Lost in Transportation

The Terminal (2004)   

"The Terminal" is rather a strange film, it doesn't really have a strong plot, and it is more of a gentle, akmost whimsical tale about a man who becomes stranded at JFK airport. The man in question is Viktor Navorski (Tom Hanks - Big) who having come to America finds himself in no mans land due to a coup in his homeland of Krakozia. With his country no longer recognized by America he is forced by the airports immigration department to stay at the airport for as long as it takes for him to be allowed in or to return to home. But as time goes on, and having made the airport his home he becomes a permanent thorn in the side of immigration official Frank Dixon (Stanley Tucci - Road to Perdition) who is trying to become the next airport commissioner.

I have to admit that the whole concept to "The Terminal" seems prettyfar fetched but then sometimes life is stranger than fiction, especially when you learn that "The Terminal" was inspired by the true story of Merhan Nasseri, an Iranian refugee who in 1988 landed at Charles de Gaulle airport and due to the loss of paper work ended up living in the airport till 2006. Of course there are huge differences between Nasseri's real story and that which has been constructed for "The Terminal" but just the whole idea of having to learn to survive in such a limited world allows for some fascinating stories and indeed allows your own imagination to run riot. How would you go about sleeping, washing, paying for food and just generally surviving?

There are two themes running through "The Terminal", first of which is of course Victor's attempts to live a semi-normal life within the confines of the airports four walls, but this leads to what I would say is probably the main theme and that is his interactions with those around him. You have his relationship with Frank Dixon who prides himself on running a smooth efficient airport, but feels that Victor is a dirty mark in his otherwise clockwork running operation. The way there relationship grows with Frank becoming more and more exasperated every time that Victor manages to rise above the limitations opposed on him, whilst Victor seems to antagonise him with his honest, simple behaviour provides a lot of merriment. Then there are the relationships between Victor and the workers he meets on a daily basis and over time become an extended family. They all help to build up a very gentle story which provides the basis for the films comedy. My only negative when it comes to these relationships is the romantic storyline between Victor and flight attendant, Amelia played by Catherine Zeta-Jones. For me this not only feels slightly out of place but doesn't really add anything of significance to the film. Where as the other relationships serve a purpose and help to move the film forwards, this one just doesn't seem to do anything or really go anywhere.

My only other slight negative is the story revolving around the reason for Victor coming to America and the small tin can which is the key to it. To start with I actually liked this element to the story and it added a bit of intrigue as to why he was there and why it was so important to him that he gets out of the airport. But then when his mission is explained it feels a little weak to account for his actions. It also doesn't help that it is the reasons for coming to America which add an extra couple of scenes to the end of the film which makes it feel a little over long at 124 minutes and I would have been happier to see it end about 10 minutes earlier at a much more prominent and emotional high.

The overall feel to "The Terminal" is of a light hearted comedy, for me at times very reminiscent to the works of Chaplin and to some extent Jacques Tati. The comedy feels so natural and rather than resorting to overly contrived scenes it relies mainly on everyday human interactions. The way Navorski attempts to communicate despite having a limited American vocabulary is in itself amusing, but not in a childish sense where you are laughing at him. This inability also allows the film to explore a lot of visual humour but again it is the ordinary things which make you laugh not overly contrived sequences. Watching Victor run up a flight of stairs and throw his luggage onto the adjacent upwards escalator so he can go quicker, just makes you laugh. Some times the humour does become good old fashioned slapstick, with people slipping on wet floors, or when despite having good intentions of helping someone with their luggage Victor inadvertently breaks it. But these scenes are not included just to make you laugh, they are all there to aid the story or build characters. I really cannot praise the comedy element of "The Terminal" enough as whilst it is overly gentle, it shows how funny a film can be without the need to go over the top with coarse jokes.

Understandably the predominant character in "The Terminal" is that of Viktor Navorski played By Tom Hanks. For me the casting of Hanks was spot on as very few actors these days have the ability to carry a film, especially a comedy, so convincingly on their own. Yes there are other actors and characters, but the film focuses on the character of Victor and what some may say his quirky ways. There are two things which stand out for me when you look at Hanks's performance, first of which is the accent. Now I can think of many a film where they over egg the use of a foreign accent to provide far too many contrived laughs, but here Hanks doesn't over exaggerate it and is utterly convincing as a traveller from an eastern bloc country for the entire duration of the film. The second element of his performance which stood out for me was his comic timing. Now Hanks has done his fair share of comedies, but in "The Terminal" he puts in a better than average performance which tips its hat to the comedy genius Charlie Chaplin. I've seen modern films where they try to integrate visual slapstick but fail because it doesn't feel natural, but here when Hanks is in full flow, you can see he is totally at home with this visual sort of humour.

Supporting performance wise the film does quite well with Stanley Tucci as Frank Ward putting in the most notable performance, turning from the antagoniser to the antagonised. The role of Frank is perfect for Tucci as he is marvellous at playing dead pan humour and he provides a good balance to Hanks's more visual humour. Other decent performances come from Barry Shabaka Henley, Diego Luna and Zoe Saldana all in minor roles but ones which help keep the film moving and provide side story lines to give the film more depth. My only negative comes to both the character of Amelia and performance of Catherine Zeta-Jones. I have already said that I think the character and storyline revolving around Amelia doesn't really add anything to the film, but I am sure part of this down to Jones's performance. Yes she looks good, and I can understand on looks alone would be enough to make Victor interested, but Jones doesn't make the character come alive and ultimately feels insignificant.

There is no doubt in my mind that a huge part of "The Terminal"s success comes from having Steven Spielberg in control and his trust in Tom Hanks as an actor. Just watching the film I get a sense that Hanks was given a bit of a free run to explore the comedy and it is credit to Spielberg to let him do this rather than truss him up with in the confines of a regimented script. But also Spielberg gives the film a very light touch, allowing it to progress pretty much at its own speed rather than moving things along far too quickly. Add to this a sublime selection of music, from typical airport music, through to some beautiful Jazz pieces and you have a soundtrack which helps tell the films story.

What this all boils down to is that when watching "The Terminal" don't expect to be inundated with hilarious, outrageous jokes or a sweeping drama, as it is definitely not that sort of film. What it is, is a gentle film which explores human interactions whilst mixing in some great old fashioned comedy which if you enjoy the films of Chaplin then no doubt you will gain some enjoyment from this. At 124 minutes it does start to drag towards the end but it still has just enough about it to keep you interested for its duration.