Competition
The Commissioner
Political intrigue forces British minister James Morton to resign.
He is abruptly transferred as an EU-commissar to Brussels. Barely in office,
he receives documents from a mysterious scientist which lead him to a corporate
conspiracy. He begins to investigate, unknowingly putting his career, his
marriage and even his life on the line...
It seems fitting that director George Sluizer sets his political thriller
in multinational Brussels - the Dutchman was born in Paris and remade his
own film Spoorl (1988) in the US as The Vanishing, and directed an international
cast in The Commissioner. Brit John Hurt plays the title role, German actor
Armin Mueller-Stahl is the mysterious informant, and the ravishing Spanish
actress Rosana Pastor plays Morton's colleague, a Portuguese environmental
attache who becomes deeply involved with Morton both professionally and
privately. "It's a classically told film," says director George Sluizer.
"I was interested in the acting element of politics. How do people deal
with always having to pretend?"
The film, produced by Berlin producers Christina Kallas and Luciano
Gloor (Metropolis Film Production) with various European and German subsidies,
interested Sluizer because of its gripping plot, based upon a story by
Stanley Johnson. Furthermore, Sluizer recognises a tradition that is still
unknown in Europe. "We don't make critical films about our institutions,"
he says. "In America, many films deal with the FBI or the Pentagon. The
unification of Europe provides a very timely setting - the more we are
united, the more we will be separated."
Besides questions of political morals and dealing with power, Sluizer
opts for a straightforward thriller with human interest. "What goes on
inside a conservative politician, who must
suddenly deal emotionally with left-wing, ecological issues?"
Synopsis
Under the self-assured direction of the Dutch George Sluizer (The Vanishing,
1992), Stanley Johnson's novel The Commissioner has been adapted for the
big screen as a Euro-thriller about finance, with complex characters, elegant
images (the cameraman is Bruno de Keyzer) and psychological suspense to
the fore.
After a scandal involving illegal armssales, James Morton (John Hurt),
careerist British cabinet minister, is left with no choice but to take
up a post as commissioner for industry in Brussels. Only a few days into
the job, a mysterious German (Armin Mueller-Stahl) leaks papers to him
which suggest a major German chemicals group is producing illegal chemical
weapons.
Together with an English economics journalist (David Morrissey) and
the Greek environmental expert Helena (Rosana Pastor), Morton gets tangled
up in a deadly conflict involving
international industrial espionage and environmental crimes.
(Dir): George Sluizer (Scr): Christina Kallas, George Sluizer
nach dem Roman von Stanley Johnson (Cast): John Hurt, Rosana Pastor, Armin
Mueller-Stahl, David Morrissey (Running time): 108 Minutes
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