Author Topic: Unknown  (Read 2966 times)

Offline DJ Doena

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Unknown
« on: April 02, 2011, 05:33:46 PM »


(german title: Unknown Identity)

Actors:
Liam Neeson
January Jones (Mad Men)
Bruno Ganz (Der Untergang / Downfall)
Diane Kruger (Inglourious Basterds)
Frank Langella (Masters of the Universe, Dave)

Plot:
Dr. Martin Harris (Neeson) and his wife (Jones) arrive in Berlin to attend a bio-tech conference. He has to return to the airport because he left a briefcase there and his cab has a crash. When he wakes up in the hospital four days later he's not Dr. Harris anymore. Someone else is Dr. Harris and even his wife doesn't recognize him anymore. What the hell is going on?

My opinion:
I watched this in the theatre (german dubbing) yesterday. I liked that the whole picture took place in my hometown (Berlin) and that it actually was Berlin (and not just a canadian stand-in ;)). I found it amusing that in the dubbed version the only person speaking with an accent was Gina (Kruger) - a german actress. ;)

When I first saw the character played by Bruno Ganz (I never saw Downfall and didn't recognize him) I immediately said "I bet he was with the Stasi" (former east-german secret service) and I was proven right that very minute. What I also liked about this character was that he pointed out that the whole plot didn't make much sense - until the reveal.

The Germans were a bit "too german" sometimes, like when Dr. Harris had to ID himself just to get into the conference room, even though he was on the guest list. The same thing with the cheap hotel just to keep him from getting a place to sleep. And the nurse: "Gretchen Erfurt". Seriously?

When I saw Langella I also instantly knew that he was the baddie. Except for Superman Returns (Perry White) I can't remember him not playing a baddie (He was Skeletor AND Nixon!!!).

The plot reveal had his ups and downs, for example
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The other big plot holes I noticed where these:
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I found Jones' character in general rather useless, which is kind of the same way I feel about her Mad Men character Betty Draper.

Everything considered it was an OK movie which I will watch on DVD again, mainly to watch it in english and check how they did the whole english/german mix.

And for us Germans: The doctor is Stockinger from Kommisar Rex. ;)
« Last Edit: April 02, 2011, 05:58:40 PM by DJ Doena »
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Offline Dragonfire

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Re: Unknown
« Reply #1 on: April 03, 2011, 04:08:48 AM »
I liked this one overall, though I agree, there are some issues with it.

I still need to write about it here.

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Re: Unknown
« Reply #2 on: April 03, 2011, 04:19:15 AM »
I liked this one overall, though I agree, there are some issues with it.

I still need to write about it here.

What is to like about it? A bit of filler for the early spring to make a cheap buck with rehashed of elements of Taken mixed with some amnesia, spun along a predictable plot. The only thing i liked about it was the location as it's not often you seem modern day Berlin on film. But the directing wasn't great and nether was the editing so it kind of killed that.

Seeing Bruno Granz was good bit of relief however. And yes he does a good job of pointing out how stupid this film is Doena.

VirtualScot

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Re: Unknown
« Reply #3 on: April 03, 2011, 04:29:43 AM »
Another point i like to bring up is the hatred from any one of the Saudi royal family  

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