Jump to content

The Bourne Identity (2002 film)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Nehrams2020 (talk | contribs) at 23:57, 16 May 2009 (cleanup; added sources; merged soundtrack into article). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

The Bourne Identity
Theatrical movie poster
Directed byDoug Liman
Written byNovel:
Robert Ludlum
Screenplay:
Tony Gilroy
William Blake Herron
Produced byRobert Ludlum
Doug Liman
Frank Marshall
StarringMatt Damon
Franka Potente
Chris Cooper
Brian Cox
Julia Stiles
Clive Owen
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje
Anthony Green
CinematographyOliver Wood
Edited bySaar Klein
Christopher Rouse (additional)
Music byJohn Powell
Distributed byUniversal Pictures
Release dates
United States:
June 14, 2002
Australia:
August 22, 2002
United Kingdom:
September 6, 2002
Running time
118 min.
CountriesUnited States
Germany
Czech Republic
LanguageEnglish
Budget$60 million[1]
Box office$214,034,224[1]

The Bourne Identity is a 2002 spy film loosely based on Robert Ludlum's novel of the same name. It stars Matt Damon as Jason Bourne, an amnesiac who also suffers from PTSD, attempting to discover his true identity amidst a clandestine conspiracy within the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to track him down and arrest or kill him for inexplicably failing to carry out an officially unsanctioned assassination and then failing to report back in afterwards. Along the way he teams up with Marie, played by Franka Potente, who assists him on the initial part of his journey to learn about his past and regain his memories. The film also stars Chris Cooper, Clive Owen, Brian Cox, and Julia Stiles.

The film was directed by Doug Liman and adapted for the screen by Tony Gilroy and William Blake Herron from the novel of the same name written by Robert Ludlum, who also produced the film alongside Frank Marshall (though Ludlum died in 2001). Universal Studios released the film to theaters in the United States on June 14, 2002 and it received a positive critical and public reaction. The film was followed by a 2004 sequel, The Bourne Supremacy, and a third part released in 2007 entitled The Bourne Ultimatum.

Plot

A crew of Italian fishermen find a man floating in the Mediterranean, with two gunshot wounds in his back. Whilst treating the unconscious body, the ship's medical officer finds a device with the number of a safe deposit box embedded in the man's hip. The man wakes up, and discovers he is suffering from retrograde amnesia. Over the next few days on the ship, the man finds he is fluent in several languages and can perform uncommon tasks such as sea navigation and tying exotic knots in the ship's ropes, but he cannot remember anything about himself including his identity or why he was found in the ocean. When the ship docks in Marseilles, he sets off for Zürich to investigate the safety deposit box.

At the CIA headquarters in Langley, Deputy Director Ward Abbot finds out about a failed assassination attempt on dictator Nykwana Wombosi. Meanwhile in Zürich, the amnesiac is approached by two police officers and when they attempt to arrest him, he knocks them both unconscious using advanced hand-to-hand combat.

The next morning, he visits a bank using the number that was embedded in his hip, and opens a safe deposit box to find several passports containing his picture (all under different names and nationalities), large amounts of assorted currencies, and a handgun. He assumes the name from the first passport, Jason Bourne. He takes all the passports and money, but leaves the handgun. As he leaves, a bank employee calls the CIA black ops group Operation Treadstone, stating that Bourne has been sighted.

After being chased by police, Bourne escapes into the U.S. Consulate where he is again pursued by authorities. Bourne escapes and finds a woman name Marie, offering her $20,000 to take him to an address in Paris. In the United States, Alexander Conklin, the head of Treadstone, assures Deputy Director Abbott that he will destroy any evidence connecting them to the field agent, Jason Bourne, responsible for the failed assassination attempt on Wombosi. He activates three "assets" to take down Bourne: Castel, Manheim, and The Professor.

Bourne arrives at the address on his passport, and after studying the apartment, he hits redial on his phone and is connected to the Hotel Regina, who recognize one of his aliases from the British passport, John Michael Kane. They tell him that Kane died two weeks before in a car crash. Whilst they are in the apartment Castel attacks and an intense fight ensues. Bourne breaks Castel's leg and arm and interrogates him, but Castel remains silent. Marie finds wanted posters in Castel's bag with both her and Bourne's pictures on them; and becomes hysterical. As Bourne attempts to calm her down, Castel uses the opportunity to jump out of the window to his death. Marie goes into shock, and Bourne swiftly escorts her from the building.

Meanwhile, Conklin plants a body in the morgue in an attempt to fool Wombosi into thinking Kane is dead, but Wombosi recognizes that the body is not his assailant. Using a sniper rifle, The Professor assassinates Wombosi in his home. Bourne investigates the incident and concludes that he was an assassin prior to his amnesia. He and Marie leave the city and travel into the French countryside to stay at the house of Eamon, an old friend of Marie's, where Jason decides that he no longer wants to be who he was.

In the morning, The Professor comes to kill Jason. Bourne uses a shotgun to blow up a propane tank ad cloud the view of the sniping Professor. After a brief standoff in a cropfield, Bourne shoots The Professor twice with the shotgun and interrogates him briefly, and The Professor reveals their mutual connection to Operation Treadstone before he dies from blood loss.

Bourne sends Marie away for her own safety. He contacts and meets with Conklin, and planst a tracking device on Conklin's vehicle to discover the location of Operation Treadstone's safe house in Paris. After following the vehicle, he gains access to the Treadstone's safe house where Nicky Parsons and Conklin are.

Bourne holds Conklin and Parsons at gunpoint, and begins to remember his last mission through successive flashbacks. He was on Wombosi's yacht and placed a gun to the back of Wombosi's head. Before he pulls the trigger, Wombosi sees him, and Bourne looks around the room and sees Wombosi's sleeping wife and children. Stricken with an attack of conscience, Bourne leaves the boat, but is shot twice by one of Wombosi's bodyguards before jumping overboard. Bourne loses consciousness and is discovered by the fishermen.

Bourne tells Conklin that he is leaving Treadstone and warns him not to try to follow him. Conklin reveals he has a radio in his pocket transmitting. After knocking Conklin unconscious, Bourne leaves Nicky unharmed, has a shootout in the stairwell with several CIA agents, and escapes into the night.

Abbott, decides that Treadstone should be closed down for good, and has Manheim assassinate Conklin. Abbott goes before an oversight committee and explains Treadstone as an ineffective assassin-training program, then immediately shifts the focus of the hearing to an idea for a new project codenamed "Blackbriar". Sometime later, Jason finds Marie renting out scooters to tourists in Greece, and the two reunite.

Production

Director Doug Liman stated that he had been a fan of the source novel by Robert Ludlum since he read it in high school. Near the end of production of Liman's previous film Swingers, Liman decided to develop a film adaptation of the novel. After more than two years of securing rights to the book from Warner Brothers and a further year of screenplay development with screenwriter Tony Gilroy, the film went through two years of production.[2] From the onset of filming, difficulties with the studio slowed the film's development and caused a rift between the director and Universal Studios, as executives were unhappy with the film's pacing, emphasis on small scale action sequences, and the general relationship between themselves and Liman, who was suspicious of direct studio involvement.[3] A number of reshoots and rewrites late in development and scheduling problems delayed the film from its original release target date of September 2001 to June 2002 and took it $8,000,000 over budget from the initial budget of $52,000,000; screenwriter Tony Gilroy faxed elements of screenplay rewrites almost throughout the entire duration of filming.[3] A particular point of contention in regards to the original Tony Gilroy script were the scenes set in the farmhouse near the film's conclusion. Liman and actor Matt Damon fought to keep the scenes in the film after they were excised in a third-act rewrite that was insisted upon by the studio. Liman and Damon argued that, though the scenes were low key, they were integral to the audience's understanding of the Bourne character and the film's central themes. The farmhouse sequence consequently went through many rewrites from its original incarnation before its inclusion in the final product.[3] Other issues included the studio's desire to substitute Montreal or Prague for Paris in order to lower costs, Liman's insistence on the use of a French-speaking film crew, and poor test audience reactions to the film's Paris finale. The latter required a late return to location in order to shoot a new, more action-oriented conclusion to the Paris story arc.[4] Damon described the production as a struggle, citing the early conflicts that he and Liman had with the studio, but denied that it was an overtly difficult process, stating, "When I hear people saying that the production was a nightmare it's like, a 'nightmare'? Shooting's always hard, but we finished."[5]

Liman's directorial method was often hands-on. Many times he operated the camera himself in order to create what he believed was a more intimate relationship between himself, the material, and the actors. He felt that this connection was lost if he simply observed the recording on a monitor. This was a mindset he developed from his background as a small-scale indie film maker.[6]

Liman approached a wide range of actors for the role of Bourne, including Russell Crowe and Sylvester Stallone, before he eventually cast Matt Damon. Liman found that Damon understood and appreciated that, though The Bourne Identity would have its share of action, the focus was primarily on character and plot.[7] Damon, who had never played such a physically demanding role, insisted on performing many of the stunts himself. With stunt choreographer Nick Powell and trainer Jeff Imada, Damon underwent three months of extensive training in stunt work, the use of weapons, boxing, and eskrima. Damon eventually performed a significant number of the film's stunts himself, including hand-to-hand combat and climbing the safe house walls near the film's conclusion.[6] Franka Potente's performance in Run Lola Run prompted Liman to approach her for the part of Marie Helena Kreutz. Liman desired to cast an actress who was unfamiliar to American audiences yet would be a suitable opposite for the Bourne character. Filming took place in Prague, Paris, Imperia, Rome, Mykonos, and Zürich; several scenes set in Zürich were also filmed in Prague.[2]

The acclaimed car chase sequence was filmed primarily by the second unit under director Alexander Witt. The unit shot in various locations around Paris while Liman was filming the main story arc elsewhere in the city. The finished footage was eventually edited together to create the illusion of a coherent journey. Liman confessed that "anyone who really knows Paris will find it illogical", since few of the locations used in the car chase actually connect to each other.[4] Liman took only a few of the shots himself; his most notable chase sequence shots were those of Matt Damon and Franka Potente while inside the car.[2]

The inner workings of the fictitious Treadstone organization were inspired by Liman's father's job in the National Security Agency (NSA) under President Ronald Reagan. Of particular inspiration were Liman's father's memoirs regarding his involvement in the investigation of the Iran-Contra affair. Many aspects of the Alexander Conklin character were based on his father's recollections of Oliver North. Liman admitted that he jettisoned much of the content of the novel beyond the central premise, in order to modernize the material and to conform it to his own beliefs regarding United States foreign policy. However, Liman was careful not to cram his political views down "the audience's throat". There were initial concerns regarding the film's possible obsolescence and overall reception in the aftermath of the September 11th attacks, but these concerns proved groundless.[2]

Cast

  • Matt Damon as Jason Bourne: an amnesiac assassin out of Paris who is being pursued by his former employers.
  • Franka Potente as Marie Helena Kreutz: a Bohemian German traveller helping Bourne, who in the middle forms a relationship with him.
  • Chris Cooper as Alexander Conklin: the coordinator of Treadstone and Bourne's immediate superior.
  • Brian Cox as Ward Abbott: a CIA Deputy Director and Conklin's immediate superior.
  • Clive Owen as The Professor: a Treadstone operative based out of Barcelona.
  • Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Nykwana Wombosi: a deposed African dictator who was Bourne's last target prior to his amnesia.
  • Gabriel Mann as Danny Zorn: Conklin's assistant and a key member of Operation Treadstone's control team.
  • Julia Stiles as Nicky Parsons: a CIA field operative coordinating logistics for agents; she operates out of Paris
  • Nicky Naude as Castel: a Treadstone operative based out of Rome.
  • Russell Levy as Manheim: a Treadstone operative based out of Hamburg.

Reception

The critical reception of the film was largely positive, with the film review collection website, Rotten Tomatoes, giving the film an 83% approval rating.[8] Roger Ebert gave the film three stars and praised it for its ability to absorb the viewer in its "spycraft" and "Damon's ability to be focused and sincere" concluding that the film was "unnecessary, but not unskilled".[9] Walter Chaw of Film Freak Central praised the film for its pacing and action sequences, describing them as "kinetic, fair, and intelligent, every payoff packaged with a moment's contemplation crucial to the creation of tension" and that the movie could be understood as a clever subversion of the genre.[10] Charles Taylor of Salon.com acclaimed the film as "entertaining, handsome and gripping, The Bourne Identity is something of an anomaly among big-budget summer blockbusters: a thriller with some brains and feeling behind it, more attuned to story and character than to spectacle" and praised Liman for giving the film a "tough mindedness" that never gives way into "cynicism or hopelessness".[11] Ed Gonzalez of Slant Magazine also noted Doug Liman's "restrained approach to the material" as well as Matt Damon and Franka Potente's strong chemistry but ultimately concluded the film was "smart but not smart enough".[12] J. Hoberman of The Village Voice dismissed the film as "banal" and as a disappointment compared against Liman's previous indie releases;[13] Owen Gleiberman also criticised the film for a "sullen roteness that all of Liman's supple handheld staging can't disguise".[14] Particular acclaim was directed toward the film's central car chase which was described as an exciting action highlight and one of the best realized in the genre.[15][16]

In its opening weekend, The Bourne Identity took in (USD) $27,118,640 in 2,638 theaters. The film grossed $121,661,683 in the United States and $92,263,424 elsewhere for a total worldwide gross of $214,034,224.[1]

Awards

Year Organization Award Category/Recipient Result
2003 ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards ASCAP Award Top Box Office Films: John Powell Won[17]
2003 Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA Saturn Award Best Action/Adventure/Thriller Film Nominated[17]
2003 American Choreography Awards American Choreography Award Outstanding Achievement in Fight Choreography: Nick Powell Won[17]
2003 Art Directors Guild Excellence in Production Design Award Feature Film - Contemporary Films Nominated[17]

Releases and sequels

On January 21, 2003 Universal Studios released The Bourne Identity on VHS, and on DVD in the US in two formats; a single-disc widescreen collector's edition and a single-disc full screen collector's edition. Both contain supplemental materials including a making-of documentary, a commentary from director Doug Liman and deleted scenes. On July 13, 2004 Universal studios released a new DVD of the film in the US in preparation of the sequel's cinema debut.[18] This DVD also came in two formats: a single-disc widescreen extended edition and a single-disc full screen extended edition. Both contain supplemental materials including interviews with Matt Damon, deleted scenes, alternative opening and ending, a documentary on the consulate fight and information features on the CIA and amnesia. The alternate ending on the DVD has Bourne collapsing during the search for Marie, waking up with Abbot standing over him, and getting an offer to return to the CIA. Neither contain the commentary or DTS tracks present in the collector's edition. The film was also released on UMD for Sony's PlayStation Portable on August 30, 2005 and on HD DVD on July 24, 2007. A trilogy set was released on Blu-ray in January 2009.[19]

The Bourne Identity was followed by a 2004 sequel, The Bourne Supremacy, which received a similar positive critical and public reception,[20] but received some criticism for its hand-held camerawork, which observers argued made action sequences difficult to see.[21] The Bourne Supremacy was directed by Paul Greengrass with Doug Liman returning as a producer and Matt Damon reprising his role as Jason Bourne. A third film, The Bourne Ultimatum, was released in 2007 and again was directed by Paul Greengrass and starred Matt Damon. Like The Bourne Supremacy, Ultimatum received generally positive critical and public reception, but also received similar criticism for the camera-work.[22] With the release of The Bourne Ultimatum on DVD, a new DVD of The Bourne Identity was included in a boxed set with The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum. The boxed set is entitled The Jason Bourne Collection.

Universal is moving ahead with a fourth installment of the Bourne franchise. Though both Matt Damon and Paul Greengrass claimed they were calling it quits after the third installment, both are reported to be attached to the fourth film.[23]

In 2008, The Bourne Identity was adapted into a video game, The Bourne Conspiracy. The game was available for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.[24]

Soundtrack

Untitled

The official soundtrack score was released on June 11, 2002. It contains selections of music composed by prolific composer John Powell and was performed by The Hollywood Studio Symphony. In addition to the score, the film also featured the song "Extreme Ways" by Moby and"Southern Sun / Ready Steady Go" by Paul Oakenfold. The soundtrack won an ASCAP Award.[25]

References

  1. ^ a b c "The Bourne Identity (2002)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved May 16, 2009.
  2. ^ a b c d The Bourne Identity DVD commentary featuring Doug Liman [2003]
  3. ^ a b c King, Tom. "Bourne to be Wild". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 12 March 2007. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  4. ^ a b Wells, Jeffrey. "Bourne on His Back". reel.com. Retrieved 12 March 2007. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  5. ^ Wadowski, Heather. "Interview with Matt Damon". Moviehabit.com. Retrieved 19 March 2007. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  6. ^ a b The Birth of the Bourne Identity DVD Making of Documentary [2003]
  7. ^ Hanrahan, Denise. "Interview with Doug Liman". BBC.co.uk. Retrieved 14 March 2007. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  8. ^ "The Bourne Identity". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2007-08-06.
  9. ^ Ebert, Roger. "The Bourne Identity Review". rogerebert.suntimes.com. Retrieved 8 March 2007. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  10. ^ Chaw, Walter. "The Bourne Identity Review". filmfreakcentral.com. Retrieved 8 March 2007. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  11. ^ Taylor, Charles. "The Bourne Identity Review". Salon.com. Retrieved 13 March 2007. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  12. ^ Gonzalez, Ed. "The Bourne Identity Review". slantmagazine.com. Retrieved 8 March 2007. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  13. ^ Hoberman, J. "Zero for Conduct". villagevoice.com. Retrieved 24 March 2007. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  14. ^ Gleiberman, Owen. "The Bourne Identity Review". ew.com. Retrieved 25 March 2007. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  15. ^ Beierle, Aaron. "The Bourne Identity DVD Review". dvdtalk.com. Retrieved 8 March 2007. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  16. ^ Clinton, Paul. "The Bourne Identity Review". cnn.com. Retrieved 8 March 2007. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  17. ^ a b c d "The Bourne Identity (2002) Awards". IMDB.com. Retrieved 14 March 2007. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  18. ^ Arnold, Thomas K. (July 26, 2004). "Studios big on double features". USA Today. Retrieved May 16, 2009. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  19. ^ Ault, Susanne (February 6, 2009). "Universal bundles Blu-ray catalog titles". Video Business. Retrieved May 16, 2009. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  20. ^ "The Bourne Supremacy (2004)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 14 March 2007.
  21. ^ "The Bourne Ultimatum" (Registration required). The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved May 16, 2009. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  22. ^ Corliss, Richard (August 2, 2007). "The Bourne Ultimatum: A Macho Fantasy". Time. Retrieved May 16, 2009. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  23. ^ "Damon working on fourth Bourne film with director Paul Greengrass". CBC.ca. March 17, 2009. Retrieved May 16, 2009.
  24. ^ Saltzman, Marc (June 13, 2008). "Ludlum's 'Bourne' transfers well to video game". USA Today. Retrieved May 16, 2009. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  25. ^ "World Class". ASCAP. Retrieved May 16, 2009.
Wikiquote has quotations related to The Bourne Identity.
Preceded by Box office number-one films of 2002 (UK)
September 8 		Succeeded by
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Bourne_Identity_(2002_film)&oldid=290409436"