The ghostwriter
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The ghostwriter |
| Original title | The Ghost Writer |
| Country of production |
France , Germany , United Kingdom |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 2010 |
| length | 128 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Roman Polanski |
| script | Roman Polanski, Robert Harris |
| production | Roman Polański, Alain Sarde , Robert Benmussa |
| music | Alexandre Desplat |
| camera | Paweł Edelman |
| cut | Hervé de Luze |
| occupation | |
| |
The Ghostwriter (original title: The Ghost Writer ) is a German - British - French political thriller by director Roman Polański , which is based on the novel Ghost by Robert Harris . The film celebrated its world premiere in 2010 in the competition at the Berlinale 2010 . In the same year, the production was awarded the European Film Prize.
action
The film begins with a scene on a ferry on the east coast of the USA: All the cars drive overboard, except for one. Then the washed-up body of Mike McAra, the ghostwriter of Adam Lang, the former British Prime Minister, is shown . A suicide by jumping off the ferry is suspected, as a high concentration of alcohol is found in his blood. The publisher commissioned a successful British writer to complete Adam Lang's memoirs for a fee of US $ 250,000. At the meeting, Lang's attorney also gave the "ghost" a manuscript from another client for assessment; but this is snatched from him on the way home by two professionally acting masked men.
The "Ghost" flies to Massachusetts , USA, to work on Lang's memoir with Lang, who has come under pressure because of his role in the Iraq war . Lang is accused by former British Foreign Secretary and UN envoy Richard Rycart of kidnapping terrorist suspects and extraditing them to the United States, who then tortured them. Lang has retired to the island of Martha's Vineyard and lives there in a bunker-like holiday villa owned by a patron together with a small team consisting of his wife Ruth, assistant Amelia, two secretaries, several bodyguards and a housekeeper couple. Here he feels safe from extradition because the United States of America, along with a few other states, does not recognize the International Criminal Court . The “ghost” is first quartered in a hotel on the island, but soon has to move to the patron's property because it becomes known that Lang is on the island and the hotel is overcrowded with journalists. Lang then flies to Washington DC to demonstrate his clear conscience.
The US sees McAra's manuscript as a threat to national security; the manuscript must therefore not leave the house. The “ghost” wonders why Lang, who led a completely apolitical life as a young student, joined the Labor Party at the time and made a career as a politician. He soon discovers secrets in Lang's life when he clears McAra's closet. In a hidden envelope he finds photos from Lang's time at Cambridge University that do not match McAra's manuscript. During a bicycle tour, the “ghost” learns that the location of the corpse does not match the flow conditions and that a flashlight was seen there before the corpse was found. An eyewitness is in a coma after falling down the stairs.
Lang's wife Ruth stayed at the property. The "Ghost" tells you about the inconsistencies in connection with the official version of the suicide. The "ghost" talks to Ruth and learns that she suffers from not having made a career herself. Ruth also fears that her husband will present himself too much in Washington as an agent of the United States. Ruth imposes herself on the "ghost" and the two sleep together. The “Ghost” moves back to the hotel the next morning and drives the car intended for Lang's guests, with which McAra had been on the ferry at the beginning of the film. A destination address is still stored in the navigation system. The "Ghost" follows the navigation system and arrives at Paul Emmett, the man McAra wanted to visit before his death. Political science professor and Pulitzer Prize winner Emmett can be seen in the photos from Lang's student days, and the "Ghost" asks him about these photos. Emmett is relatively polite, but nervous, gives little information and asks the ghost to leave. Before saying goodbye, Emmett makes hints that the "Ghost" sees as a threat. When the "ghost" drives back from a visit to Paul Emmett, he is followed by a black car and can only shake it off with a trick. When he is about to take the ferry back to the island, however, the car reappears and the two occupants start looking for the "ghost". The “ghost” jumps off the ferry at the last moment and rents a motel on the mainland . In his hotel room he calls Rycart who wants to meet him.
The "Ghost" begins researching Emmett on the Internet. He learns that this is linked to the CIA . Emmett serves on the board of directors of the Arcadia Trust, an organization closely associated with senior military and intelligence officials. One of the members is the chairman of the board of directors of Hatherton, an arms company that benefited from the Iraq war and that was involved in the US kidnapping and torture flights affair. He exchanges views with prosecutor Richard Rycart, with whom McAra had already established contact. Rycart informs the "Ghost" that it was McAra who leaked incriminating material about Lang's war crimes after he gradually learned which crimes Lang was responsible for. Rycart points out to the "Ghost" that Lang never acted against the interests of the United States during his tenure. Lang supported all controversial decisions of the USA regarding Middle East policy, the war of aggression against Iraq, the implementation of torture actions, etc. Lang also dismissed any minister who criticized the United States. While Rycart and the "Ghost" are talking, Lang calls, who wants to take him to the island by plane. During the flight, the “ghost” confronts Lang with his suspicions that he, Lang, has connections with the CIA . Lang denies everything and justifies his policy. As they get off the plane, Lang is shot dead by a former British soldier whose son was killed in the Iraq war. Security forces then shoot the assassin. Lang is honored with a state funeral in Great Britain.
The biography is completed and published. The "Ghost" attends the book launch as Amelia and sees Emmett there, who claimed to have no relationship with the Langs. Through an accidental remark by Amelia, the “ghost” can decipher a message hidden by McAra in the manuscript: not Lang, but his wife Ruth was recruited by Emmett for the CIA at the time. According to Ruth's testimony for the memoir, she always advised her husband. Lang acted as a politician in the sense of the United States, as he was influenced accordingly by his wife, and rose through the CIA to the political level, as Rycart had already suspected. The "ghost" notes the message and sends it to Ruth on a piece of paper, which freezes when she reads it. He then leaves the event with the manuscript in hand and wants to stop a taxi. He runs out of the picture. Suddenly a car approaching him accelerates and an impact noise can be heard. Then the pages of the manuscript blow across the street.
production
Emergence
Director Roman Polański already spoke to Robert Harris in 2007 about a film adaptation of his novel Pompeii . The film, which was originally to be produced by Summit Entertainment , was presented at the Cannes Film Festival in 2007 for $ 100 million as the potentially most expensive European film to date. Polański withdrew from the project in 2008 because the announced writers' strikes would have led to scheduling problems for him.
Polański then turned to Ghost , Harris' more recent novel. The two started writing the script and filming was originally scheduled to begin in early 2008. The main character "The Ghost" was initially intended to be Nicolas Cage , who was eventually replaced by Ewan McGregor .
Filming
The ghostwriter was shot from February to May 2009 in the Babelsberger Studios ( Potsdam ), at the Strausberg airfield near Berlin , on the Baltic Sea island of Usedom and on the North Sea islands of Rømø and Sylt , whose landscape is represented by the island of Martha's Vineyard off the south coast of Massachusetts . Charlottenstrasse 47 in Berlin-Mitte, between Gendarmenmarkt and Unter den Linden, served as the Rhinehart Inc. publishing building. The recordings for the driveway and surroundings of Emmett's house were made in the south-west cemetery in Stahnsdorf .
Issues during post-production
On September 26, 2009, director Polański was arrested on entry into Switzerland at Zurich Airport on account of an international arrest warrant from 2005. Since the film was still in the post-production phase at the time, the actors had to do without their director. Polański's detention was replaced by electronically monitored house arrest on December 4, 2009; the director now worked from his home on the post-production of The Ghostwriter by sending him DVDs with excerpts from the respective versions of the film.
Production and rental companies
The film was produced by RP Films , France 2 Cinéma and Elfte Babelsberg Film . Summit Entertainment is the US-American, Kinowelt the German film distributor.
Supported with funds from the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Film Funding, the film made headlines in the 2012 Black Book of the Association of Tax Payers, because despite an estimated gross income of 73 million US dollars, the funding has not yet been repaid.
budget
The Ghost Writer cost about 45 million US dollars .
synchronization
The German synchronization was commissioned by the RC Production for a dialogue book and the dialogue director of Christoph Cierpka .
| role | actor | Voice actor |
|---|---|---|
| The ghostwriter | Ewan McGregor | Philipp Moog |
| Adam Lang | Pierce Brosnan | Frank Glaubrecht |
| Ruth Lang | Olivia Williams | Katrin Decker |
| Amelia Bly | Kim Cattrall | Katarina Tomaschewsky |
| Sidney Kroll | Timothy Hutton | Frank Röth |
| Paul Emmett | Tom Wilkinson | Werner Ziebig |
| Rick Ricardelli | Jon Bernthal | Nicolas Boell |
| John Maddox | James Belushi | Joachim Tennstedt |
| Richard Rycart | Robert Pugh | Roland Hemmo |
| Roy | Tim Preece | Wolfgang Condrus |
| Stranger | David Rintoul | Erich Rauker |
| Old islander | Eli Wallach | Hasso Zorn |
| US Secretary of State | Mo Asumang | Peggy Sander |
References to politics
The author of the novel, Robert Harris , was friends with then Prime Minister Tony Blair around 1997. Although the characters in the film are Adam Lang and Richard Rycart , the references to Blair and his former Foreign Secretary Robin Cook, who died suddenly in 2005, are unmistakable. Harris himself describes the novel as political satire.
Reviews
The lexicon of international films calls the film a “virtuoso detective game between political thriller and Greek tragedy about the mechanisms of power and the corrupting influence it exerts on people. Brilliantly played, convincing in the tension dramaturgy, pointed in the use of humor and plot details. "
Critic.de writes that “everything is as it should be”. The appointment of Pierce Brosnan as ex-prime minister is "a clear hint, more cynical than by the penultimate, cocky-macho James Bond" is very difficult to represent Great Britain. Brosnan shines here. Ewan McGregor's portrayal of a nameless ghostwriter is becoming "increasingly rigid". Nevertheless, the film is "entertainment at the highest level", dark and even a little humorous.
In the Süddeutsche Zeitung you can read that the “Adam Lang story that Harris came up with in his disappointment with Blair” is not a compliment for the USA.
Despite the clear parallels with the person of Tony Blair, the author of the original, Robert Harris, did well in the eyes of Die Welt to marginalize this background a little in the run-up to the cinema release, "because he and Polanski did not shoot a political biography, but a thriller and a first-class one too ”.
Der Spiegel writes that the film can be understood “as a comment on its own cause”.
In the opinion of Verena Lueken , film critic for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , the locations are the best of the film. Although the beach house offers a view of deserted beaches and the gray sea, it exudes the "charm of a high-security wing". However, the way Polański relates does not offer any tension and comes to the conclusion: "A well-hung piece of mainstream cinema, a bit slow, never explosive."
Die Zeit writes that Adam Lang was “paranoid and hostile”, and that “in his cold loneliness he was eaten away by the desire to get justice to history and the dead”. This is where director Polański manages to create the best scenes. The rest of the film fulfills the "laws of thriller".
In the NZZ the verdict: “The Ghost Writer is Polanski's best film in a long time. In the no-frills staging he shows all his craftsmanship and pays his respects to the grand master of suspense, Alfred Hitchcock. "
The British Guardian concludes: “A suspenseful conspiracy thriller and unsettling political satire, a Manchurian candidate from the 2010s, as addictive and outrageous as the Robert Harris bestseller on which it is based. It's his most entertaining film in years, a Hitchcock nightmare, with a persistent, stomach-aching mood of excruciating restlessness [...]. This very compelling film shows that Polanski is far from ending as a film director ”.
Awards and nominations
Polański was unable to accept the “Silver Bear” award because of his house arrest ; he was represented by the producers Alain Sarde and Robert Benmussa .
| price | Date of award | category | Award winners and nominees | result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Argentine Association of Film Critics | 4th July 2011 | Best Non-Spanish Language Film | The Ghost Writer | Nominated |
| Berlin International Film Festival | February 20, 2010 | Golden bear | The Ghost Writer | Nominated |
| Best Director ( Silver Bear ): ( Best Director ) | Roman Polanski | Won | ||
| Central Ohio Film Critics Association | January 6, 2011 | Best movie | The Ghost Writer | Nominated |
| César | February 25, 2011 | Best script | Robert Harris and Roman Polanski | Won |
| Best camera | Paweł Edelman | Nominated | ||
| Best director | Roman Polanski | Won | ||
| Best cut | Hervé de Luze | Won | ||
| Best movie | The Ghost Writer | Nominated | ||
| Best film score | Alexandre Desplat | Won | ||
| Best production design | Albrecht Konrad | Nominated | ||
| Best tone | Jean-Marie Blondel, Thomas Desjonquieres and Dean Humphreys | Nominated | ||
| Empire Awards | March 27, 2011 | Best Actress | Olivia Williams | Nominated |
| European film award | 4th December 2010 | Best Actor | Ewan McGregor | Won |
| Best director | Roman Polanski | Won | ||
| Best music | Alexandre Desplat | Won | ||
| Best movie | The Ghost Writer | Won | ||
| Best cut | Hervé de Luze | Nominated | ||
| Best script | Robert Harris and Roman Polanski | Won | ||
| People's Choice Award for best European film | The Ghost Writer | Nominated | ||
| Evening Standard British Film Awards | February 7, 2011 | Best Actor | Ewan McGregor | Nominated |
| Best Actress | Olivia Williams | Nominated | ||
| Best script | Robert Harris | Nominated | ||
| International Federation of Film Critics | 17th September 2010 | Best movie | The Ghost Writer | Won |
| Gaudí Awards | January 27, 2011 | Best European film | The Ghost Writer | Nominated |
| Globo d'oro | July 2, 2010 | Best European film | The Ghost Writer | Won |
| Best distributor | 01 distribution | Won | ||
| Goya Awards | February 13, 2011 | Best European film | The Ghost Writer | Nominated |
| Irish Film & Television Awards | February 12, 2011 | Best Supporting Actor - Feature Film | Pierce Brosnan | Won |
| London Film Critics' Circle | February 11, 2011 | Best British Supporting Actor | Pierce Brosnan | Nominated |
| Best British Supporting Actress | Olivia Williams | Won | ||
| Los Angeles Film Critics Association | 2010 | Best music | Alexandre Desplat | Won |
| Nastro d'Argento | June 19, 2010 | Best European Director | Roman Polanski | Nominated |
| National Board of Review of Motion Pictures | December 2, 2010 | Top independent films | The Ghost Writer | Won |
| National Society of Film Critics | January 8, 2011. | Best Supporting Actress - Feature Film | Olivia Williams | Won |
| Phoenix Film Critics Society | December 28, 2010 | Best music | Alexandre Desplat | Nominated |
| Polish film award | March 7, 2011 | Best European film | The Ghost Writer | Won |
| Prix Lumières | January 14, 2011 | Best director | Roman Polanski | Won |
| Best movie | The Ghost Writer | Nominated | ||
| Best script | Robert Harris and Roman Polanski | Won | ||
| Satellite Award | December 19, 2010 | Best script | Robert Harris and Roman Polanski | Nominated |
| Satellite Award Best Director | Roman Polanski | Nominated | ||
| Satellite Award Best Film (Fiction Drama) | The Ghost Writer | Nominated | ||
| Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor - Feature Film | Pierce Brosnan | Nominated | ||
| University of Southern California | February 4, 2011 | USC Scripter Award | Robert Harris and Roman Polanski | Nominated |
| World Soundtrack Academy | October 23, 2010 | Soundtrack Composer of the Year | Alexandre Desplat | Won |
Web links
- The Ghost Writer in theInternet Movie Database(English)
- The ghostwriter atRotten Tomatoes(English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Release certificate for The Ghostwriter . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , February 2010 (PDF; test number: 121 545 K).
- ↑ Information about the shooting time on imdb.de ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Information on the locations on imdb.de ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Polanski shot in Stahnsdorf, the setting of a country house built on the south-west cemetery in Märkische Allgemeine on March 20, 2009
- ↑ Information on the companies on imdb.de ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Image cultivation through film funding , Federation of Tax Payers eV
- ↑ Specification of the budget ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on imdb.de
- ↑ The ghostwriter. In: synchronkartei.de. German dubbing file , accessed on August 21, 2019 .
- ↑ Interview with Robert Harris on welt.de
- ↑ The ghostwriter in the Lexicon of International Films
- ↑ Film review on critic.de
- ↑ Film review ( Memento of the original from February 14, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on sueddeutsche.de
- ↑ Film review on welt.de
- ↑ Film review on spiegel.de
- ↑ Film review on faz.net
- ↑ Film review on zeit.de
- ↑ Film review on nzz.ch
- ^ The Guardian , February 12, 2010, accessed May 5, 2017
- ^ Accolades for The Ghost Writer on the Internet Movie Database
- ↑ Ganadores de la 59º Entrega de los Premios Condor de Plata (Spanish) , Argentine Film Critics Association . Archived from the original on September 23, 2013. Retrieved December 11, 2013.
- ^ Roman Polanski wins best director award at Berlin . In: BBC News Online , BBC News , February 20, 2010. Retrieved December 9, 2013.
- ↑ Awards: 2010 . Central Ohio Film Critics Association . Retrieved December 11, 2013.
- ^ Peter Knegt: "Inception" Leads Central Ohio Critics' Awards . In: The Playlist , indieWire , January 7, 2011. Retrieved December 11, 2013.
- ↑ Rebecca Leffler: 'Of Gods and Men' Named Best Film at France's Cesar Awards . In: The Hollywood Reporter , Prometheus Global Media , February 25, 2011. Retrieved December 9, 2013.
- ↑ Simon Reynolds: In Full: Empire Awards 2011 Winners . In: Digital Spy , Hearst Corporation , March 27, 2011. Retrieved December 9, 2013.
- ↑ Stuart Kemp: 'Ghost Writer' Leads European Film Award Nominations . In: The Hollywood Reporter , Prometheus Global Media , November 6, 2010, p. 2. Retrieved December 9, 2013.
- ↑ Xan Brooks: Roman Polanski film The Ghost Writer dominates European awards . In: The Guardian , Guardian Media Group , December 5, 2010. Retrieved December 9, 2013.
- ^ Louise Jury: London Evening Standard British Film Awards: Carey and Keira vie for best actress title . In: London Evening Standard , Evening Standard Limited, January 4, 2011. Retrieved December 9, 2011.
- ^ Tim Masters: Garfield Dethrones Firth at Evening Standard awards . In: BBC News Online , BBC News , February 7, 2011. Retrieved December 9, 2013.
- ^ Special Awards , International Federation of Film Critics . September 3, 2013. Archived from the original on November 29, 2013 Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Retrieved December 9, 2013.
- ^ Nominiertinades - III Premis Gaudí (Catalan) , Acadèmia del Cinema Català. Retrieved December 9, 2013.
- ↑ Mariangela Pollonio: Pippo Mezzapesa candidato al Globo d'oro (Italian) . In: Corriere del Mezzogiorno , RCS MediaGroup , June 3, 2010. Retrieved December 11, 2013.
- ↑ Loose Cannons wins Golden Globes . Cine Europe. July 2, 2010. Retrieved December 11, 2013.
- ↑ King's Speech wins 'Spanish Oscar' . In: The Daily Telegraph , Telegraph Media Group , February 14, 2011. Retrieved December 11, 2013.
- ↑ Adam Dawtrey: 'Not There' tops Irish Film and TV Awards . In: Variety , PMC , February 13, 2011. Retrieved December 11, 2013.
- ↑ Philiana Ng: 'The King's Speech,' 'Another Year' Lead Nominations at the London Critics' Circle Film Awards . In: The Hollywood Reporter , Prometheus Global Media , December 20, 2010. Retrieved December 11, 2013.
- ^ Sarah Cooper: The Social Network triumphs at London Film Critics' Circle Awards . In: Screen International , Emap International Limited , February 11, 2011. Retrieved December 11, 2013.
- ^ Gregg Kilday: LA Film Critics Assn. Names 'Social Network' Best Picture . In: The Hollywood Reporter , Prometheus Global Media , December 12, 2010. Retrieved December 11, 2013.
- ^ Nastri d'Argento: le 'cinquine' dei candidati 2010/2 ( Italian ) In: Cinemagazine Online . Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists. Archived from the original on September 23, 2015. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved December 11, 2013.
- ^ Gregg Kilday: 'The Social Network' Named Best Film By National Board of Review . In: The Hollywood Reporter , Prometheus Global Media , December 2, 2010. Retrieved December 11, 2013.
- ^ Susan King: The National Society of Film Critics named 'The Social Network' best of 2010 . In: Los Angeles Times , Tribune Company , January 8, 2011. Retrieved December 11, 2013.
- ↑ Phoenix Film Critics Name The Kings Speech Best Film of 2010 . Phoenix Film Critics Society . December 28, 2010. Archived from the original on November 3, 2013. Retrieved on December 11, 2013.
- ↑ Wendy Mitchell: Essential Killing, All That I Love, Ghost Writer win Polish awards . In: Screen International , Emap International Limited , March 10, 2011. Retrieved December 8, 2013.
- ↑ Kirill Galetski: 'Essential Killing' Wins Four Polish Film Awards . In: The Hollywood Reporter , Prometheus Global Media , March 8, 2011. Retrieved December 8, 2013.
- ^ Fabien Lemercier: Of Gods and Men leads Lumière Nominiertinations . Cine Europe. December 21, 2010. Retrieved December 11, 2013.
- ↑ Elsa Keslassy: 'Gods,' 'Ghost Writer' top Lumieres . In: Variety , PMC , January 14, 2011. Retrieved December 11, 2013.
- ^ The Ghost Writer . International Press Academy . Retrieved December 11, 2013.
- ^ Dan Knapp: USC Libraries Friend The Social Network, University of Southern California . February 7, 2011. Retrieved December 8, 2013.
- ↑ Alexandre Desplat wins Award for Film Composer and Best Film Score of the Year . World Soundtrack Academy . October 23, 2013. Retrieved December 11, 2013.
