Death in the mirror
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Death in the mirror |
| Original title | Shattered |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1991 |
| length | 96 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Wolfgang Petersen |
| script | Wolfgang Petersen |
| production |
John Davis David Korda Wolfgang Petersen, Bodo Scriba |
| music | Alan Silvestri |
| camera | László Kovács |
| cut |
Glenn Farr Hannes Nikel |
| occupation | |
| |
Tod im Spiegel (Original title: Shattered ) is an American thriller by Wolfgang Petersen from 1991. It is based on the detective novel Tod im Spiegel (The Plastic Nightmare) by Richard Neely .
action
Dan Merrick had a serious car accident on a cliff. While his wife Judith is thrown out of the car and survives the accident almost unharmed, Dan suffers serious injuries that disfigure him and trigger a loss of memory . After a series of operations, his face is restored, but the amnesia remains. Judith takes care of him and carefully tries to bring him back to his previous life.
When Dan and his wife Judith are invited to his business partner Jeb and his wife Jenny, he learns about his previous marital problems. References to a lover of his wife emerge and he discovers that shortly before his accident he had hired the private detective Gus Klein to target his wife. When Jenny in turn suggests that she has had a relationship with Dan and that the circumstances of the accident may not be exactly as he thinks, he doubts about the alleged accident. He visits the detective again.
The evidence that Judith was not telling the truth is increasing. And suddenly Jack Stanton, Judith's lover, reappears in town. Dan and Gus now suspect that the accident could have been an assassination attempt and that a second attempt could be made. To Dan's surprise, however, Stanton turns out to be Dan's wife Judith, who asserts that she wants to show the detective that Stanton is still alive. In truth, Dan shot him out of jealousy on the night of the accident and disposed of the body in an old wreck laden with chemical waste.
The story becomes more and more complex. When Jenny finally threatens Dan on the phone, he drives to her and finds her murdered. He is surprised by Gus and suspected of murder. Together they drive to the old wreck, where Dan hopes to regain his memory by looking for Stanton's body. He finds the body in a chemical tank. Since the tank contains formaldehyde , the corpse has been preserved and is therefore easy to recognize. However, it is not Stanton, but Dan Merrick himself. It turns out that he is Stanton himself and that he assumed his identity after his wife shot him in an argument. Judith appears and shoots Gus, who falls into the water, shot. Armed, Judith forces Stanton to flee with her. During the escape, Judith loses control when a police helicopter appears, and Stanton is able to disarm her. Desperate, Judith decides to throw both of them over the cliffs in the car. However, Stanton can throw himself out at the last moment while Judith falls to her death.
The police helicopter lands, and an injured but still living Gus approaches Stanton and asks about his well-being, calling him "Dan".
background
Death in the mirror was the first Hollywood film by director Wolfgang Petersen, who had made his breakthrough ten years earlier with Das Boot . Petersen wrote the screenplay himself based on the novel by Richard Neely . The budget for the film was about $ 22 million. The film was shot in San Francisco , California and on the Oregon coast .
Reviews
“A cleverly constructed thriller in the spirit of the 'black series', well played and incredibly exciting. A few less original directing ideas and a lack of feeling for subtlety tarnish the positive overall impression. "
"Petersen's Hollywood debut is a perfect thriller with Hitchcock influences, which one can easily forgive for some inconsistencies and ambiguities."
“In his role, Bob Hoskins doesn't chase comic characters ( Roger Rabbit ), but the characters don't have much more profile in 'Death in the Mirror' either. The actually exciting plot is presented in a predictable way, only acoustic shocks can cause surprises. [...] The black and white photos still look quite stylish, but the color images are flat compared to television. All in all, a reasonably exciting television film with three stars who fell short of expectations. "
Awards
According to the reviews, the film went without distinction. Merely a nomination for Wolfgang Petersen for the Critics Award of the Deauville Film Festival paid tribute to the film.
The German Film and Media Evaluation FBW in Wiesbaden awarded the film the title valuable.
literature
- Richard Neely : Death in the Mirror. Detective novel (Original title: The Plastic Nightmare ). German by Wulf Bergner . Goldmann, Munich 1991, 153 pages, ISBN 3-442-04790-0 .
Web links
- Shattered in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Shattered at Rotten Tomatoes (English)
- Death in the mirror in the German dubbing file
Individual evidence
- ↑ Previously published under the German title Du bist Marriott .
- ↑ Death in the mirror. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
- ^ Film review on tvspielfilm.de
- ↑ Film review on filmtabs.de