When hearing the name Steven Spielberg, most people probably think of films like Jaws, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Jurassic Park. He has been to the cinema since the 1970s and shoots one big blockbusters after another. However, not all of his films have become immortal classics.
One such film is Terminal, which is often dismissed as finger exercise. When it comes to the great Spielberg works, however, the tragic rom-com starring Tom Hanks and Catherine Zeta-Jones rarely turns up. In fact, there is a hidden here very special movieespecially in the context of Spielberg’s work.
In Terminal, Tom Hanks is stranded at an airport and falls in love with Catherine Zeta-Jones
The story of Terminal revolves around a man named Viktor Navorski (Tom Hanks), who hails from the fictional Eastern European country of Krakosia and is stranded at New York’s JFK airport. The reason for this: His passport is invalidas the US no longer diplomatically recognizes his civil war-plagued homeland.
You can watch the trailer for Terminal here:
Terminal – Trailer (German)
Viktor cannot enter the United States or book a return flight. He’s stuck at the airport – and is gradually turning it into one alternatives at home. The whole world in one building: Viktor even falls in love! But flight attendant Amelia Warren (Catherine Zeta-Jones) doesn’t reciprocate his feelings at first.
Terminal comes with one fleet-footed staging hence, finds many comic elements in Viktor’s tragedy and, for much of the time, feels like one of the myriad rom-coms that hit theaters in the 1990s and 2000s. Last but not least, Hanks is one of the biggest stars of the genre (Schlaflos in Seattle, em@il for you).
Together with War of the Worlds and Munich, Terminal forms a secret Spielberg trilogy
But there is a lot more hidden under the surface: Terminal is part of a series of films in which Spielberg reflecting the events of September 11, 2001. Where War of the Worlds and Munich process the terrorist attacks in terrifying images, Terminal amazes with its supposedly carefree feel-good approach.
It is true that this is not an officially designated trilogy by Spielberg. However, if you look at Terminal, War of the Worlds and Munich together, there are many thematic references and parallels to discover, which add an additional level to all three films that goes far beyond their genre framing.
What is particularly fascinating is how Spielberg portrays the airport as a place that is not defined by fear and security checks in Terminal. Although Viktor at the beginning Identity and existence disputed becomes a home in this non-place. For a mainstream 2004 film, that’s definitely remarkable.
When is Steven Spielberg’s Terminal on TV?
Terminal arrives tonight, July 16, 2023, at 8:15 p.m. on Sat.1. The TV version is 117 minutes without credits. With commercial breaks, the film runs until 10:55 p.m. The replay will follow on Monday, July 17, 2023 at 10:50 p.m.
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