The Interpreter is coming to DVD

Interpreter on DVD


Oscar® winners Nicole Kidman (The Hours, Moulin Rouge) and Sean Penn (Mystic River, Dead Man Walking) star in The Interpreter, coming to DVDand VHS October 4, 2005 from Universal Studios Home Entertainment. Directed by Academy Award® winner Sydney Pollack, The Interpreter is the first feature film ever shot inside New York’s United Nations headquarters.

The Interpreter DVD offers an alternate ending and bonus features including; a look inside the United Nations building with interviews and walking tours conducted by official U.N. personnel; a featurette exploring the life of a real U.N. interpreter; and audio commentary with director Sydney Pollack, among several other special features.

The Interpreter marks the first occasion that a feature film crew was granted access to the inner sanctum of the United Nations. Sydney Pollack’s unprecedented access to the UN building was only achieved after Pollack himself negotiated with UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan. The result is the first cinematic glimpse inside the world’s international headquarters. Alfred Hitchcock was famously denied access when he requested access for the classic North By Northwest. Nicole Kidman had to master the fictional African language of Ku for this role.

On September 10, 2001 in New York City, producers of Kevin Misher, Liza Chasin and Tim Bevan of Working Title Films, and screenwriter Charles Randolph met with the Secret Service’s New York City office chief. This was part of a series of meetings about a political thriller the filmmakers were in the early phases of researching. The conversation turned to terrorism. The agent confided that what he feared most was a terrorist suicide attack in a major US city. The next day, the world changed forever and The Interpreter was set aside. With time, the producers returned to the project, but concerned how their story could be told in a post 9/11 world.