“We were afraid we were gonna get thrown out of France.”
Ronin received a slick new Blu-ray release this week courtesy of the fine folks at Arrow Video, and it’s a definite upgrade over previous versions. Re-watching it serves as a reminder that not only is it a great flick with one hell of a car chase, but that it’s the rare pre-Fury Road action thriller to seat a woman behind the wheel for that action sequence. After giving the movie a spin I decided to do it again with the director’s commentary track.
Keep reading to see what I heard on the commentary for…
Ronin (1998)
Commentator: John Frankenheimer (director)
1. He lived in Paris for several years and knows it “better than I know any other city.” That’s part of what inpired him to open the film in Montmartre.
2. The opening pub interior and surrounding cobblestone street is a set.
3. He received notes saying dialogue was needed to “explain the man in the wheelchair, but I just refused to do that.” It’s enough for us to know that he’s a source for connecting employers to gun-wielding employees.
4. He’s a big fan of Stellan Skarsgard, saying “he’s so intelligent and he brings so much to his role.”
5. They used a CCE process in post-production which “exaggerates the blacks and [reduces] the primary colors.”
6. “I have always been an advocate of depth of field,” he says, adding that its appeal rests in the fact that you can have something interesting in the shot at all times.
7. There’s an ordinance in Paris stating “quite clearly that you cannot fire guns” within in the city limits, but he credits the French authorities for going above and beyond in helping the production get around this law. Apparently the restrictions were put in place specifically because of film productions firing off weapons at all hours and raising the ire of the locals.
8. They had a French Formula One driver actually handling the good guy’s car in the first chase scene.
9. He wasn’t sure what to do with the character of Spence (Sean Bean) once he was removed from the team, and he toyed with killing him off via an off-screen shot or later insert. Instead he chose to go against the grain and let Bean live.
10. The film that’s influenced him more than any other is 1966’s Battle of Algiers. “It’s one of the most perfect films I’ve ever watched.”
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