The Tourist
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
Screenplay by	Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck Christopher McQuarrie Julian Fellowes
Based on	Anthony Zimmer by Jérôme Salle
Produced by	Graham King Timothy Headington Roger Birnbaum Gary Barber Jonathan Glickman
Starring	Johnny Depp Angelina Jolie Paul Bettany Timothy Dalton Steven Berkoff Rufus Sewell Christian De Sica
Cinematography	John Seale
Edited by	Joe Hutshing Patricia Rommel
Music by	James Newton Howard
Production companies	Columbia Pictures GK Films Spyglass Entertainment StudioCanal
Distributed by	Sony Pictures Releasing
Release date	December 10, 2010 (2010-12-10)
Running time	103 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$100 million[1]
Box office	$278.3 million[2]

The Tourist is a 2010 American romantic thriller film co-written and directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck and starring Johnny Depp, Angelina Jolie, Paul Bettany, and Timothy Dalton. It is a remake of the 2005 French film Anthony Zimmer. GK Films financed and produced the film, with Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions releasing it in most countries through Columbia Pictures.^[3] The $100 million budget film went on to gross $278.3 million at the worldwide box office.^[2]

Despite negative reception from the critics, the film was nominated for three Golden Globes, with a debate arising over the question as to whether it was a comedy or a drama. Henckel von Donnersmarck repeatedly stated it was neither genre, calling it "a travel romance with thriller elements," but that if he had to choose between the two, he would choose comedy.^[4]

Plot

A British woman, Elise Clifton-Ward, is being followed through downtown Paris by French police who are working with Scotland Yard under the direction of Inspector John Acheson. Acheson has spent years hunting Alexander Pearce, Elise's lover, who owes £744 million in back taxes, and is believed to have received plastic surgery to alter his appearance. He is also being hunted by Reginald Shaw, a mobster from whom Pearce stole $2.3 billion. At a Parisian cafe, Elise receives written instructions from Pearce: board the train to Venice, Italy; pick out a man; and let the police believe that he is Pearce. Elise burns the note, evades the police, and boards the train.

On the train, Elise selects Frank Tupelo, a mathematics teacher from a community college in Wisconsin. Acheson salvages information about the plan from the remains of the burned note. Aware of her location, but not of the ruse, a policeman on Shaw's payroll alerts Shaw that Pearce is on the train to Venice with Elise. Shaw immediately proceeds to Venice.

In Venice, Elise invites Frank to stay with her at the Hotel Danieli, where she receives instructions from Pearce to attend a ball. She abandons Frank, who is then chased by Shaw's men. While trying to escape, he is detained by the Italian police, and a corrupt inspector attempts to turn him over to Shaw's men for a bounty. Elise rescues Frank just before he is handed over, leading Shaw's men on an extended boat chase before finally escaping. She leaves Frank at the airport with his passport and money, urging him to go home for his own safety.

Elise goes to see Acheson, who has come to Venice, and is revealed to be an undercover Scotland Yard agent who was under suspension for her suspected sympathies with Pearce. She agrees to participate in a sting operation to bring Pearce to justice. As she tries to find Pearce at the ball, a man places an envelope on her table and disappears into the crowd. She tries to follow him, but is stopped by Frank, who claims to be in love with her and invites her to dance. The police arrive and take Frank into protective custody. Elise reads the note and leaves in her boat, tailed by Shaw and the police.

When Elise gets to the house to which Pearce's note directed her, Shaw takes her hostage, threatening to harm her unless she reveals the location of a hidden safe where Pearce is keeping the stolen money. The police monitor the situation from outside, and Acheson repeatedly refuses to allow Italian police snipers to intervene to rescue Elise. While the police are distracted monitoring the situation, Frank escapes and confronts Shaw, claiming to be Pearce and offering to open the safe if Elise is allowed to leave. Shaw tells Frank to open the safe or he will have Elise tortured. Chief Inspector Jones arrives at the police stake-out, overrides Acheson, and orders the snipers to fire, killing Shaw and his men. Then, to Elise's obvious pleasure, Jones lifts her suspension and fires her.

Acheson receives a message that Pearce has been found nearby, but, on arrival, he learns the police have detained an Englishman who says he is only a tourist being paid to follow instructions and is not Pearce. Elise tells Frank that she loves him, but she also loves Pearce. Frank opens the safe by entering the correct code, revealing that he was Alexander Pearce all along. When the police come back and open the safe with explosives, they find a check for £744 million. Acheson wants to keep pursuing Pearce, but, since the taxes are now paid, Jones closes the case. Pearce and Elise sail away together.

Cast

Production

The project went through a number of directorial and cast changes. Originally, Lasse Hallström was set to direct, with Charlize Theron to play the female lead. After Hallström left, allegedly over scheduling conflicts, Bharat Nalluri came on board, and then Tom Cruise was announced to play the male lead, though he was later replaced by Sam Worthington. When Jolie accepted her role, so did director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, but he, along with Worthington subsequently left, citing "creative differences". After many other directors were considered, including Alfonso Cuarón, Henckel von Donnersmarck returned, re-wrote the script in two weeks, and shot the film in 58 days (including 2nd unit days), with Johnny Depp as the male lead.

Filming began in Paris with Jolie on February 23, 2010,^[5] before moving to Venice, where Depp joined the production on March 1. French Minister of Culture Frédéric Mitterrand visited Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck on set when The Tourist was filming in Place Colette.^[6]

Henckel von Donnersmarck was assisted by stunt coordinator Simon Crane, who devised the boat action sequence. In the DVD director's commentary, Henckel von Donnersmarck recounts that the film's one action sequence was devised by Crane to allow for the speed limitations imposed on boats in Venice. This speed limit was strictly enforced by the Venetian authorities, and there was a policeman on set at all times to make sure no wave movement caused the pillars on which the palazzi are built to be exposed to oxygen. Henckel von Donnersmarck and Crane felt that if one boat was towing the other, this could perhaps be a realistic reason for a slow speed chase.

The whole film was made in only a little over 11 months, counting from the day Henckel von Donnersmarck came on board to re-write and direct to the day of the premiere in New York. It had to be shot so quickly because Depp had to leave for Hawaii to start filming the fourth film of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. The reason post-production had to happen so quickly was because all commercially interesting release dates in 2011 were reserved for the potential start of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.

Themes

Janus symbolism

God Janus

The film repeatedly uses symbolism revolving around the Roman god Janus.^[7][8] In particular:

• At a dinner in Venice, Frank asks Elise about her bracelet, and she replies:

It's the Roman god, Janus. My mother gave it to me when I was little. She wanted to teach me that people have two sides. A good side, a bad side. A past, a future. And that we must accept both in someone we love.

• The safe in Pearce's apartment is hidden behind a Janus-relief.^[9]
• It is revealed that Alexander Pearce has obtained a new face with the help of plastic surgery.

Dostoyevsky references

Portrait of Dostoyevsky by Vasily Perov, 1872

The film's Russian gangsters Virginsky (Igor Jijikine), Lebyadkin (Vladimir Orlov), Liputin (Vladimir Tevlovski), Fedka (Alec Utgoff), and Shigalyov (Mark Zak) all carry names from Fyodor Dostoyevsky's 1873 political novel Demons. First-credited screenwriter and director Donnersmarck has talked of his childhood obsession with the Russian writer,^[10][11] and the Dostoyevskian theme of corrupt police and government resonates throughout the film.^[12][13]

Reception

Soundtrack

The soundtrack CD of The Tourist was released on December 21, 2010.^[29]

References

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to The Tourist.

• Official website
• The Tourist at IMDb
• The Tourist at AllMovie
• The Tourist at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Tourist at Metacritic
• The Tourist at Box Office Mojo