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The Terminal (2002)
Starring Tom Hanks, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Stanley Tucci, and Diego Luna. Cinematography by Janusz Kaminski. Edited by Michael Kahn. Produced by Walter F. Parkes, Laurie MacDonald, and Steven Spielberg. Written by Sacha Gervasi and Jeff Nathanson. Directed by Steven Spielberg.
Viktor Navorski is on his first trip to America. While in transit on the airplane, his home country of Krakozhia erupts in a fiery revolt. The United Nations will not recognize his country under their new leadership and so Viktor, legally speaking, has a passport from nowhere. No flight will be returning to Krakozhia until the fighting has subsided and Viktor is unauthorized to step foot on American soil. So he is stranded in the airport for hours, which leads into days, which leads into months. Over time he learns to survive by setting up a home in an abandoned wing of the terminal and negotiating for food. With no end to the conflict in Krakozhia in site, it is unknown how long he will have to stay.
In 1988 political refugee Merhan Karimi Nasseri flew to London to search for his family. But immediately upon his arrival he was sent back to Paris because he lacked the proper documentation. It seems that before he left for England his briefcase containing all of the papers concerning his refugee status was stolen. Nasseri was to be deported from France, but with no written records it was unclear which country he should be deported to. And without a visa of any sort he was not allowed to leave the airport. So he waited. And waited. And waited. For eleven years he lived in Terminal One of the Charles de Gaulle Airport, surviving on the charity of travelers. He had completely slipped through the legal cracks and became a victim of bureaucracy. Finally, in 1999, Nasseri was given permission to leave and travel freely throughout Europe, but the years in the airport have taken a toll on his mental stability and he refused to leave. It was Nasseri’s story, minus all the crazy, that inspired Andrew Niccol and Sacha Gervasi to develop their screenplay about a man living in an airport terminal.
The lighthearted fun of Catch Me If You Can was infectious and Steven Spielberg was in search of another feel good comedy. When he came across Gervasi’s script, he was immediately taken with it. After a few revisions by Jeff Nathanson, who had written the Catch Me If You Can screenplay, Spielberg slated The Terminal as his next project. As would be expected with any of his projects, all stops were pulled. A full sized airport terminal set was constructed in a retired California airplane hanger with fully functional flight information boards and escalators. Thirty five restaurants and retail stores were situated in the terminal, some staffed by actual employees from the represented franchises. Through the terminal windows the airfield was recreated on one of the larges matte paintings ever constructed for a film. Everything comes together beautifully and truly appears to be a real airport. The Terminal opened up to strong reviews and eager audiences and ended up doing fairly well in the box office. Incidentally, this isn’t the fist time Nasseri’s story has been told on film. In 1993 Philippe Lioret released Tombés du ciel that was also inspired by the situation.
Budget: $60,000,000
Total US Gross: $77,049,000
Genre: Comedy
Runtime: 128 Minutes
US Release Date: 6/18/04
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Awards: none
Tagline: Life Is Waiting.
Quote: “Sometimes you have to ignore the rules and concentrate on the people.”
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