Line #9 Film/TheInterpreter


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/img_1042.JPG]]
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3	''The Interpreter'' is a 2005 political thriller film directed by Creator/SydneyPollack, starring Creator/NicoleKidman and Creator/SeanPenn.
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5	A UsefulNotes/UnitedNations Interpreter, Silvia Broome (Kidman) returned late one evening to her work station and overhears a [[HeKnowsTooMuch plot to assassinate]] Edmond Zuwanie (Creator/EarlCameron), the leader of her home country. Fearing for her safety, a Secret Service Agent in Foreign Dignitary Protection (Penn) is assigned to investigate and keep an eye on her. The movie was the first ever movie to be filmed inside the United Nations including the chambers of the U.N. Security Council.
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7	This was the final film Pollack directed.
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10	!!This film features examples of:
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12	* BatmanGambit: [[spoiler: Silvia's plan to assassinate Zuwanie is one that's hinging on 1) him coming to the UN to begin with and 2) going into the safe room where she is waiting.]]
13	** [[spoiler: Furthermore is the implication that she's been working at the UN for years hoping that this would happen.]]
14	* BlackAndGreyMorality: Zuwanie is by all accounts a despicable human being, [[spoiler: but Silvia eventually snaps and tries to kill him.]]
15	* {{Bulungi}}: Matobo again. It's a recognizable {{Expy}} of {{UsefulNotes/Zimbabwe}}. Ironically, Zimbabwean censors did not find anything objectionable and allowed it to be released in the country.
16	* ChekhovsGun: It's an actual gun in this case. Dot comments on how frequently Zuwanie is photographed holding a gun. FBI Agent King says he'll bring it to the U.N. with him because world leaders don't have to go through metal detectors. [[spoiler:During his U.N. visit, Silvia grabs the gun from him and threatens him with it]].
17	* ChekhovsSkill: Silvia is so familiar with the layout of U.N. Headquarters that one of her co-workers jokingly asks if she designed the building. This is how she is able to [[spoiler:sneak into the Safe Room and confront Zuwanie]] near the end.
18	* ChildSoldiers: In one of the movie's earliest scenes, Simon and Xola are gunned down by two young boys carrying assault rifles. The boys appear to be completely desensitized to violence; there's almost no expression on their faces during the murder.
19	* ConcealmentEqualsCover: Averted. During the gun fight in Silvia's apartment, Gamba hides behind an inner wall. Tobin, who already knew the place, simply shoots through the wall and kills him.
20	* ConLang: [[http://web.archive.org/web/20050425234251/http://www.cityboxoffice.co.uk/africanlanguagecentre/call/interpreter.htm Ku]], the official language of Matobo.
21	* CreatorCameo: Director Sydney Pollack plays Tobin's boss.
22	* TheDeadHaveNames: Simon's journal has a disturbingly LongList of people who died violently under Zuwanie's government. He lists their names and how they died and he includes photographs of a few of them. His project is complicated by the Matoban people who avert this trope; naming the dead is against their cultural beliefs.
23	* DeadpanSnarker: Both Silvia and Tobin, mostly at each other. Also, Dot, ''a lot.''
24	* DecoyProtagonist: [[spoiler: Silvia starts off as the protagonist, but she eventually snaps and goes on the run, intending to kill Zuwanie herself, leaving Tobin to stop both the assassination plots.]]
25	* DissonantSerenity: The entire time that that Dr. Zuwanie has a gun pointed at his head, he shows no emotion whatsoever, not does he when Tobin reveals to him that his FalseFlagOperation has fallen apart. It's clear that he's resigned to his fate, whatever it may be.
26	* TheDragon: [[spoiler: Lud]] to [[spoiler: Zuwanie]].
27	* DyingTown: The African village that Simon, Xola and Phillipe drive through at the beginning. The town is largely deserted because most of the residents have been killed by Zuwanie's forces or have run away. Most of the buildings are covered in dust and obviously falling apart.
28	* FalseFlagOperation: [[spoiler:The assassination plot is actually being orchestrated by Zuwanie and his supporters to paint his opposition as terrorist thugs, designed to give him an excuse to crack down on his political opponents and boost support in his favor ahead of his indictment trial.]]
29	* FictionalCountry: Matobo is a loosely-disguised amalgam of Uganda and Zimbabwe.
30	* FreudianExcuse: Given what [[spoiler: her family went through at Zuwanie's hands]]. it's not hard to understand why [[spoiler: Silvia's trying to kill him]].
31	* FullCircleRevolution: Dr. Zuwanie started as a freedom fighter, before becoming a notorious dictator. FBI Agent King comments on many rulers this has happened to: "They all begin as liberators and 20 minutes later they're as corrupt as the tyrants they've overthrown."
32	* GenreSavvy: [[spoiler: Kuman Kuman]] predicts the truth about who is behind the assassination plot early on, correctly analyzing how it's something a person like that would do (referencing the principals behind the [[spoiler:WoundedGazelleGambit]] trope, and pointing out how it would benefit him in such a setting. That scene even gets a flashback once the authorities figure it out.
33	* GovernmentInExile: Kuman Kuman, an opponent to Zuwanie's regime living in America.
34	* HiddenDepths: Zuwanie does show a little guilt and introspection from time to time.
35	* InternalReveal: Silvia and the Secret Service finding out that [[spoiler: her brother]] and Xola were murdered, which the audience knows from the first scene.
36	* JobTitle
37	* JustifiedCriminal: [[spoiler: Silvia]] is portrayed as this for wanting to kill Zuwanie, and doesn't even get arrested at the end.
38	* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Edmond Zuwanie is Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe in all but name.
39	* OhCrap: In the scene where Tobin's colleague Doug is tailing bad guy Gamba on a bus, [[spoiler: just after Gamba gets off a passenger says "Would you look at that - guy forgot his lunch" and picks up a brown bag he left. Doug then says "Oh, man" when he realises that the bus is about to blow up...]]
40	* ProtagonistJourneyToVillain: Zuwanie was initially hailed as a hero for his role in overthrowing an extremely corrupt government. Now he's internationally despised for his regime's many human rights abuses. [[spoiler:Silvia herself snaps after she learns Zuwanie had her brother killed, and tries to assassinate him herself.]]
41	* TheReveal: [[spoiler:The initial assassins were an attempt by Zuwanie to deter his opponents from indicting him.]]
42	* SanitySlippage: Silvia has this after she learns about the death of her brother. She's so grief-stricken that she finally decides to try and kill Zuwanie herself. And the entire time she's holding him at gunpoint in the UN safe room she has a manic look on her face; it's clear that she doesn't give a damn about the consequences of killing a foreign dictator in the halls of the UN. It's only until Tobin threatens to shoot her himself that she ultimately backs down.
43	* SheepInSheepsClothing: [[spoiler: Kuman Kuman]] is briefly suspected as having killed Daniel and Xola and possibly being behind the assassination plot but is innocent of both and says that he would have been willing to [[spoiler: form a coalition government with Xola to oust Zuwanie and rebuild their country]].
44	* SoleSurvivor: Phillipe to the opening massacre at the meeting he arranged. It causes him to have an attack of ItsAllMyFault.
45	* StateVisit: The film is set against an impending visit by the president Matobo to the United Nations, and the attempt to unravel an assassination plot against him before he arrives.
46	* TeaserOnlyCharacter: The opening scene focuses on Xola and Simon before they're gunned down by {{Child Soldier}}s working for Zuwanie.
47	* VillainProtagonist: [[spoiler: Silvia snaps toward the end and tries to assassinate Zuwanie herself.]]
48	* WouldBeRudeToSayGenocide: Dr. Zuwanie claims that his actions are merely his way of dealing with "terrorists".
49	* YouHaveToBelieveMe: Averted. Sylvia clearly and concisely explains what she overheard, and her tip is dealt with competently and professionally.

Context Film / TheInterpreter