Ronin is a 1998 action/thriller film starring Robert De Niro and
Jean Reno. It tells the story of a group of former intelligence agents who team up to steal a
mysterious metal case.
The movie was written by J.D. Zeik and David Mamet, and
directed by John Frankenheimer. Mamet is credited as "Richard Weisz", reportedly due
to disappointment at having to share credit with Zeik (the originating writer). According to some production sources (notably
Zeik's lawyer), Mamet's contributions were "minor", limited to adding the character Deirdre and most of De Niro's scenes.
According to Frankenheimer , "The credits should read: Story by J.D. Zeik, screenplay by David Mamet. We didn't shoot a
line of Zeik's script." [1]
The title is derived from the Japanese term ronin, used for samurai who had no master; some of the characters in the movie are unemployed agents set adrift by the end of
the Cold War. The movie also makes a lengthy reference to the classic Japanese story, the
47 Ronin.
It is notable for a number of car chase scenes, the last being a particularly lengthy one through the streets and tunnels of
Paris; some scenes utilized up to 150 stunt drivers. Car work has been a speciality
of Frankenheimer, a former amateur racing driver [2], ever
since his 1966 film, Grand Prix. Although action sequences are often shot by a
second unit director, Frankenheimer did all these himself. While he was aware of the many innovations in digital special effects since then, he elected to film all these sequences live, to obtain the maximum level of
authenticity. To further this, many of the high-speed shots have the actual actors in the cars. Sudduth did nearly all of his own
driving, while other cars were right hand drive models with stunt drivers driving - crashes were handled by a stuntman.
The contents of the metal case are never revealed (see MacGuffin). Mamet has written that
he believes revealing such details can be anticlimactic, that a director is wiser to allow the audience's imagination to answer
the question. This is a technique Mamet has used repeatedly in his films.
Porn star Ron Jeremy had a small role, credited as "Hyatt" which is derived from his birth
name "Ronald Jeremy Hyatt". However, scenes involving him were eventually cut by the studio. The basis of his character in
the film is unknown.
There has been speculation as of late that a sequel was to be filmed somewhere in Asia, with De Niro and Reno reprising their
original roles alongside actors James Franco, Charlotte Rampling, and Tony Leung Chiu-Wai [citation needed].
Synopsis
In Paris a group of mercenaries are brought together by a mysterious Irish woman
named Deirdre (Natascha McElhone): self-professed ‘weapons man’ Spence
(Sean Bean), driver Larry (Skipp Sudduth), computer
expert Gregor (Stellan Skarsgård), Vincent (Jean
Reno) who can procure anything in Paris, and Sam (Robert De Niro), who appears to
be the most experienced of the group, observing not only everything around him, but the people as well. The group are to retrieve
a metal case from a group of men whom Deirdre refers to as "very unpleasant." Deirdre's contact, Seamus (Jonathan Pryce), passes her more information and tells her that they have to move right away, as a group
of Russians are making a bid for the case.
After a deal to buy weapons goes bad, Spence is exposed by Sam as incompetent to participate in the mission. After Sam ensures
compensation from Deirdre for not providing enough information about what's in the case or who they're up against, the team
(without Spence) moves on to Nice. After some surveillance by Sam and Deirdre (during which they
make love), the team moves in to steal the case from the men holding it. After a lengthy car chase and gun battle, the team
manages to retrieve the case from the holders. Gregor, however, switches it for another one that explodes, injuring Larry. (Sam
notices that the case he was handed was spray-painted to look like the real one, and throws it away.)
Gregor tries to sell the case to a Russian man named Mikhi but is double-crossed. Gregor manages to kill the man sent for the
case and informs Mikhi that the price has gone up 300%. In the meantime, the rest of the team tracks Gregor down (using one of
Sam's contacts with the CIA) to the Roman arena in Arles. After a standoff with the Russian men and
Gregor, Gregor uses the tourist crowd to make his escape. He is stopped by Seamus, who kills Larry and drives off with Gregor and
Deirdre. Seamus beats Gregor severely, who has mailed the case to himself in Paris.
While chasing Gregor at the arena, Sam is injured by a Teflon-coated bullet that
hits him in the abdomen. Vincent, owing his life to Sam, takes Sam to his friend Jean-Pierre (Michael Lonsdale) to remove the bullet and to get information concerning the location of Seamus and
Deirdre. Vincent and Sam track them down to the Paris post office, but Sam is unable
to kill Deirdre at the moment of truth. Another lengthy car chase ensues, where both cars speed through the streets of Paris and
against traffic in the tunnels and highways. The chase ends when Vincent shoots out one of Deirdre’s tires, sending her car over
an unfinished stretch of highway. Deirdre, Seamus and Gregor escape from the car before it explodes.
While discussing what to do next, Vincent and Sam find out that the case is identical to those used for ice skates. They also
figure out with some of Jean-Pierre's contacts that the Russian men they're tracking down would likely be at an ice show,
featuring ice skater Natacha Kirilova (Katarina Witt, whose real life accomplishments are
announced as those of Natacha Kirilova). Natacha, as it turns out, is the protégé of Mikhi,
and Gregor uses the threat of a sniper aiming at her when exchanging the case for money from Mikhi. Mikhi allows Natacha to be
shot, shooting Gregor in the head and walking out with the case and the money.
Vincent and Sam follow the panicking crowd out of the arena, spotting Seamus dressed as a security guard, who kills Mikhi and
his associate, taking the case for himself. Seamus tries to make it out of the area, but Sam gets to Deirdre (who is dressed as a
police officer and sitting in a police car), telling her to "walk away" from Seamus. She hesitates until Sam tells her that he
has always been after Seamus, not the case, and that he "never left" the CIA. Deirdre immediately drives off, leaving Seamus to
fend for himself. Seamus shoots Vincent and runs back into the arena, where he shoots Sam in the shoulder. Seamus moves in to
kill Sam, but Vincent manages to kill Seamus first.
In the film's coda, it's implied by radio broadcasts that as a result of the previous night's actions, Sinn Féin and the British have come to a peace agreement in regard to Ireland (which reflected what occurred
the year the film was released). Sam and Vincent part ways as friends (though Sam, referring to his training, refuses to divulge what was in the case); Sam drives off with his CIA contact and Vincent walks off, pondering
the future. In the originally filmed ending (cut from the theatrical release, but included on the DVD), the viewer also sees
Deirdre attempting to return to the café where Sam and Vincent were, when she is abducted by her former IRA associates to an
uncertain (and ominous) fate.
DVD Release
The DVD release has an extensive, detailed commentary about the making of the film by Frankenheimer, where he explains the
production techniques used to realize the high speed chases.
The DVDs paper insert includes excerpts form a Frankenheimer interview in which he discusses the chase through a Paris tunnel
that is remarkably similar to the site of Princess Dianas death on
31 August 1997. The filming took place in a different tunnel,
however "Paris has a lot of tunnels," Frankenheimer commented. "That’s part of the thing about the city I wanted people to see. A
crash in a tunnel in Paris is about as likely as someone having a crash on a freeway here. It happens all the time." (Rocky
Mountain News, September 27, 1998).
The US edition of the original DVD release has several navigational hooks to DVD-ROM content, which were taken advantage of
several weeks after the original release of the DVD, on MGM's website during a special 'RONIN' event where viewers would be taken
on a guided tour of the making of RONIN. Making-of scenes shot during filming are hidden on the DVD, since they are not present
on the main menu of the DVD you can only access them on a computer using the DVD-ROM program that is on the disc or using a DVD
viewing program that let you navigate through the titles of the disc manually.
On Oct 11, 2004 a two-disc Special Edition of the movie was
released in the US. This new version contain the same things as the old single disc version on disc one and on disc two there are
supplemental material about the movie: one documentary, six featurettes and a picture gallery.
References
- ^ "We didn't shoot
a line...", Find Articles. Inactive link at September 2 2007
- ^ Bowie, S."John
Frankenheimer", Senses of Cinema, August 2006. Accessed
September 2 2007
External links
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