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Frantic (film)
Encyclopedia
Frantic is a 1988
thriller film directed by Roman Polanski
and starring Harrison Ford
and Emmanuelle Seigner
.
plays Dr. Richard Walker, a surgeon visiting Paris
with his wife Sondra (Betty Buckley
) for a medical conference. At their hotel, she is unable to unlock her suitcase, and Walker determines that she has picked up the wrong one at the airport. While Walker is taking a shower, his wife mysteriously disappears from their hotel room.
Still jet-lagged, he searches for her in the hotel with the help of a polite but mostly indifferent staff and then wanders outside to search himself. A vagrant overhears him in a café
and says he saw Walker's wife being forced into a car. Walker is skeptical until he finds his wife's ID bracelet on the cobblestones. He contacts the Paris police and the US embassy, but their responses are bureaucratic and there is little hope anyone will look for her.
As Walker carries on the search himself (with input from a very sympathetic but wary desk clerk at the hotel), he stumbles onto a murder
scene and then encounters the streetwise young Michelle (Emmanuelle Seigner
), who had mistakenly picked up his wife's suitcase at the airport. It transpires that Michelle is a career smuggler but does not know for whom she is working. She reluctantly helps Walker in his increasingly frantic attempt to learn what was in the switched suitcase and to trade whatever it is for the return of his wife.
It turns out that hidden within a small replica of the Statue of Liberty
is a krytron
, a small electronic switch used in the detonators of nuclear devices. The film ends with a confrontation beside the River Seine where the terrorists release Walker's wife. However, a firefight ensues between the terrorists and Israeli agents. During the crossfire, the terrorists are killed but Michelle is also shot. Angry and upset, Walker throws the krytron into the river.
The French locations and Ennio Morricone
's musical score create much of the film's atmosphere. Grace Jones
' recording of "I've Seen That Face Before (Libertango)
" is heard at key moments in the film.
and Roger Ebert
on the TV show Siskel & Ebert and The Movies. Pat Collins of WWOR-TV
called it "Polanski's best film ever."
1988 in film
-Top grossing films :- Awards :Academy Awards:* Act of Piracy* Action Jackson, starring Carl Weathers, Craig T. Nelson, Vanity, Sharon Stone* The Adventures of Baron Munchausen* Akira* Alice...
thriller film directed by Roman Polanski
Roman Polanski
Roman Polanski is a French-Polish film director, producer, writer and actor. Having made films in Poland, Britain, France and the USA, he is considered one of the few "truly international filmmakers."...
and starring Harrison Ford
Harrison Ford
Harrison Ford is an American film actor and producer. He is famous for his performances as Han Solo in the original Star Wars trilogy and as the title character of the Indiana Jones film series. Ford is also known for his roles as Rick Deckard in Blade Runner, John Book in Witness and Jack Ryan in...
and Emmanuelle Seigner
Emmanuelle Seigner
Emmanuelle Seigner is a French actress, former fashion model, and singer, best known as the wife of Academy Award winning director Roman Polanski, and for her roles in The Diving Bell and the Butterfly , and Frantic...
.
Synopsis
Harrison FordHarrison Ford
Harrison Ford is an American film actor and producer. He is famous for his performances as Han Solo in the original Star Wars trilogy and as the title character of the Indiana Jones film series. Ford is also known for his roles as Rick Deckard in Blade Runner, John Book in Witness and Jack Ryan in...
plays Dr. Richard Walker, a surgeon visiting Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
with his wife Sondra (Betty Buckley
Betty Buckley
Betty Lynn Buckley is an American theater, film and television actress and singer. She is a Tony Award winner and Grammy Award nominee.-Early life:...
) for a medical conference. At their hotel, she is unable to unlock her suitcase, and Walker determines that she has picked up the wrong one at the airport. While Walker is taking a shower, his wife mysteriously disappears from their hotel room.
Still jet-lagged, he searches for her in the hotel with the help of a polite but mostly indifferent staff and then wanders outside to search himself. A vagrant overhears him in a café
Café
A café , also spelled cafe, in most countries refers to an establishment which focuses on serving coffee, like an American coffeehouse. In the United States, it may refer to an informal restaurant, offering a range of hot meals and made-to-order sandwiches...
and says he saw Walker's wife being forced into a car. Walker is skeptical until he finds his wife's ID bracelet on the cobblestones. He contacts the Paris police and the US embassy, but their responses are bureaucratic and there is little hope anyone will look for her.
As Walker carries on the search himself (with input from a very sympathetic but wary desk clerk at the hotel), he stumbles onto a murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
scene and then encounters the streetwise young Michelle (Emmanuelle Seigner
Emmanuelle Seigner
Emmanuelle Seigner is a French actress, former fashion model, and singer, best known as the wife of Academy Award winning director Roman Polanski, and for her roles in The Diving Bell and the Butterfly , and Frantic...
), who had mistakenly picked up his wife's suitcase at the airport. It transpires that Michelle is a career smuggler but does not know for whom she is working. She reluctantly helps Walker in his increasingly frantic attempt to learn what was in the switched suitcase and to trade whatever it is for the return of his wife.
It turns out that hidden within a small replica of the Statue of Liberty
Statue of Liberty
The Statue of Liberty is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, designed by Frédéric Bartholdi and dedicated on October 28, 1886...
is a krytron
Krytron
The krytron is a cold-cathode gas filled tube intended for use as a very high-speed switch, and was one of the earliest developments of the EG&G Corporation. It is somewhat similar to thyratron...
, a small electronic switch used in the detonators of nuclear devices. The film ends with a confrontation beside the River Seine where the terrorists release Walker's wife. However, a firefight ensues between the terrorists and Israeli agents. During the crossfire, the terrorists are killed but Michelle is also shot. Angry and upset, Walker throws the krytron into the river.
The French locations and Ennio Morricone
Ennio Morricone
Ennio Morricone, Grand Officer OMRI, , is an Italian composer and conductor, who wrote music to more than 500 motion pictures and television series, in a career lasting over 50 years. His scores have been included in over 20 award-winning films as well as several symphonic and choral pieces...
's musical score create much of the film's atmosphere. Grace Jones
Grace Jones
Grace Jones is a Jamaican-American singer, model and actress.Jones secured a record deal with Island Records in 1977, which resulted in a string of dance-club hits. In the late 1970s, she adapted the emerging electronic music style and adopted a severe, androgynous look with square-cut hair and...
' recording of "I've Seen That Face Before (Libertango)
I've Seen That Face Before (Libertango)
"I've Seen That Face Before " is the third single from Grace Jones' album Nightclubbing. The song juxtaposes "Libertango", an Argentine tango classic, written by bandoneonist Ástor Piazzolla and first recorded by the composer himself in 1974, against a reggae arrangement and new lyrics penned by...
" is heard at key moments in the film.
Cast
- Harrison FordHarrison FordHarrison Ford is an American film actor and producer. He is famous for his performances as Han Solo in the original Star Wars trilogy and as the title character of the Indiana Jones film series. Ford is also known for his roles as Rick Deckard in Blade Runner, John Book in Witness and Jack Ryan in...
as Dr. Richard Walker - John MahoneyJohn MahoneyJohn Mahoney is a British born American actor, known for playing Martin "Marty" Crane, the retired police officer, father of Kelsey Grammer's Dr...
as Williams - Betty BuckleyBetty BuckleyBetty Lynn Buckley is an American theater, film and television actress and singer. She is a Tony Award winner and Grammy Award nominee.-Early life:...
as Sondra Walker - Emmanuelle SeignerEmmanuelle SeignerEmmanuelle Seigner is a French actress, former fashion model, and singer, best known as the wife of Academy Award winning director Roman Polanski, and for her roles in The Diving Bell and the Butterfly , and Frantic...
as Michelle - Gérard KleinGérard KleinGérard Klein , known also as Gilles d'Argyre, is a French science fiction writer with sociological training.He is the editor of the prestigious science fiction series Ailleurs et Demain published by Robert Laffont and of the Le Livre de poche science-fiction imprint.In his novella Les virus ne...
as Gaillard
Reception
Frantic was a critical success, but was less than successful at the box office. The film received "Two Thumbs Up" from Gene SiskelGene Siskel
Eugene Kal "Gene" Siskel was an American film critic and journalist for the Chicago Tribune. Along with colleague Roger Ebert, he hosted the popular review show Siskel & Ebert At the Movies from 1975 until his death....
and Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
on the TV show Siskel & Ebert and The Movies. Pat Collins of WWOR-TV
WWOR-TV
WWOR-TV, virtual channel 9 , is the flagship station of the MyNetworkTV programming service, licensed to Secaucus, New Jersey and serving the Tri-State metropolitan area. WWOR is owned by Fox Television Stations, a division of the News Corporation, and is a sister station to Fox network flagship...
called it "Polanski's best film ever."
External links
- Frantic at Yahoo! MoviesYahoo! MoviesYahoo! Movies , provided by the Yahoo! network, is home to a large collection of information on movies, past and new releases, trailers and clips, box office information, and showtimes and movie theater information. Yahoo! Movies also includes red carpet photos, actor galleries, and production...