''Ronin'' is a 1998 American
action thriller film
Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include life ...
directed by
John Frankenheimer
John Michael Frankenheimer (February 19, 1930 – July 6, 2002) was an American film and television director known for social dramas and action/suspense films. Among his credits were ''Birdman of Alcatraz'' (1962), '' The Manchurian Candidate'' ( ...
and written by John David Zeik and
David Mamet
David Alan Mamet (; born November 30, 1947) is an American playwright, filmmaker, and author. He won a Pulitzer Prize and received Tony nominations for his plays ''Glengarry Glen Ross'' (1984) and '' Speed-the-Plow'' (1988). He first gained cri ...
, under the pseudonym Richard Weisz. It stars
Robert De Niro,
Jean Reno
Jean Reno () (born 30 July 1948), is a French actor. He has worked in American, French, English, Japanese, Spanish and Italian movie productions; Reno appeared in films such as ''Crimson Rivers'', ''Godzilla'', ''The Da Vinci Code'', '' Mission: ...
,
Natascha McElhone
Natascha McElhone (; born Natascha Abigail Taylor, 14 December 1971) is a British actress. She is a graduate of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. In film, she is best known for her roles in '' Ronin'' (1998), '' The Truman Show'' (1 ...
,
Stellan Skarsgård
Stellan Skarsgård (, ; born 13 June 1951) is a Swedish actor. He is known for his collaborations with director Lars von Trier appearing in ''Breaking the Waves'' (1996), ''Dancer in the Dark'' (2000), '' Dogville'' (2007), ''Melancholia'' (201 ...
,
Sean Bean
Sean Bean (born Shaun Mark Bean on 17 April 1959) is an English actor. After graduating from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Bean made his professional debut in a theatre production of ''Romeo and Juliet'' in 1983. Retaining his Yorkshire ac ...
, and
Jonathan Pryce
Sir Jonathan Pryce (born John Price; 1 June 1947) is a Welsh actor who is known for his performances on stage and in film and television. He has received numerous awards, including two Tony Awards and two Laurence Olivier Awards. In 2021 he was ...
. The film is about a team of former special operatives hired to steal a mysterious, heavily guarded briefcase while navigating a maze of shifting loyalties. The film was praised for its realistic car chases in
Nice
Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...
and
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
.
Frankenheimer signed to direct Zeik's screenplay, which Mamet rewrote to expand De Niro's role and develop plot details, in 1997. The film was photographed by
Robert Fraisse in his native France from November 3, 1997, to March 3, 1998. Professional racing car drivers coordinated and performed the vehicle stunts, and
Elia Cmiral
Elia is a name which may be a variant of the names Elias, Elijah, Eli or Eliahu, and may refer to:
People
* Aelia (gens) or Elia, a ''gens'' of Ancient Rome
Mononymic
* Elia or Elijah, a biblical prophet
* Elia, a pen-name of Charles Lamb
First ...
scored the film, his first for a major studio.
''Ronin'' premiered at the
1998 Venice Film Festival before its general release on September 25. Critics were generally positive about the film's action,
casting
Casting is a manufacturing process in which a liquid material is usually poured into a mold, which contains a hollow cavity of the desired shape, and then allowed to solidify. The solidified part is also known as a ''casting'', which is ejected ...
, and technical aspects, while the plot attracted criticism. The film performed moderately well at the box office, grossing $70.7 million on a budget of $55 million. ''Ronin'', Frankenheimer's last well-received feature film,
was considered to be a return to form for the director. Film critic and historian
Stephen Prince called the film Frankenheimer's "end-of-career masterpiece". The car chases, which were favorably compared with those in ''
Bullitt
''Bullitt'' is a 1968 American neo-noir action thriller film directed by Peter Yates and produced by Philip D'Antoni. The picture stars Steve McQueen, Robert Vaughn, and Jacqueline Bisset. The screenplay by Alan R. Trustman and Harry Kleine ...
'' and ''
The French Connection'',
[
*
*
*
] were included on several media outlets' lists as among the best depicted on film.
Plot
At a bistro in
Montmartre
Montmartre ( , ) is a large hill in Paris's northern 18th arrondissement. It is high and gives its name to the surrounding district, part of the Right Bank. The historic district established by the City of Paris in 1995 is bordered by Rue Ca ...
,
IRA
Ira or IRA may refer to:
*Ira (name), a Hebrew, Sanskrit, Russian or Finnish language personal name
*Ira (surname), a rare Estonian and some other language family name
*Iran, UNDP code IRA
Law
*Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, US, on status of ...
operative Deirdre meets with two Americans, Sam and Larry, and a Frenchman, Vincent. She takes them to a warehouse where the Englishman Spence and the German Gregor are waiting. Conversations between the men show that they are all ex-government agents or ex-military-turned-mercenary. Deirdre briefs them on their mission: to attack a heavily armed convoy and steal a large, metallic briefcase, which functions as the film's
MacGuffin
In fiction, a MacGuffin (sometimes McGuffin) is an object, device, or event that is necessary to the plot and the motivation of the characters, but insignificant, unimportant, or irrelevant in itself. The term was originated by Angus MacPhail for ...
. Its contents are never revealed. The team's first task before the main mission is to acquire weapons; this turns into a setup. Although the team survives and they get the weapons, Spence is exposed as a fraud by Sam. He is dismissed by Deirdre and the others continue the mission. As the team prepares, Deirdre meets with her handler, Seamus O'Rourke, who tells her that the
Russian mafia is bidding for the case and that the team must intervene before they get it. During a
stakeout, Sam and Deirdre act on their mutual attraction.
Deirdre's team successfully ambushes the convoy at
La Turbie
La Turbie (; oc, A Torbia; in Italian "Turbia" from ''tropea'', Latin for trophy) is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in southeastern France.
History
La Turbie was famous in Roman times for the large monument, the Trophy of Augus ...
and pursues the survivors to
Nice
Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...
. During the gunfight, Gregor steals the case and disappears. He negotiates selling it to the Russians, but his contact attempts to betray him. Gregor kills the contact, then has Mikhi — the Russian Mafioso in charge of the deal — agree to another meeting. The team tracks Gregor through one of Sam's old
CIA
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...
contacts and corners him in the
Arles Amphitheatre
The Arles Amphitheatre (French: ') is a Roman amphitheatre in the southern French town of Arles. Two-tiered, it is probably the most prominent tourist attraction in the city which thrived in Ancient Rome. The towers jutting out from the top are m ...
during his meeting with two of Mikhi's men. Sam chases Gregor; Gregor flees but is caught by Seamus. Deirdre and Vincent confront the two Russian thugs, causing a shootout. Sam arrives to help, killing one, but catches a
ricochet
A ricochet ( ; ) is a rebound, bounce, or skip off a surface, particularly in the case of a projectile. Most ricochets are caused by accident and while the force of the deflection decelerates the projectile, it can still be energetic and almost ...
from the other when Vincent knocks away the thug's gun in order to kill him. Seamus kills Larry and escapes with a reluctant Deirdre and the captured Gregor. Vincent takes Sam to a villa owned by his friend, Jean-Pierre. After removing the bullet and letting Sam recuperate, Vincent asks Jean-Pierre to help them find Gregor and the Irish operatives.
In
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
, Gregor is persuaded through violent interrogation to give the case back to Seamus and Deirdre. After retrieving it from a post office, they are pursued by Sam and Vincent in a high-speed chase. Vincent shoots out their tire, sending their car off an unfinished overpass. Gregor escapes with the case while road workers rescue Deirdre and Seamus from the burning vehicle. Unsure where to go next, Sam and Vincent decide to track down the Russians; one of Jean-Pierre's contacts tells them they are involved with figure-skater (and Mikhi's girlfriend) Natacha Kirilova, who is appearing at
Le Zénith.
During Natacha's performance, Mikhi meets with Gregor, who says a sniper in the arena will shoot Natacha if Mikhi betrays him. Mikhi surprises Gregor by letting Natacha be killed before killing Gregor and taking the case. Amid the ensuing chaos from Natacha's shooting, Sam and Vincent leave the arena just in time to see Seamus kill Mikhi and steal the case. Sam and Vincent split up; Vincent pursues Seamus, but is wounded in a gunfight. Sam finds Deirdre waiting in a getaway car; he convinces her to leave after explaining that he is still an active government agent working undercover to get Seamus, not the case. As she drives away, Seamus is forced to return to the arena as Sam gives chase. Seamus ambushes Sam, but is shot dead by Vincent before Seamus can kill Sam.
Sam and Vincent have coffee in the bistro where they first met. A radio broadcast announces that a
peace agreement
A peace treaty is an agreement between two or more hostile parties, usually countries or governments, which formally ends a state of war between the parties. It is different from an armistice, which is an agreement to stop hostilities; a surrend ...
between
Sinn Féin
Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Gri ...
and the
British government
ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd
, image = HM Government logo.svg
, image_size = 220px
, image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg
, image_size2 = 180px
, caption = Royal Arms
, date_es ...
has been reached, partially as a result of Seamus's death. Sam keeps glancing at the door as patrons enter, but Vincent convinces Sam that Deirdre will not be coming back. They shake hands and part ways; Sam drives off with his CIA contact as Vincent pays the bill and leaves.
Cast
Production
![John Frankenheimer on the set of](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/John_Frankenheimer_on_the_set_of_%22Andersonville%22_%28cropped%29.JPG)
In July 1997, ''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' reported that Frankenheimer had signed to direct ''Ronin'', making it his fifth picture for
United Artists
United Artists Corporation (UA), currently doing business as United Artists Digital Studios, is an American digital production company. Founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, and Douglas Fairbanks, the studi ...
.
Frankenheimer told the magazine he chose the project because it had a "very good script" and was "the kind of movie I'd love to go see ... What I like is, it's a character-driven action picture, and I have done those before, with ''
Black Sunday'' and ''
French Connection II''. It's not one of these
CGI pictures, it's a film about people. It's not bigger than life, which I don't relate to that much."
He also saw it as an opportunity to apply his broad knowledge and understanding of France, especially
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
, in which he resided for many years.
He added, "I would not have been able to do the film nearly as well anywhere else".
His films ''
The Train'' (1964), ''
Grand Prix
Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour
Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to:
Arts and entertainment ...
'' (1966), ''
Impossible Object
An impossible object (also known as an impossible figure or an undecidable figure) is a type of optical illusion that consists of a two- dimensional figure which is instantly and naturally understood as representing a projection of a three-d ...
'' (1973), and ''French Connection II'' (1975) were shot in France.
Many of ''Ronin''s principal crew members had worked with Frankenheimer on television films; editor
Tony Gibbs on ''George Wallace'', set designer Michael Z. Hanan on ''George Wallace'' and ''
The Burning Season'' (1994), and costume designer May Routh on ''
Andersonville'' (1996).
Frankenheimer chose French cinematographer
Robert Fraisse to help him achieve the look and style he wanted for the film. Fraisse impressed Frankenheimer with his work on the police thriller ''
Citizen X
''Citizen X'' is a 1995 American television film which covers the efforts of detectives in the Soviet Union to capture an unknown serial killer of women and children in the 1980s, and the successive bureaucratic obstacles they consistently enco ...
'' (1995), which persuaded the director Fraisse could handle the more-than-2,000 setups he planned for ''Ronin''.
Frank Mancuso Jr.
Frank G. Mancuso Jr. (born October 9, 1958) is an American film producer.
Mancuso, the son of the former Paramount Pictures president Frank Mancuso Sr., was born in Buffalo, New York. Mancuso produced sequels to '' Friday the 13th'' and co-cr ...
served as the film's producer.
According to Frankenheimer, French authorities helped him circumvent a strict Paris ordinance that prohibited film productions from firing guns in the city. This was enacted because many civilians had been complaining about the gunfire noise produced by film shoots. Additional factors influenced the decision; officials' desire for an American action film like ''Ronin'', few of which had been filmed there since the law was passed, to be filmed in Paris and the desire to boost France's reputation as a filming location.
Screenplay
Writer John David Zeik, a newcomer to film,
conceived the idea for ''Ronin'' after reading
James Clavell's novel ''
Shōgun
, officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamakur ...
'' at the age of 15.
It gave him background information on ''
rōnin
A ''rōnin'' ( ; ja, 浪人, , meaning 'drifter' or 'wanderer') was a samurai without a lord or master during the feudal period of Japan (1185–1868). A samurai became masterless upon the death of his master or after the loss of his master's ...
'' (masterless samurai), which he incorporated into a screenplay years later. On choosing France as the story's key location, Zeik said: "Many years later in Nice, the location of one of the key set pieces of the story, I stared into the sun and saw the silhouettes of five heavily armed
Gendarmes
Wrong info! -->
A gendarmerie () is a military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term ''gendarme'' () is derived from the medieval French expression ', which translates to "men-at-arms" (literally, " ...
crossing the
Promenade des Anglais
The ''Promenade des Anglais'' (; Niçard: ''Camin dei Anglés''; meaning "English Walkway") is a wikt:en:promenade, promenade along the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast of Nice, France. It extends from the Nice Côte d'Azur Airport, airp ...
. That image made me realize that I wanted to set the film in France."
Accounts differ as to the screenplay's authorship. According to Zeik's attorney, Playwright
David Mamet
David Alan Mamet (; born November 30, 1947) is an American playwright, filmmaker, and author. He won a Pulitzer Prize and received Tony nominations for his plays ''Glengarry Glen Ross'' (1984) and '' Speed-the-Plow'' (1988). He first gained cri ...
was brought in shortly before production to expand De Niro's role and add a female love interest. Although Mamet rewrote several scenes, his contributions were minor according to Zeik's account. Frankenheimer said Mamet's contributions were more significant: "The credits should read: 'Story by J.D. Zeik, screenplay by David Mamet'. We didn't shoot a line of Zeik's script."
Frankenheimer later retracted this in a September 1998
open letter
An open letter is a letter that is intended to be read by a wide audience, or a letter intended for an individual, but that is nonetheless widely distributed intentionally.
Open letters usually take the form of a letter addressed to an indiv ...
published in ''Variety'', writing that "J.D. Zeik is unequivocally entitled to the first position screenwriting credit as well as the sole story credit he was awarded by the
WGA ...
edeserves recognition for his significant contribution to this film, and I am proud to have worked with him". When he learned he would have to share credit with Zeik, Mamet insisted on being credited with the pseudonym Richard Weisz because he had earlier decided to attach his name only to projects for which he was the sole writer.
Filming and cinematography
![Blue Sky Restaurant](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7a/Blue_Sky_Restaurant.jpg)
''Ronin'' was produced on a budget of $55 million.
Principal photography
Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production.
Personnel
Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...
lasted 78 days,
beginning on November 3, 1997, in an abandoned workshop at
Aubervilliers
Aubervilliers () is a commune in the Seine-Saint-Denis department, Île-de-France region, northeastern suburbs of Paris, France. The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Albertivillariens'' or ''Albertivillariennes''.
Geography
Localisati ...
.
Scenes at
Porte des Lilas and the historic
Arles Amphitheatre
The Arles Amphitheatre (French: ') is a Roman amphitheatre in the southern French town of Arles. Two-tiered, it is probably the most prominent tourist attraction in the city which thrived in Ancient Rome. The towers jutting out from the top are m ...
were filmed that November; the crew then filmed at the
Hotel Majestic in
Cannes
Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) 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 I ...
,
La Turbie
La Turbie (; oc, A Torbia; in Italian "Turbia" from ''tropea'', Latin for trophy) is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in southeastern France.
History
La Turbie was famous in Roman times for the large monument, the Trophy of Augus ...
, and
Villefranche.
Production was suspended for Christmas on December 19 and resumed on January 5, 1998, at
Épinay, where the crew built two interior sets on
sound stage
A sound stage (also written soundstage) is a soundproof, large structure, building, or room with large doors and high ceilings, used for the production of theatrical film-making and television productions, usually located on a secured movie or ...
s; one for the bistro in
Montmartre
Montmartre ( , ) is a large hill in Paris's northern 18th arrondissement. It is high and gives its name to the surrounding district, part of the Right Bank. The historic district established by the City of Paris in 1995 is bordered by Rue Ca ...
and another for the rural farmhouse,
both of which also have exterior location shots.
The climactic scene with a panicked crowd at
Le Zénith required about 2,000
extras, who were supervised by French casting director Margot Capelier.
Filming concluded at
La Défense on March 3, 1998.
Because there were no
second unit director and camera operator to film the action scenes, Frankenheimer and cinematographer Robert Fraisse supervised them for an additional 30 days after the main unit finished filming.
The first major car-chase scene was shot in
La Turbie
La Turbie (; oc, A Torbia; in Italian "Turbia" from ''tropea'', Latin for trophy) is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in southeastern France.
History
La Turbie was famous in Roman times for the large monument, the Trophy of Augus ...
and Nice; the rest were filmed in areas of Paris including La Défense and the
Pont du Garigliano
The Pont du Garigliano is a bridge across the Seine in Paris.
Location and construction
The Pont du Garigliano links Boulevard Martial-Valin in the quartier de Javel ( 15th arrondissement), to Boulevard Exelmans in the Auteuil quartier ( 16th ...
.
Scenes set in a road tunnel were filmed at night because it was impossible to block tunnel traffic during the day.
The freeway chase, in which the actors dodge oncoming vehicles, was filmed in four hours on a closed road.
Frankenheimer's affinity for deep
depth of field
The depth of field (DOF) is the distance between the nearest and the furthest objects that are in acceptably sharp focus in an image captured with a camera.
Factors affecting depth of field
For cameras that can only focus on one object dist ...
led him to shoot the film entirely with
wide-angle lens
In photography and cinematography, a wide-angle lens refers to a lens whose focal length is substantially smaller than the focal length of a normal lens for a given film plane. This type of lens allows more of the scene to be included in the ...
es ranging in
focal length from 18 to 35 mm using the
Super 35 format, both of which allow more of the scene to be included in each shot.
The director also avoided bright primary colors to preserve a
first-generation-of-film quality.
He advised the actors and extras not to wear bright colors and had the film processed with
Deluxe's
Color Contrast Enhancement (CCE), "a silver-retention method of processing film that deepens blacks, reduces color, and heightens the visible appearance of film grain".
Fraisse said he used a variety of cameras, including
Panaflex
Panavision has been a manufacturer of cameras for the motion picture industry since the 1950s, beginning with anamorphic widescreen lenses. The lightweight Panaflex is credited with revolutionizing filmmaking. Other influential cameras include th ...
es for dialogue scenes and
Arriflex 435
The Arriflex 435 is a movie camera product line created by Arri in 1995 to replace the Arriflex 35III line. The number reflects its position as a successor camera to the Arri III and the fact that it is designed for 35 mm film. The 435 cameras ...
s and 35-IIIs for the car chases, to facilitate Frankenheimer's demands.
Steadicam
Steadicam is a brand of camera stabilizer mounts for Movie camera, motion picture cameras invented by Garrett Brown and introduced in 1975 by Cinema Products Corporation. It was designed to isolate the camera from the camera operator's movement ...
, a camera stabilizer used for half of the shoot, was operated by the director's longtime collaborator David Crone.
According to Frankenheimer, 2,200 shots were filmed.
Stunts
![450SELI 0411](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a3/450SELI_0411.jpg)
Frankenheimer avoided using special effects in the car-chase scenes,
previsualizing them with
storyboards and used the same camera mounts as those used on
''Grand Prix''.
The actors were placed inside the cars while being driven at up to , by
Formula One
Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
driver
Jean-Pierre Jarier
Jean-Pierre Jacques Jarier (born 10 July 1946) is a French former Grand Prix racing driver. He drove for Formula One teams including Shadow, Team Lotus, Ligier, Osella and Tyrrell Racing. His best finish was third (three times) and he also to ...
, and high-performance drivers Jean-Claude Lagniez and Michel Neugarten.
The actors had enrolled at a high-performance driving school before production began.
According to Lagniez, the car-stunt coordinator, it was a priority not to cheat the speed by adjusting the
frame rate
Frame rate (expressed in or FPS) is the frequency (rate) at which consecutive images (frames) are captured or displayed. The term applies equally to film and video cameras, computer graphics, and motion capture systems. Frame rate may also be ca ...
; he said, "When you do, it affects the lighting. It is different at 20 frames than at 24 frames."
However, Fraisse said: "Sometimes, but not very often, we did shoot at 22 frames per second, or 21."
Point-of-view shot
A point of view shot (also known as POV shot, first-person shot or a subjective camera) is a short film scene that shows what a character (the subject) is looking at (represented through the camera). It is usually established by being position ...
s from cameras mounted below the cars' front
fender were used to deliver a heightened sense of speed.
For the final chase scene, which used 300 stunt drivers,
the production team bought four
BMW 535is and five
Peugeot 406
The Peugeot 406 is a large family car that was produced by French automaker Peugeot between 1995 and 2004. Available in saloon, estate and coupé bodystyles with a choice of petrol or turbodiesel engines, the 406 replaced the Peugeot 405 in P ...
s; one of each was cut in half and towed by a
Mercedes-Benz 500 E
The Mercedes-Benz 500 E (W124.036) is a high-performance version of the Mercedes-Benz W124, W124 sold by Mercedes-Benz from 1990 to 1995. The 500 E was created in close cooperation with Porsche. With its engineering department being fu ...
while the actors were inside them.
Right-hand drive versions of the cars were also purchased; a dummy steering wheel was installed on the left side while the stunt drivers drove the speeding vehicles.
The final chase had very little music because Frankenheimer thought music and sound effects do not blend well. Sound engineer
Mike Le Mare
Mike Le Mare (died October 2020) was an American sound engineer. He was nominated for the Academy Awards for Best Sound and Best Sound Editing for the film ''Das Boot''. Le Mare died on October 19, 2020.
Selected filmography
* '' Blow-Up'' (19 ...
recorded all of the film's cars on a racetrack, mixing them later in post-production.
Frankenheimer refused to film the gunfights in
slow motion
Slow motion (commonly abbreviated as slo-mo or slow-mo) is an effect in film-making whereby time appears to be slowed down. It was invented by the Austrian priest August Musger in the early 20th century. This can be accomplished through the use o ...
, believing onscreen violence should be depicted in real time.
Mick Gould, the film's technical advisor and a former instructor in the advanced training wings of the
Special Air Service
The Special Air Service (SAS) is a special forces unit of the British Army. It was founded as a regiment in 1941 by David Stirling and in 1950, it was reconstituted as a corps. The unit specialises in a number of roles including counter-terro ...
, trained the cast in weapons-handling and guerilla military tactics.
The physical stunts were coordinated by Joe Dunne.
Alternative endings
Frankenheimer filmed two additional versions of the film's ending. In the first, Deirdre (McElhone) waits on the stairs next to the bistro and considers joining Sam (De Niro) and Vincent (Reno). Deciding against it, she walks up the stairs. As she gets into her car, IRA men drag her into a van and call her a traitor; it is implied that she is later killed. Sam and Vincent, unaware of Deidre's abduction, finish their conversation and depart. Although Frankenheimer said the test audience "hated" the ending because they did not want to see Deirdre die, he thought it "really worked".
In the second ending, Deirdre walks to her car after Sam and Vincent leave the bistro; this ending was also rejected because it verged on being "too Hollywood", hinting at a sequel. Frankenheimer yielded to the test audience's response with a compromise ending; he said, "with the tremendous investment MGM/UA had in this movie, you have to kind of listen to the audience".
Music
Jerry Goldsmith
Jerrald King Goldsmith (February 10, 1929July 21, 2004) was an American composer and conductor known for his work in film and television scoring. He composed scores for five films in the ''Star Trek'' franchise and three in the ''Rambo'' franch ...
was originally commissioned to compose the score for ''Ronin'' but left the project.
MGM executive vice-president for music Michael Sandoval assembled an
A-list
An A-list actor is a major movie star, or one of the most bankable actors in a film industry.
The A-list is part of a larger guide called ''The Hot List'', which ranks the bankability of 1,400 movie actors worldwide, and has become an industry ...
to replace Goldsmith.
From Sandoval's three choices, Frankenheimer hired Czech composer
Elia Cmíral,
who said he "was far away from being even a 'B' composer at that time".
Cmíral attended a private screening of the film's final version and considered its main theme, which at Frankenheimer's behest would incorporate qualities of "sadness, loneliness, and heroism".
To achieve this, Cmíral performed with the
duduk
The duduk ( ; hy, դուդուկ ) or tsiranapogh ( hy, ծիրանափող, meaning “apricot-made wind instrument”), is an ancient Armenian double reed woodwind instrument made of apricot wood. It is indigenous to Armenia. Variations of th ...
, an ancient,
double-reed
A double reed is a type of reed used to produce sound in various wind instruments. In contrast with a single reed instrument, where the instrument is played by channeling air against one piece of cane which vibrates against the mouthpiece and c ...
woodwind
Woodwind instruments are a family of musical instruments within the greater category of wind instruments. Common examples include flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, and saxophone. There are two main types of woodwind instruments: flutes and reed ...
flute that originated in
Armenia
Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...
.
Cmíral sent a demonstration to Frankenheimer, who "loved" it, and was signed as the film's composer.
Cmíral's piece "Ronin Theme" was used for the opening scenes.
Cmíral's score for ''Ronin'', his first for a
major film studio,
was recorded in seven weeks at CTS Studio in London.
It was orchestrated and conducted by
Nick Ingman
Nicholas Ingman (born 29 April 1948) is an English arranger, composer and conductor in the commercial music field. His collaborators include Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger, Björk, and the British X-factor.
Born and educated in London, Ingman moved ...
, edited by
Mike Flicker
Mike Flicker (born 1950) is an American music producer in Los Angeles who has numerous credits on music and film projects. He is critically acclaimed for his work with Heart.John Whynot
John Whynot (born April 4, 1959) is a Canadian musician, producer, engineer, film score mixer and composer. Originally based in Toronto, since 1989 he has resided in Los Angeles.
He has worked with a wide variety of artists including Bruce Cockb ...
.
Varèse Sarabande
Varèse Sarabande is an American record label, owned by Concord Music Group and distributed by Universal Music Group, which specializes in film scores and original cast recordings. It aims to reissue rare or unavailable albums, as well as newer r ...
released the soundtrack album on
compact disc
The compact disc (CD) is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then rele ...
in September 1998.
For
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
, Jason Ankeny rated the album 4.5 out of 5 and called it a "profoundly visceral listening experience, illustrating an expert grasp of pacing and atmosphere".
Release
Box office
''Ronin'' had its world premiere at the
1998 Venice Film Festival on September 12, before a wide release on September 25.
''Ronin'' fared moderately well at the box office; it was the second-highest-grossing film in the United States during its opening weekend, grossing $16.7 million behind the action-comedy ''
Rush Hour
A rush hour (American English, British English) or peak hour (Australian English) is a part of the day during which traffic congestion on roads and crowding on public transport is at its highest. Normally, this happens twice every weekday: on ...
''s $26.7 million, at 2,643 locations. The film dropped to fifth place on its second weekend and to seventh on its third, grossing $7.2 million and $4.7 million, respectively, at 2,487 locations.
It dropped further until its sixth weekend, when it grossed $1.1 million (13th place) at 1,341 locations.
The film ended its theatrical run with a gross of $41.6 million in the U.S. and Canada, and $70.7 million worldwide.
''Ronin'' was 1998's 11th-highest-grossing
R-rated film.
Critical response
Critical reception to ''Ronin'' was favorable; critics praised its ensemble cast, with many singling out Robert De Niro.
Todd McCarthy in ''Variety'' credited De Niro with sustaining the film
but a reviewer from the ''Chicago Reader'' disagreed.
The film's action scenes, particularly the car chases, were generally praised;
Janet Maslin in ''The New York Times'' called them "nothing short of sensational".
These scenes were criticized by ''The Washington Post'' for their length
and by McCarthy for their excessive jump cuts.
Robert Fraisse's cinematography was routinely praised;
Michael Wilmington in the ''Chicago Tribune'' called it superficially attractive and entertaining.
Although the plot was criticized by the ''Chicago Reader'' as dull and ''The Washington Post'' as derivative,
Wilmington called it a "familiar but taut tale".
Some reviewers singled out the espionage scene in which De Niro and Natascha McElhone pose as tourists and photograph their targets at a Cannes hotel as one of the film's best.
Critics also evaluated Frankenheimer because the broad acclaim he received with the political thriller ''The Manchurian Candidate (1962 film), The Manchurian Candidate'' (1962) established him as a director.
Many said he was influenced by the works of fellow filmmaker and close friend Jean-Pierre Melville, particularly Melville's neo-noir film ''Le Samouraï'' (1967), but McCarthy wrote that ''Ronin'' lacks Melville's "world-weary, existential ennui".
The film was considered to be a return to form for Frankenheimer,
whose Emmy Awards for the television films ''Against the Wall (1994 film), Against the Wall'' (1994), ''The Burning Season'', ''Andersonville'' and ''George Wallace'' had resurrected his career, after it lost momentum during the 1970s and 1980s due to the director's alcohol addiction.
''Ronin'' was Frankenheimer's last well-received feature film;
Wilmington called it the director's best theatrical film in decades despite lacking ''The Manchurian Candidate'' "blazing invention",
and
Stephen Prince called the film his "end-of-career masterpiece". Prince wrote:
With ''Ronin'', Frankenheimer vindicated his cinematic talents and aesthetic preferences. The film is stylistically bonded with the principles of his work as found in the earliest and best period of his career. Its aesthetic of realism places it with ''Grand Prix
Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour
Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to:
Arts and entertainment ...
'', '' The Train'', and ''The Gypsy Moths'', and its minimalist conception of character and narrative detail bonds it to those productions as well. Frankenheimer had not lost his touch as a filmmaker, far from it. ''Ronin'' is smart, sharp, and witty, and it shows a greater facility for visual storytelling than most films made today, by younger directors, can muster.
Post-release
Home media
In February 1999, MGM Home Entertainment released ''Ronin'' as a two-disc DVD that contained versions in widescreen and pan and scan formats, and Dolby Digital#Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital 5.1 sound.
The DVD also contains the alternative ending and an audio commentary by John Frankenheimer, who discusses the film's production history. MGM released a special edition DVD of the film in October 2004 and a two-disc collector's edition in May 2006, both of which have additional cast and crew interviews.
It was released on Blu-ray with its theatrical trailer in February 2009. In August 2017, Arrow Video released a special edition Blu-ray with a 4K resolution restoration from the original camera negative that was supervised and approved by cinematographer Robert Fraisse. Arrow's Blu-ray also includes archival bonus features that originally appeared on the MGM special edition DVD, together with Fraisse talking about his early cinematography career and his involvement with ''Ronin''.
Cinematic analysis
![HokusaiChushingura](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/23/HokusaiChushingura.jpg)
The film's title was derived from the Japanese legend of ''
rōnin
A ''rōnin'' ( ; ja, 浪人, , meaning 'drifter' or 'wanderer') was a samurai without a lord or master during the feudal period of Japan (1185–1868). A samurai became masterless upon the death of his master or after the loss of his master's ...
'', samurai whose wikt:feudal lord, leader was killed and left them with no one to serve, and roamed the countryside as mercenaries and bandits to regain a sense of purpose. In Frankenheimer's film, the ''rōnin'' are former intelligence operatives who are unemployed at the end of the Cold War; devoid of purpose, they become highly-paid mercenaries. Michael Lonsdale's character elaborates on the analogy in an anecdote about the Forty-seven rōnin, forty-seven ''rōnin'' told with miniature art, miniatures, comparing the film's characters to the 18th-century ''rōnin'' of Japan. In his essay, "Action and Abstraction in ''Ronin''",
Stephen Prince wrote that the ''rōnin'' metaphor explores themes of "service, honor, and obligation to complex ways by showing that service may entail betrayal and that honor may be measured according to disparate terms". According to Stephen B. Armstrong, "Arguably Frankenheimer uses this story to highlight and contrast the moral and social weakness that characterize the band of ''rōnin'' in his film".
The film features a
MacGuffin
In fiction, a MacGuffin (sometimes McGuffin) is an object, device, or event that is necessary to the plot and the motivation of the characters, but insignificant, unimportant, or irrelevant in itself. The term was originated by Angus MacPhail for ...
plot device in the form of a briefcase, the contents of which are important but unknown.
''Chicago Sun-Times'' critic Roger Ebert wrote that its content is identical to that of the equally-mysterious case in Quentin Tarantino's ''Pulp Fiction'' (1994),
also a MacGuffin. Michael Wilmington of the ''Chicago Tribune'' called ''Ronin'' an homage to ''
The French Connection'' (1971), ''The Parallax View'' (1974), and ''Three Days of the Condor'' (1975); thriller films known for their lack of visual effects.
Maitland McDonagh of ''TV Guide'' also compared the film to ''The Day of the Jackal (film), The Day of the Jackal'' (1973)
and noted similarities between ''Ronin''s opening scene and that of Tarantino's ''Reservoir Dogs'' (1992), in which a group of professional killers who have not met before assemble.
According to Armstrong, the film's plot observes the conventions of heist films.
Frankenheimer employed a hyperrealism, hyperrealistic aesthetic in his films "to make them look realer than real, because reality by itself can be very boring", and saw them as having a tinge of semi-documentary.
He credited Gillo Pontecorvo's ''The Battle of Algiers'' (1966), a film he considered flawless and more influential than any other he had seen, with inspiring this style.
According to Prince, "Frankenheimer's success at working in this realist style, avoiding special effects trickery, places the car chase in ''Ronin'' in the same rarefied class as the celebrated chase in ''
Bullitt
''Bullitt'' is a 1968 American neo-noir action thriller film directed by Peter Yates and produced by Philip D'Antoni. The picture stars Steve McQueen, Robert Vaughn, and Jacqueline Bisset. The screenplay by Alan R. Trustman and Harry Kleine ...
'' (1968)". The director credited the Russian film ''The Cranes Are Flying'' (1957) with inspiring invisible cuts in ''Ronin''. On the film's DVD audio commentary, Frankenheimer notes a wipe (transition), wipe during the opening scenes made by two extras walking across the frame, which becomes a tracking shot of Jean Reno entering the bistro. His intention for the cut was to conceal the fact that the bistro's interior was a set; its exterior was filmed on location.
Legacy
Modern reception
Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 69%, with an average rating of 6.3/10, based on 70 reviews. The website's consensus reads, "''Ronin'' earns comparisons to ''The French Connection'' with strong action, dynamic road chase scenes, and solid performances".
Rotten Tomatoes also ranked ''Ronin'' No. 101 on its list of the "140 Essential Action Movies To Watch Now". On Metacritic the film received "Generally favorable reviews", with an overall weighted average of 67 out of 100, based on 23 reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore during ''Ronin'' opening weekend gave the film an average grade of C+ on scale of A+ to F.
''Ronin'' car chases were included on several media outlets' lists of the best depicted on film, including CNN (No. 2), ''Time (magazine), Time'' (No. 12), Fandango Media, Fandango (No. 6), ''Complex (magazine), Complex'' (No. 25), ''The Daily Telegraph'' (No. 10), ''PopMatters'' (No. 9), IGN (No. 9), Screen Rant (No. 8), ''Business Insider'' (No. 3), ''Consequence of Sound'' (No. 6), and Collider (website), Collider. Some critics have said the chase scenes in ''Mission: Impossible – Fallout'' (2018) were influenced by those in ''Ronin''. Screen Rant ranked ''Ronin'' No. 1 on its list of the "12 Best Action Movies You've Never Heard Of". In 2014, ''Time Out (magazine), Time Out'' polled several film critics, directors, actors, and stunt actors about their top action films; ''Ronin'' was 72nd on the list. ''Paste (magazine), Paste'' magazine ranked the film at No. 10 on its list of the "25 Best Movies of 1998". ''Ronin'' was included in the film reference book ''101 Action Movies You Must See Before You Die''.
Video games
''Ronin'' influenced the conception of the action video games ''Burnout (video game), Burnout'' and ''Alpha Protocol''.
Footnotes
References
Bibliography
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External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ronin
1998 action thriller films
1990s chase films
1990s heist films
1990s spy films
1998 films
American action thriller films
American chase films
American heist films
American spy films
1990s English-language films
Films about the Central Intelligence Agency
Films about the Irish Republican Army
Films about the Russian Mafia
Films directed by John Frankenheimer
Films scored by Elia Cmíral
Films set in France
Films set in Nice
Films set in Paris
Films shot in Paris
Films with screenplays by David Mamet
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films
United Artists films
Films about The Troubles (Northern Ireland)
Films about mercenaries
1990s American films