The Terminal 幸福终点站

The Terminal(幸福终点站)is a 2004 comedy drama film directed by Steven Spielberg. The film is said to be inspired by the story of Merhan Nasseri, an Iranian refugee. In 1988, he landed at Charles de Gaulle Airport near Paris after being denied entry into England because his passport and United Nations refugee certificate had been stolen. French authorities would not let him leave the airport. He remained in Terminal One, a stateless person with nowhere else to go. He has since been granted permission to either enter France or return to his own country. He instead chooses to continue to live in the terminal and tell his story to those who will listen. Reportedly, his mental health has deteriorated over the years. When given the opportunity to live in France, he refused because the documents did not name him as "Sir, Alfred", and he claims to have forgotten his native Persian language. Reportedly, he left the terminal in August 2006 to be hospitalized for an unspecified illness.

Directed by: Steven Spielberg

Produced by: Steven Spielberg, Walter F. Parkes, Laurie MacDonald, Andrew Niccol

Written by: Andrew Niccol, Sacha Gervasi, Jeff Nathanson

Music by: John Williams

Cinematography: Janusz Kamiński

Editing by: Michael Kahn

Studio: Amblin Entertainment

Distributed by: DreamWorks

Release date: June 18, 2004 

Running time: 128 min.

Country:United States

Language: English

Genre: Drama Romance Comedy

Tom Hanks as Viktor Navorski

Stanley Tucci as Frank Dixon

Barry Shabaka Henley as Thurman

Kumar Pallana as Rajan Gupta

Diego Luna as Enrique Cruz

Chi McBride as Mulroy

Zoë Saldana as Dolores Torres

 

 

Catherine Zeta-Jones as Amelia Warren

Eddie Jones as Salchak

Jude Ciccolella as Karl Iverson

Corey Reynolds as Waylin

Guillermo Diaz as Bobby Alima

Rini Bell as Nadia

Valery Nikolayev as Milodragovic

Benny Golson as Himself

Viktor Navorski (Tom Hanks), a man from the fictional country of Krakozhia, arrives at New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport. During the flight , there is a coup in the Eastern European country in which he lives. Due to his poor English, he at first cannot understand what is happening. After explained the situation through both news broadcasts and by the immigration services, he learns that his country is no longer recognized by the U.S. so he cannot enter and he can't go home either, because all planes to his country are canceled. Over the next nine months, Viktor is forced to live in the terminal building, unable either to set foot into the United States or to go home, so he settles at boarding gate 67 which is closed for renovations.

He befriends the staff at the terminal, including flight attendant Amelia Warren (Catherine Zeta-Jones), while being under the watchful eye of Immigration Officer Frank Dixon (Stanley Tucci), who wants him removed from the airport. Initially being deprived of food by Dixon as a method of trying to get Navorski arrested, Navorski takes on the task of retrieving vacant baggage trollies for the 25 cent reward. He uses this money to buy food until eventually Dixon prevents him from collecting. He then makes his first friend, a catering car driver named Enrique (Diego Luna) who asks him to approach a female security officer named Dolores (Zoë Saldana) for him in exchange for food. After meeting Amelia 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(not recorded)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. Over the next 40 years, he had managed to collect an autograph of all of them, except for one person: Benny Golson. Viktor wants to collect this last one to fulfill his father's dream. 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. Thanks to the timely interference of the friends Viktor has made during his stay in the terminal, he is allowed to leave the airport. As Viktor prepares to take a 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 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."

Krakozhia is a fictional country created for the movie, that closely resembles a former Soviet Republic. Krakozhia's name was inspired by one of Spielberg's favourite cities — Kraków in Poland. The exact location of Krakozhia is kept intentionally vague in the film, keeping with the idea of Viktor being simply Eastern European or from a former Soviet Republic. Throughout the film, it is learned that Krakozhia is bordered with Russia, that the Krakozhian language is akin to or a dialect of Russian. Little else is known about Krakozhia, except that there was a lot of fighting which made the international news. The cover of the passport that Viktor shows to the customs officer in one of the initial scenes of the movie closely resembles the modern Bulgarian passport and Soviet passport.

The language which Hanks' character speaks in the film, "Krakozhian", is supposedly close to or a dialect of Russian to the point of mutual understanding, but is actually slightly-accented literary Bulgarian. He probably also speaks Russian fluently, as he learns to speak English by immersion and picking up Russian and English versions of a New York City tour guide and comparing the wording. 

Spielberg traveled around the world to find an actual airport that would let him film for the length of the production, but could not find one. The Terminal set was built in a massive hangar at the LA or Palmdale Regional Airport. The hangar, part of the US Air Force Plant 42 complex was used to build the Rockwell International B-1B bomber. The set was built to full earthquake construction codes and was based on the Düsseldorf International Airport. The shape of both the actual terminal and the set viewed sideways is a cross section of an aircraft wing.

Everything functioned in the set as in real life. There was real food, ice cream and coffee in the appropriate outlets. The escalators were purchased from a department store that had gone bankrupt. Each of the outlets featured in the concourse building was actually sponsored by the real company. Many stores are seen and Viktor seeks a job at Brookstone and the Discovery Channel store.

Most exterior shots and those featuring actual aircraft were shot at Montréal-Mirabel International Airport. Additional interior shots were also done there including many Air Transat planes in the background, when New York is not one of their regular destinations. Additional pre-production shooting was done at Los Angeles International Airport and at Spielberg's offices at Amblin.

The 747 was provided by United Airlines. The Star Alliance was a major sponsor and provided uniforms, equipment, and actors in addition to those cast. In spite of the heavy presence of the Star Alliance airlines, you can see a Delta Air Lines pilot pass Viktor in a scene during the last 5 minutes of the movie. This film is one of the few Spielberg-directed features that did not feature special effects by Industrial Light and Magic.

When Viktor first arrives in the International Lounge, the guard gives him a prepaid phone card and tells Viktor that there is $15 dollars on it. When Viktor enters the private lounge area you are able to see that the back of the card says $10. But when he is trying to get someone to help him use the card, it's back to being a $15 card.

When Viktor goes up the escalator, a man a few steps behind him never seems to arrive at the top, even though Viktor stops at the top long enough for us to see him get there.

When Viktor leaves down the escalator to go to New York, the assistants from the fast food outlet are running down next to him empty-handed. In the next shot, they are carrying bags of food.

When Viktor leaves the airport and hails a taxi, he stops when he sees Amelia behind him. Behind Amelia, a boy with a gray hat and green jacket walks past her. The scene switches back to Navorski, then switches back to Amelia again, and you can see the boy with the gray hat walking up to pass her again.

Frank Dixon: I'm talking about bombs. I'm talking about human dignity. I'm talking about human rights. Viktor, please don't be afraid to tell me that you're afraid of Krakhozia.                        Viktor Navorski: Is home. I am not afraid from my home. 
Viktor Navorski: So?
Frank Dixon: All right.
Viktor Navorski: I go to New York City now?
Frank Dixon: No.
Viktor Navorski: No? Uh... Okay. I'm uh... I'm uh... I'm afraid from ghosts.
Frank Dixon: Okay, thanks very much!
Viktor Navorski: I'm afraid from, uh... Dracula!
Frank Dixon: Thanks a lot. Thanks, Viktor!
Viktor Navorski: Afraid from Wolfmens, afraid from sharks!
Frank Dixon: It's okay. Thank you Viktor! Thanks a lot!

The Terminal received mixed reactions from critics. 

"The film takes Spielberg into realms he's rarely traveled before."

—Michael Wilmington from the Chicago Tribune

"Hanks' performance brought a lot to the movie."

—Dana Stevens of The New York Times

"The Terminal is a terminally fraudulent and all-but-interminable comedy."

—Joe Morgenstern from the Wall Street Journal

It's funny how Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, two of Hollywood's most powerful men, who could literally do any movie they want, end up making something like The Terminal. Spielberg goes back to a simpler form. That in itself is surprisingly refreshing. Filmmakers try so hard to be inventive and change the typical form of the classics, that when someone finally does go back to that Wilder fashion, it ends up seeming original. That's what The Terminal goes for. A movie about characters, not plot. It's a true heart-felt piece of work. It's funny, it's cute, and it always keeps you interested.

Tom Hanks leads an exceptional cast as Viktor Navorski, a man stranded in JFK airport, not welcome in the U.S. and having no country to come home to. Throughout the experience he makes friends, a love interest, and a rival. He changes all of their lives, of course. That's to be expected from a movie like this. Tom Hanks is totally believable, accent and all. It's a performance well worthy of an Oscar nod.

—all from filmgoers

Golden Trailer Awards

Best Romance

Motion Picture Sound Editors

Best Sound Editing in Domestic Features

Art Directors Guild

Excellence in Production Design Award

BMI Film & TV Awards

BMI Film Music Award, John Williams

The Terminal