Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Steven Spielberg's....'The Terminal'

The Terminal is a 2004 comedy-drama film directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Tom Hanks and Catherine Zeta-Jones. It is about a man trapped in a terminal at JFK International Airport when he is denied entry into the United States and at the same time cannot return to his native country, the fictitious Krakozhia, due to a revolution.

Viktor Navorski arrives at JFK International Airport, but finds that he cannot leave the airport. While he was on route to the United States, a revolution was started in his home nation of Krakozhia. Due to the civil war, the United States no longer recognizes Krakozhia as a sovereign nation and denies Viktor's entrance to the United States since he technically has no citizenship. Unable to leave the airport or return to Krakozhia, Viktor instead lives in the terminal.

Viktor quickly befriends the staff at the terminal while being under the watchful eye of Immigration Officer Frank Dixon, who wants Navorski removed from the airport. Initially being deprived of food by Dixon as a method of trying to get Navorski arrested and made someone else's problem, Navorski takes on the task of retrieving vacant baggage trolleys for the 25 cent reward from the machine. He uses this money to buy food from Burger King until eventually Dixon prevents him from collecting. He then makes his first friend, a catering car driver named Enrique who asks him to approach a female security officer named Dolores for him in exchange for food. After meeting flight attendant Amelia Warren, and being asked out to dinner, Navorski tries to earn money in order to ask Amelia out instead. He finally gets an off-the-books job as a construction worker at the airport earning $19 per hour.


One day, Viktor explains to Amelia that the purpose of his visit to New York is to collect an autograph of the jazz tenor saxophonist Benny Golson. His late father was a jazz enthusiast. He had discovered the "Great Day in Harlem" photograph in a Hungarian newspaper in 1958, and vowed to get an autograph of all the 57 jazz musicians featured on the photograph.

A few months later, the news reports that the war in Krakozhia is over, but Dixon will still not allow Viktor to enter the United States. Amelia reveals that she had asked her 'friend', actually a married government official with whom she had long been having an intermittent affair, to assist Viktor in obtaining permission to travel within the US, but Viktor is disappointed to learn she has renewed her relationship with the man during this process.
To make matters worse, Dixon needs to sign the form granting Viktor the right to remain in the United States, but refuses, instead deciding to deport him out of spite. Fortunately one of Viktor's friends from the airport Rajan Gupta (Kumar Pallana) runs in front of Viktor's plane. This action causes the plane to be delayed to give Viktor enough time to go into New York and obtain the autograph. Viktor leaves the airport after receiving a uniform coat from a U.S. Customs and Border Protection Assistant Port Director and hails a cab. As Viktor prepares to take the taxi to the Ramada Inn, 161 Lexington Avenue, in New York, where Benny Golson is performing, he observes Amelia exiting from a cab, where she gives him a wistful smile. He has a short conversation with the cab driver, telling him how to avoid traffic on the way to the hotel and that he is from Krakozhia. The driver tells Viktor that he is from Albania and arrived Thursday of that week. He attends the show and collects the autograph, finally completing the collection. Afterwards, Viktor leaves and hails a taxi, telling the driver: 'I am going home.'

Such a good movie to experience... Spielberg's making always have the difference. Also the Casting is superb. There is no one other than Tom Hanks to draw this picture.

This is for the real lovers of cinema.... Please watch this Classic...


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