to the police, and the two drive away together.


Cast

*
Sophie Marceau Sophie Marceau (; born Sophie Danièle Sylvie Maupu, 17 November 1966) is a French actress. As a teenager, she achieved popularity with her debut films ''La Boum'' (1980) and ''La Boum 2'' (1982), receiving a César Award for Most Promising Act ...
as Chiara Manzoni *
Yvan Attal Yvan Attal (; ; born ) is a French actor, scriptwriter and film director. Life and career Born in Tel Aviv, Israel, to History of the Jews in Algeria, Algerian-Jewish parents, he grew up in the outskirts of Paris. His acting debut was in Éri ...
as François Taillandier/Anthony Zimmer *
Sami Frey Sami Frey (born Sami Frei; 13 October 1937) is a French actor of Algerian and Italian descent. Among the films he starred in are '' En compagnie d'Antonin Artaud'' (1993), in which he portrays French poet and playwright Antonin Artaud, and '' Ba ...
as Akerman * Gilles Lellouche as Müller *
Daniel Olbrychski Daniel Marcel Olbrychski (; born 27 February 1945) is a Polish people, Polish film actor, film and theatre actor who is widely considered one of the greatest Polish actors of his generation. He appeared in 180 films and TV productions and is bes ...
as Nassaiev *
Samir Guesmi Samir Guesmi is a French actor. Filmography Actor Filmmaker Theatre References External links * 1967 births Living people French male film actors French male television actors Male actors from Paris French people of Algeria ...
as Lt. Camel Driss * Dimitri Rataud as Perez * Nicky Marbot as Douanier 1 * Olivier Chenevat as Douanier 2 * Alban Casterman as Jeune Douanier * Christophe Odent as Président Commission * Luc Chavy as Membre Commission * Richard Delestre as Room Manager Carlton * Yann de Monterno as Serveur Carlton * Laurent Klug as Homme Discret * José Fumanal as Réceptionniste Negresco * Thierry Humbert as Garçon de café Nice * Marc Diabira as Contrôleur Bus * Alain Figlarz as Douanier Taxi * Yves Penay as Réceptionniste Hotel * Olivier Brocheriou as Infirmier Scanner * Frédéric Vaysse as Contrôleur TGV * Christophe Mahoudeaux as Steward TGV * Arnaud Duléry as Garçon Train Bleu * Aurélien Jegou as Jeune Garçon Train Bleu * Gwenaël Clause as Policier Civil * Pierre Rousselle as Homme Nassaiev * Patrick Jacquet as Homme Nassaiev * Valery Novikau as Homme Nassaiev * Nicolas Tarev as Homme Nassaiev


Production


Filming locations

''Anthony Zimmer'' was filmed on location in France in Gare de Lyon in Paris 12, the Hôtel Carlton in Cannes, the Hôtel Negresco at 37 Promenade des Anglais in Nice, and on the
TGV The TGV (; , , 'high-speed train') is France's intercity high-speed rail service. With commercial operating speeds of up to on the newer lines, the TGV was conceived at the same period as other technological projects such as the Ariane 1 rocke ...
Paris-Nice train. Scenes for Anthony Zimmer's villa were shot in the Aigua Blanca area on
Ibiza Ibiza (; ; ; #Names and pronunciation, see below) or Iviza is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is 150 kilometres (93 miles) from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of th ...
in
Balearic Islands The Balearic Islands are an archipelago in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipelago forms a Provinces of Spain, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain, ...
, Spain.


Release

''Anthony Zimmer'' was released to theaters on 27 April 2005 in France. It was released in DVD format that same year.


Reception


Critical response

''Anthony Zimmer'' was critically well received. In her review in '' Variety'' magazine, Lisa Nesselson wrote that the "well-staged antics are not of the breathless variety, but a handful of original moments and a satisfying twist make the movie better than average." In his review on the
DVD Talk DVD Talk is a home video news and review website launched in 1999 by Geoffrey Kleinman. History Kleinman founded the site in January 1999 in Beaverton, Oregon. Besides news and reviews, it features information on hidden DVD features known as ...
website, Svet Atanasov called ''Anthony Zimmer'' a "modest French production" that "tiptoes somewhere on the verge between being a sugary melodrama and an action-packed nailbiter with plenty of unexpected twists". Atanasov noted that the film "manages to pull quite a few intelligent stunts with an admirable finesse". Atanasov singled out first-time director Jérôme Salle and veteran actress Sophie Marceau for their work on the film: Andrew L. Urban on the Urban Cinefile website wrote that the performances of Sophie Marceau and Yvan Attal "make this thriller fully engaging and the locations are a great bonus. A good, strong story with a final twist is well told, and the tension never lets up. In their review on the Get the Big Picture website, the Three Abiding Dudes also applauded the performances of Marceau and Attal, noting the chemistry between the two actors is a key reason for the film's success. "We can actually see the attraction between the two principal actors," they write, "It's strong enough to carry the film when these two are on the screen, and when they are by themselves we can understand their motives and reasoning." In his review for the Shadows on the Wall website, Rich Cline gave the film four out of five stars, calling it "an especially well-made Hitchcock-style odyssey that really keeps us guessing where it's going". Cline singles out first-time director Salle who "keeps things cracking from start to finish, continually subverting our expectations". Cline concludes:


Box office

The film did well at the box-office, with 774,469 seats sold in France.


Accolades

The film received a nomination for the César Award for Best First Feature Film for director Jérôme Salle.


Remake

The film was remade under the title ''The Tourist'', which was directed by
Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck Florian Maria Georg Christian Graf Henckel von Donnersmarck (; born 2 May 1973) is a German-Austrian film director. He is best known for writing and directing the 2006 dramatic thriller ''Das Leben der Anderen (The Lives of Others)'', which won ...
and starred
Johnny Depp John Christopher Depp II (born June 9, 1963) is an American actor and musician. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Johnny Depp, multiple accolades, including a Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for ...
,
Angelina Jolie Angelina Jolie ( ; born Angelina Jolie Voight, , June 4, 1975) is an American actress, filmmaker, and humanitarian. The recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Angelina Jolie, numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards ...
,
Paul Bettany Paul Bettany (born 27 May 1971) is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as J.A.R.V.I.S. and Vision (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Vision in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, including the Disney+ series ''WandaVision'' (2021), which garn ...
, and
Timothy Dalton Timothy Leonard Dalton Leggett (; born 21 March 1946) is a British actor. He gained international prominence as the fourth actor to portray fictional secret agent James Bond in the Eon Productions film series, starring in '' The Living Dayli ...
. Filming of the remake began on February 23, 2010, in Paris, and it was released on December 10, 2010. Despite being a box-office success and receiving three nominations (Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Actress) in the Musical or Comedy picture category at the 68th Golden Globe Awards, ''The Tourist'' was met with mostly negative critical reviews.


References


External links

* * {{Jérôme Salle 2005 films French crime thriller films 2000s French-language films 2005 crime thriller films Films set in France Films shot in France Films shot in Spain Films directed by Jérôme Salle 2000s French films Films produced by Olivier Delbosc Films produced by Marc Missonnier Films scored by Frédéric Talgorn