''The Interpreter'' is a 2005
political thriller
A political thriller is a thriller that is set against the backdrop of a political power struggle, high stakes and suspense is the core of the story. The genre often forces the audiences to consider and understand the importance of politics. The ...
film directed by
Sydney Pollack
Sydney Irwin Pollack (July 1, 1934 – May 26, 2008) was an American film director, producer and actor. Pollack directed more than 20 films and 10 television shows, acted in over 30 movies or shows and produced over 44 films. For his film ''Out ...
, starring
Nicole Kidman,
Sean Penn
Sean Justin Penn (born August 17, 1960) is an American actor and film director. He has won two Academy Awards, for his roles in the mystery drama ''Mystic River'' (2003) and the biopic ''Milk'' (2008).
Penn began his acting career in televisi ...
,
Catherine Keener, and
Jesper Christensen. It was the first film shot inside the
United Nations Headquarters
The United Nations is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, United States, and the complex has served as the official headquarters of the United Nations since its completion in 1951. It is in the Turtle Bay, Manhattan, Turtle Bay neig ...
, 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 in April 2005. It received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $162 million against its $80 million budget.
Plot
In the Southern African country of Matobo, rebel leader Ajene Xola drives two men, Simon Broome and Philippe, to the abandoned Centennial Football Stadium. They 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, Simon's sister Silvia Broome is working as an interpreter for the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. A
white African born in the United States to a British mother and white Matoban father, she spent most of her life in Matobo, and is a dual citizen of both Matobo and the United States. Her diverse background leads to UN Security Chief Lee Wu wryly describing her as "being the UN".
The UN is considering
indicting Zuwanie, to stand trial in the
International Criminal Court
The International Criminal Court (ICC or ICCt) is an intergovernmental organization and international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to prosecute individuals ...
. 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
Ethnic cleansing is the systematic forced removal of ethnic, racial, and religious groups from a given area, with the intent of making a region ethnically homogeneous. Along with direct removal, extermination, deportation or population transfer ...
and other atrocities within Matobo. Zuwanie is soon to visit the UN and put forward his own case to the
General Assembly
A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company.
Specific examples of general assembly include:
Churches
* General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presby ...
, in an attempt to avoid the indictment.
A security scare caused by a malfunctioning metal detector forces the evacuation of the UN 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
A lingua franca (; ; for plurals see ), also known as a bridge language, common language, trade language, auxiliary language, vehicular language, or link language, is a language systematically used to make communication possible between groups ...
). Silvia runs from the building when the men 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 UN security; the plot's target appears to be Zuwanie himself.
They, in turn, call in the
US 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
Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or Irregular military, irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, Raid (military), raids ...
, 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 backstory, 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. 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
A false flag operation is an act committed with the intent of disguising the actual source of responsibility and pinning blame on another party. The term "false flag" originated in the 16th century as an expression meaning an intentional misr ...
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 the 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, an interpreter for the United Nations
*
Sean Penn
Sean Justin Penn (born August 17, 1960) is an American actor and film director. He has won two Academy Awards, for his roles in the mystery drama ''Mystic River'' (2003) and the biopic ''Milk'' (2008).
Penn began his acting career in televisi ...
as Tobin Keller, a Secret Service agent assigned to protect dignitaries
*
Catherine Keener as Dot Woods, Tobin's partner in the Secret Service
*
Jesper Christensen as Nils Lud, the head of security for the Matoban's UN representative
*
Yvan Attal as Philippe Broullet, a photographer and family friend to the Broomes
*
Earl Cameron
Earlston Jewitt Cameron, CBE (8 August 19173 July 2020), known as Earl Cameron, was a Bermudian actor who lived and worked in the United Kingdom. After appearing on London's West End stage, he became one of the first black stars in the Britis ...
as Edmond Zuwanie, the President of the Republic of Matobo
*
Curtiss Cook
Curtiss Cook is an American character actor from Dayton, Ohio. He studied at the Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts in London.Sandoval, Lapacazo"Curtiss Cook – Reprising His Role in Season Three of Showtime’s ''The Chi''" ''Los Angeles Sentinel ...
as Ajene Xola, leader of The African Freedom Party
*
George Harris as Kuman-Kuman, an exiled Matoban minister
*
Michael Wright as Marcus, the dignitary to the Matoban ambassador
*
Tsai Chin Tsai Chin may refer to:
* Tsai Chin (actress) (born 1933), actress from Shanghai, also known as Irene Chow
* Tsai Chin (singer) (born 1957), Taiwanese singer
{{Hndis ...
as Luan, an interpreter to the UN
*
Clyde Kusatsu as Lee Wu, a UN security chief
*
Eric Keenleyside
Eric Keenleyside (born October 11, 1957) is a Canadian actor.
Early life
Eric was born in St. Stephen, New Brunswick, grew up in London, Ontario, and spent time in Brisbane, Australia. He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts (acting) from the Univer ...
as Rory Robb, the Security Deputy Chief for UN security
*
Hugo Speer
Hugo Alexander Speer (born 17 March 1968) is an English actor and director.
Early life and education
Hugo Speer was born in Harrogate in the then West Riding of Yorkshire and educated at Harrogate Grammar School. He studied acting at the Arts E ...
as Simon Broome, Silvia's brother
*
Maz Jobrani as Secret Service Agent Mo
*
Yusuf Gatewood
Yusuf Gatewood (born September 12, 1982, Hillsborough, North Carolina) is an American actor best known for playing Vincent Griffith in '' The Originals'' and Doug in the 2005 film ''The Interpreter''. His television work includes guest roles on t ...
as Secret Service Agent Doug
*
Robert Clohessy as FBI Agent King
*
Terry Serpico
Terrance M. Serpico is an American film and television actor.
Personal Life
Serpico was born in Fort Sill in Lawton, Oklahoma, the youngest of three children. He became interested in acting after graduating from high school. He attended Bost ...
as FBI Agent Lewis
*
David Zayas as Secret Service Agent Charlie Russell
*
Sydney Pollack
Sydney Irwin Pollack (July 1, 1934 – May 26, 2008) was an American film director, producer and actor. Pollack directed more than 20 films and 10 television shows, acted in over 30 movies or shows and produced over 44 films. For his film ''Out ...
as Secret Service Director Jay Pettigrew
*
Adrian Martinez as Roland, a UN interpreter
Production
''The Interpreter'' was shot almost entirely in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. The opening sequence was shot in
Mozambique
Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...
with a support crew made up largely of
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
n nationals. The name Matobo is that of a national park,
Matobo National Park (Matopos) in
Matabeleland
Matabeleland is a region located in southwestern Zimbabwe that is divided into three provinces: Matabeleland North, Bulawayo, and Matabeleland South. These provinces are in the west and south-west of Zimbabwe, between the Limpopo and Zambezi r ...
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...
.
Filming in UN buildings
Parts of ''The Interpreter'' were filmed inside the
UN General Assembly
The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...
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
Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...
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 UN had hoped to appear in the film, but actors were asked to play the roles of diplomats. Spain's UN Ambassador
Inocencio Arias
Inocencio F. Arias, also known as Chencho (born April 20, 1940 in Albox, Almería province), is a multifarious Spanish diplomat, who served as consul general in Los Angeles, California, United States. He retired in 2010.
Career
His previous assi ...
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
A constructed language (sometimes called a conlang) is a language whose phonology, grammar, and vocabulary, instead of having developed naturally, are consciously devised for some purpose, which may include being devised for a work of fiction. ...
"
Ku" were created for this film. The director of the ''Centre for African Language Learning'' in
Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist si ...
,
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, Said el-Gheithy, was commissioned in January 2004 to create Ku. It is based on
Bantu languages
The Bantu languages (English: , Proto-Bantu: *bantʊ̀) are a large family of languages spoken by the Bantu people of Central, Southern, Eastern africa and Southeast Africa. They form the largest branch of the Southern Bantoid languages.
The t ...
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".
Matobo and Zimbabwe
The fictional African state of Matobo shares its name with the
Matobo National Park in
Matabeleland
Matabeleland is a region located in southwestern Zimbabwe that is divided into three provinces: Matabeleland North, Bulawayo, and Matabeleland South. These provinces are in the west and south-west of Zimbabwe, between the Limpopo and Zambezi r ...
,
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...
. Parallels have been drawn between the movie and the real country of Zimbabwe (which is itself mentioned in the film as an existing country), and between the character of Zuwanie and former Zimbabwean President
Robert Mugabe.
[Xan Brooks]
"'I've not retired!' Earl Cameron, Britain's first black film star, on Bond, racism – and turning 100"
''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', 8 August 2017.
* Both Mugabe and Zuwanie were once respected freedom-fighters who later became synonymous with corruption and violence.
* In real life, Robert Mugabe had ruled Zimbabwe for 25 years when the movie was released. The movie's Zuwanie had been in power for 23 years.
* At the time of the film's release, Australia and New Zealand were pushing for Mugabe to be indicted by the UN Security Council for trial before the International Criminal Court on charges of crimes against humanity; Zuwanie is indicted by the UN Security Council for trial before the International Criminal Court on charges of crimes against humanity.
* Both Mugabe and Zuwanie were teachers before being involved with politics.
* Mugabe tended to wave his fist; Zuwanie his gun.
* Mugabe's government hired
Ari Ben-Menashe
Ari Ben-Menashe ( he, ארי בן מנשה, link=no; born 4 December 1951) is an Israeli-Canadian businessman, security consultant, and author. He was previously an employee of Israel's Military Intelligence Directorate from 1977 to 1987, and an ...
, a security consultant and lawyer who claimed to be an ex-Israeli secret service agent, as an advisor and used him to allegedly help frame opposition leader
Morgan Tsvangirai for treason and for plotting an assassination against Mugabe. Zuwanie is portrayed as arranging for a former Dutch mercenary to arrange an assassination attempt on him to justify using violence against opposition groups.
* Mugabe had a preoccupation with the British and accuses
Tony Blair
Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...
of trying to unseat him. Zuwanie thinks the French are doing the same.
* After coming to power, Mugabe was known to have carried out the ''
Gukurahundi
The ''Gukurahundi'' was a genocide in Zimbabwe which arose in 1982 until the Unity Accord in 1987. It derives from a Shona language term which loosely translates to "the early rain which washes away the chaff before the spring rains".
During ...
,'' a series of massacres and pogroms against political rivals and civilians from other tribes. Zuwanie also uses his security forces to ethnically cleanse civilians and murder political opponents prompting the UN to investigate his government.
* Both Matobo and Zimbabwe have a significant
white African community of British and European ancestry who once made up the ruling political class of both countries.
* The flag of Matobo bears a strong resemblance to the flag of Zimbabwe.
* The film has a scene where there is a demonstration against Zuwanie at the UN; one of the anti-Zuwanie demonstrators is a holding a poster with the open-handed symbol which resembles the logo of the main opposition party in Zimbabwe: the
Movement for Democratic Change Movement for Democratic Change or MDC may refer to:
* Movement for Democratic Change – Tsvangirai (MDC–T), the former main opposition party in Zimbabwe
** Movement for Democratic Change – Tsvangirai Congress 2006, the second MDC–T congress ...
.
Reception
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, coming in at the high end of industry expectations, and finishing first at the box office. In its second weekend it dropped 39% to $13.8 million, finishing in second place behind ''
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy''.
Critical response
On
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, 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
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
gave the film a weighted average score of 62 out of 100, based on 41 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by
CinemaScore
CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data.
Background
Ed Mintz founded Ci ...
gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.
Kirk Honeycutt of ''
The Hollywood Reporter
''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...
'' wrote: "Thrillers don't get much smarter than The Interpreter."
Todd McCarthy of ''
Variety'' described it as "Coolly absorbing without being pulse-quickening."
Awards
In 2005, the
Los Angeles Film Critics Association
The Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA) is an American film critic organization founded in 1975.
Background
Its membership comprises film critics from Los Angeles-based print and electronic media. In December of each year, the organiza ...
awarded
Catherine Keener as Best Supporting Actress for her performances in several films, including ''The Interpreter''.
Controversy in Zimbabwe
Upon ''The Interpreters release in
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...
, that country's Minister of Information and Publicity, Chen Chimutengwende, accused the film of promoting anti-government propaganda.
Chimutengwende claimed that Matobo and the fictional Edmond Zuwanie were thinly veiled caricatures of Zimbabwe and then-President
Robert Mugabe, and insisted it was part of an international smear campaign being launched against the Mugabe regime by the United States.
Tafataona Mahoso, chairman of the Zimbabwean state's Media and Information Commission, also attacked ''The Interpreter'', claiming it was "typical of US Cold War propaganda".
Nevertheless, the Zimbabwe Media Censorship Board found nothing objectionable in the film and approved it for theatrical and video release.
See also
*
Ku (language)
*
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
*
United Nations General Assembly
The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...
*
United Nations Interpreters
*
Matobo National Park
References
External links
*
*
*
*
*
Dialogue transcript of ''The Interpreter''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Interpreter, The
2000s political thriller films
2005 films
American political thriller films
British political thriller films
German political thriller films
Foreign relations of Zimbabwe
Censorship in Zimbabwe
Films set in Africa
French films set in New York City
Films set in a fictional country
2000s English-language films
Fictional-language films
Working Title Films films
StudioCanal films
Films directed by Sydney Pollack
Films about interpreting and translation
Films about the United Nations
Films shot in New York City
Films shot in New Jersey
Films with screenplays by Scott Frank
Films with screenplays by Steven Zaillian
Films scored by James Newton Howard
Films produced by Eric Fellner
Films produced by Tim Bevan
Films about diplomacy
2000s American films
British films set in New York City
2000s British films
2000s German films