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Mehran Karimi Nasseri was an Iranian refugee who lived in the departure lounge of Terminal One in Charles de Gaulle Airport from August 1988 to August 2006 because his status as a human being was in limbo so to speak - the French government decided not to give him refugee status or a transit visa because of his heritage. During his time in no man's land he kept himself clean and rose at 5 a.m. every morning (approximately the time when the airport starts to welcome passengers in for the early flights) to wash in the public toilets. The airport staff sometimes washed his clothes for him and had even donated a sofa for his use. In addition, Nasseri spent most of the day listening to the radio, reading books and writing his diary.
Screenwriter Sacha Gervasi was so fascinated by this story that he prepared a script for DreamWorks based on Nasseri's predicament and head honcho Steven Spielberg enlisted himself to direct the comedy. The result sees Tom Hanks as Viktor Navorski, a man from the fictional country of Krakozhia who arrives at New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport, only to discover that during the flight his country's government has been overthrown by rebels, invalidating his passport and thus leaving him stranded. 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. Funnily, The Terminal's publicity materials fail to have any mention of Nasseri even though he is quite obviously the inspiration for the film. Gervasi does add other subplots to the abandoned man's turmoil however - romance with Catherine Zeta-Jones takes a backseat to the conflict with Stanley Tucci's airport immigration officer, and Enrique and Officer Torres' love quest is a gentle intermediary between the main events.
There is one shot in particular from Spielberg, just as Navorski first enters his surreal new domain, that illustrates his immense talent - either that or the most successful director of all time wanted to showcase the gigantic specifically constructed terminal set which was influenced by Jacques Tati's Play Time. The mise-en-scène is sensational as Spielberg's featherweight camera zooms out from Hanks' bewildered eyes, encapsulating all the restricted and unattainable avenues surrounding him in addition to the fully working retail outlets he has to rely on to survive. Tom "Everyman" Hanks' eyes say everything in this sequence and the Californian Oscar darling in fact performs wonderfully throughout the whole picture. Viktor's naïve honesty regarding American norms and values with Zeta-Jones' unlucky-in-love Amelia is a pleasure to watch - our Slavic hero is more intelligent than Forrest Gump but he cannot quite perfect the Golden Age machismo he strives for, and the Welsh export is more solid than expected in her air hostess turn. Furthermore, Tucci and Hanks also have great interaction. The former is an ambitious jingoist continuously curt in his sympathies and consequent frustrations with Viktor's rule-obeying traits. Frank (Tucci) realises Viktor poses no threat whatsoever to his country and wants to discard the hindrance by utilising many techniques - the authoritarian can then concentrate on going after his promotion. This is a clichéd story arc with Viktor obviously not complying with hints to randomly escape the confines of the airport, but Spielberg demonstrates a certain heart-warming charm where one genuinely comes to adore the wannabe New York vacationer over the civil servant protecting his beloved country.
The extras
This two disc package is certainly value for money with a shed full of extras. Unfortunately Spielberg doesn't treat us to a commentary track which is a glaring omission. However, in "Booking the Flight" the director outlines the plot in eight minutes of decent stuff; it just lacks the insight of Gervasi to a much-needed larger degree. "Take Off" is an OK seventeen minutes of 'making of' but Zeta-Jones grows tiresome with her Spielberg kiss-assing. Decent information on the terminal construction with production designer Alex McDowell is interesting though in "Waiting For The Flight". "Boarding" is split into three personality sections: Hanks, Zeta-Jones and Viktor. Michael Douglas's wife gets even more boring here as she delves into detail about how Spielberg discovered her for The Mask of Zorro, but fortunately Hanks is always a joy to listen to. Six decent minutes are spent with John Williams about the music from the film; "Airport Stories" are boring anecdotes from the cast, and a photo gallery round off the package. A lot of content (approximately 120 minutes) is in this package but it's all very similar stuff lacking substance and depth.
The summary
A tantalising dramedy with an appropriately understated cast (Zeta-Jones is actually moderately respectable) pulled off by the original multitalented maestro.
