2016
Character: Max Vatan
Release Date: November 23, 2016
Directed By: Robert Zemeckis
Written By: Steven Knight
Genre: Action/Drama/Romance/Thriller/War
Tagline: The enemy is listening
MPAA Rating: Rated R
Produced by: GK Films, Huahua Media (funding), ImageMovers, Paramount Pictures
Distributed by: Paramount Pictures
Budget: $85.000.000 (estimated)
Filming Dates: 16 February 2016 – 30 May 2016
Cast:
…Brad Pitt…Max Vatan
…Vincent Ebrahim…Driver in Desert
…Xavier De Guillebon…Claude
…Marion Cotillard…Marianne Beauséjour
…Camille Cottin…Monique
…Michael McKell…German Officer at Anfa Café
Filming Locations:
Blythe House, 23 Blythe Road, West Kensington, London, England, UK
La Plaza de Cairasco, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain (Rivoli in Casablanca exterior scene)
Canary Islands, Spain
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain
Hampstead Heath, Hampstead, London, England, UK (picnic scene)
Parque Natural de Corralejo, Fuerteventura, Canary Islands, Spain (Dunes of the Sahara Desert)
Caldera de Arrabales, Tiscamanita, Fuerteventura, Canary Islands, Spain (Car exterior scene in the desert)
Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain
Fuerteventura, Canary Islands, Spain
West Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England, UK (location)
Gillette Building, London, England, UK
Christchurch Hill, Hampstead, London, England, UK (Apartment in London exterior scenes)
Antigua Fabrica de Hielo, Plaza Manuel Becerra, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain (German embassy in Casablanca exterior scenes)
11 Calle Nuñez de la Peña, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain (Marianne’s apartment and garage in Casablanca)
Finca Cervantes, Lajares, Fuerteventura, Canary Islands, Spain (Exterior scenes)
Hampstead, London, England, UK
Synopsis:
In 1942, a Canadian intelligence officer in North Africa encounters a female French Resistance fighter on a deadly mission behind enemy lines. When they reunite in London, their relationship is tested by the pressures of war.
Trivia & Facts:
• For the limited French dialog spoken by Brad Pitt, Marion Cotillard acted as his tutor.
• The inspirations for the film’s costumes were Casablanca (1942) and Now, Voyager (1942), where the costumes combined both simplicity and beauty.
• This is Brad Pitt’s fifth World War II movie, following Inglourious Basterds (2009), The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), Beyond All Boundaries (2009) and Fury (2014).
• Brad Pitt’s character’s surname, Vatan, means “homeland” in Persian, Turkish, and Arabic, in which it is spelled “watan.” However, the character is Canadian.
• Brad Pitt and August Diehl also appeared in Inglourious Basterds (2009), and their scenes in both films revolved around a game of cards.
• The Morocco Scenes were filmed in Las Palmas, Spain, which is only 93 miles off the Moroccan Coast and shares a similar climate.
• When waiting for the phone to ring, Vatan is reading a book in bed. It is “Brighton Rock” by Graham Greene, a murder mystery where a crime lord plans to marry the only witness to his murder of a journalist, much like the general theme of the film on betrayal and double crossing. Graham Greene is also famous for his novel “The Ministry of Fear”, another spy thriller set in World War 2 when an ordinary person is mistaken for a German spy after winning a pie (which contains a microfilm with military secrets) in a raffle.
• Most servicemen during the war would have been awarded some medals, even if they were only campaign ones. Brad Pitt’s tunic chest was devoid of any awards. But an intelligence officer would have reason to conceal what he has achieved. This would be particulary important with regard to campaign medals.
• At the Embassy party, the music playing is Haydn’s String Quartet In C Major Op. 76. This is also the tune of the German national anthem at the time: “Deutschland, Deutschland über Alles”. It is also the time of the University of Pittsburgh’s Alma Mater.
• Only the third Robert Zemeckis film to carry an R rating; the first two being Garantie tot de hoek… (1980) and Flight (2012).
• Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, the capital of Gran Canaria, where some scenes were filmed, was ranked as the city with the best climate in the world in a 1996 scientific study called “Pleasant Weather Ratings” by Thomas Whitmore, director of research on climatology at Syracuse University, New York.
• This is Brad Pitt and Jared Harris’ third movie together. They also starred in Ocean’s Twelve (2004) and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008).
• This is the second film where Pitt plays a Canadian. The first being 12 years a slave.
• This is Marion Cotillard’s second World War II film. The first was Lisa (2001).
• Jared Harris’s character Frank Heslop is seen in the same room as photos of King George VI, the same character he played in the Netflix show ‘The Crown’, which was also released in November of 2016.
• This is the eighteenth film to be directed by Robert Zemeckis.
• The remains of the German bomber in the park is that of a He-177.
From the gallery
Quotes
Max Vatan: There’s a thing called the soul. I’ve looked into her soul.
S.O.E. Official: No. You’ve looked into her eyes.
Max Vatan: We are married, why would we laugh?
Max Vatan: Heard a lot about you, saying you were beautiful… and good.
Marianne Beausejour: Being good at this kind of work is not very beautiful.
Max Vatan: [to Hunter, going into action] Who are you thinking about?
Captain Adam Hunter: My mother.
Max Vatan: Don’t. Think about your father.
S.O.E. Official: Commander, tell me about your wife.
Max Vatan: We met at Casablanca, where together we assassinated the German ambassador. She’s a mother of my child.
S.O.E. Official: We believe your wife is a double agent.
Max Vatan: What are you doing?
Marianne Beausejour: [blouse unbuttoned] Testing you. The way you tested me. I know you’re armed with a weapon, Mr. Vatan, I’m just checking your safety catch is engaged.
Max Vatan: [scoffs]
Marianne Beausejour: There, we had our first fight. Now we’re okay then, yes?
Max Vatan: Marianne, we both know people fucked each other, and they fucked up, and now they’re fucking dead.
Marianne Beausejour: Well, that’s a lot of fucks.
Max Vatan: Fasten your goddamn buttons.
Marianne Beausejour: [buttoning her blouse] Actually, Max, the mistakes people make in these situations isn’t fucking. It’s a feeling.
Max Vatan: Come with me to London to be my wife
Marianne Beausejour: When will you be back?
Max Vatan: You know I don’t know.
Marianne Beausejour: What the hell is it that’s so important?
Max Vatan: Liberating your country.
Max Vatan: You’re very thorough.
Marianne Beausejour: That’s why I’m still alive.
Marianne Beausejour: The guns will be taped under the table champagne table. The Ambassador arrives at precisely at 08:30.
Max Vatan: If he’s late?
Marianne Beausejour: He’s German, he will be on time.
Max Vatan: You said you have news.
Frank Heslop: Yes, yes, I have news regarding Marianne Beause’jour.
Max Vatan: It’s been three fucking weeks!
Frank Heslop: Sir! It’s been three fucking weeks, sir.
Max Vatan: It’s been three fucking weeks, *sir*.
External Links
…Official website
…IMDB