Sign of life - Proof of Life

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Movie
German title Sign of life - Proof of Life
Original title Proof of Life
Proofoflife-logo.svg
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 2000
length 135 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Taylor Hackford
script Tony Gilroy
production Charles Mulvehill ,
Taylor Hackford
music Danny Elfman
camera Sławomir Idziak
cut Sheldon Kahn ,
John Smith
occupation

Signs of life - Proof of Life (original title Proof of Life ) is a thriller - drama from the year 2000 by director Taylor Hackford with Russell Crowe and Meg Ryan in the lead roles.

action

Peter Bowman works as a project manager on behalf of an oil production company in the fictional South American country Tecala on a dam . For him, the humanitarian benefits of the project are in the foreground, while for the company only the financial gain is important. But the company gets into financial difficulties and is bought up by a large oil company . Further construction of the dam is in danger.

Burdened by this professional setback, Peter also gets into an argument with his wife Alice. While Alice wants to return home and also want to deal with a previous miscarriage, Peter stays and wants to fight for the dam project. On the way to the office, he happened to be ambushed by the ELT, the "Army for the Liberation of Tecala". The group of rebels, which still pursued Marxist goals when it was founded, now earns money by growing drugs, as well as kidnapping and blackmailing.

Terry Thorne, a former soldier and now a professional broker for the international consulting firm Luthan Risk , is supposed to start negotiations with the kidnappers on behalf of the insurance company. When it turns out that Peter's company did not pay the kidnapping insurance premiums, Terry is withdrawn from the job.

Terry, however, feels obliged to Peter's wife, as he has already promised her his help, and takes over the negotiations on his own. Through tough negotiations over the radio, he and the kidnappers agree on a ransom of US $ 650,000.

Meanwhile, Peter Bowman is abducted through the Andes to the kidnappers' camp. There he met the also kidnapped German missionary Erich Kessler, a former Foreign Legionnaire . From this he also learns that another hostage, an Italian, is being held nearby. Bowman and Kessler attempt to escape. Kessler escapes, but Bowman is caught injured and brought back to the camp.

Terry Thorne learns where Peter Bowman is from Erich Kessler, who fled. He also received a map of the camp situation drawn by Bowman. Dino, another professional investigator assigned to secure the release of the Italian, wants to storm the camp with the help of mercenaries.

When the negotiations with the kidnappers fail, Terry Thorne joins this plan and takes part in the rescue operation himself. Alice is initially suspicious of Terry, but gets to know him from another side when he talks about his son one evening and Alice opens up. The otherwise rather reserved Terry feels more and more drawn to Alice and she to him. They both get closer just before Terry leaves to free Alice's husband Peter. Terry's campaigner Dino warns him of a bond with a client who is also married.

Terry and Dino manage to free the prisoners by force in a paramilitary operation . Although Alice is happy to have her husband back safely, she is still very drawn to Terry and confesses her feelings to him shortly before she is about to leave the country with her husband.

Terry tries to be strong and suppresses his feelings for her. Alice leaves the airfield in the car at the side of her husband Peter. Terry looks after her with a smile. The case is now closed for him too.

background

The film was inspired by the article "Adventures in the Ransom Trade" by journalist William Prochnau in the magazine Vanity Fair through intermediaries abduction cases, and the book Long March to Freedom of Thomas Hargrove , an autobiographical account of his own kidnapping in Colombia . The film was shot mainly in Ecuador , in its capital Quito , as well as in London and some scenes in Poland . The credits end with the line "in memory of Will Gaffney". Gaffney was a stand-in by David Morse and came during the filming in Ecuador in a car accident. In the kidnapping scene you can see a school bus whose schoolchildren come from the German School in Quito, the Colegio Alemán Quito . It was released in theaters in the United States on December 8, 2000, and in Germany on March 22, 2001. The production cost was estimated at 65 million US dollars. The film grossed around $ 63 million in cinemas around the world, including around $ 32 million in the United States. For the poor box office, director Taylor Hackford blamed his two main actors Meg Ryan and Russell Crowe , among others , because they are said to have refused to advertise the film. Hackford also cited the coverage of the love affair between the main cast as the reason for the poor viewership. The press reports only focused on their love affair and pushed the film into the background. Ryan and Crowe fell in love while filming, and then Meg Ryan split from her previous partner Dennis Quaid .

Reviews

  • The Lexicon of International Films wrote in 2007 that the film combined "an abundance of (genre) ingredients into a half-baked mixture". He suffers mainly "from his pale leading actress who does not gain a profile".
  • The magazine Gong wrote in 2010: “Top cast, straightforward film that, despite the many action, still gives the characters enough room to develop. Russell Crowe and Meg Ryan's credible game of conflict of conscience rounds off the harmonious mix of exciting thrill and romance very well. "

Awards

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Text overlay at the end of the film
  2. ↑ http://www.imdb.de/title/tt0228750/locations
  3. ↑ http://www.caq.edu.ec/index.php?id=120&L=1
  4. ↑ http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=proofoflife.htm
  5. ^ Signs of Life - Proof of Life in the Lexicon of International FilmsTemplate: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used , accessed on July 19, 2007
  6. ↑ Critique of the film in Gong No. 15, 2010, p. 77