Unknown (2011)

A man awakens from a coma, only to discover that someone has taken on his identity and that no one, (not even his wife), believes him. With the help of a young woman, he sets out to prove who he is.

Director:

Jaume Collet-Serra

Writers:

Oliver Butcher (screenplay), Stephen Cornwell (screenplay)

Stars:

Liam Neeson, Diane Kruger, January Jones

3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Liam Neeson	...	Dr. Martin Harris
Diane Kruger	...	Gina
January Jones	...	Elizabeth Harris
Aidan Quinn	...	Martin B
Bruno Ganz	...	Ernst Jürgen
Frank Langella	...	Rodney Cole
Sebastian Koch	...	Professor Bressler
Olivier Schneider	...	Smith
Stipe Erceg	...	Jones
Rainer Bock	...	Herr Strauss
Mido Hamada	...	Prince Shada
Clint Dyer	...	Biko
Karl Markovics	...	Dr. Farge
Eva Löbau	...	Nurse Gretchen
Helen Wiebensohn	...	Laurel Bressler

Storyline

A biochemist and his dishy wife arrive in Berlin for a conference at which a scientist and his controversial Arab funder will announce breakthrough research. While his wife checks into the hotel, he grabs a cab to return to the airport for his briefcase, left at the curb. En route, an auto accident puts him in a coma, from which he awakes four days later without identification and with gaps in his memory. He goes to the hotel: his wife refuses to recognize him and another man has claimed his identity. With help from a nurse, the cab driver, a retired Stasi agent, and an academic friend, he tries to unravel what's going on. Is the answer in the briefcase?

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Plot Keywords:

amnesia | coma | airport | scientist | nurse | 

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Taglines:

Take back your life.

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Genres:

Action | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some intense sequences of violence and action, and brief sexual content

Did You Know?

Trivia

The digital camera which Rodney Cole (Frank Langella) uses to take photos of the two "Martin Harris" assassins and Elizabeth is actually a Canon EOS 7D.

For some reason the entire scene was horizontally reversed but the Canon trademark was digitally corrected in post production so that it read "Canon" correctly. The EOS 7D in real life, has the rotary control wheel on the right side of the camera whereas in the flashback scenes, the control wheel appears on the left side of the camera. The information on the camera's LCD screen are also reversed, as if in a mirror.

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Goofs

When Liz types in the passwords, they are visible in plain text. Passwords are almost always encrypted and what should have been seen are either dots or asterisks.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Pilot's Voice: Ladies and gentlemen, we're beginning our descent into Berlin Tegel, where local time is 8:30 AM, and the temperature is a cool minus four degrees.
Dr. Martin Harris: Morning.
Elizabeth Harris: Did you sleep?
Dr. Martin Harris: No. I'll sleep at the hotel.

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Crazy Credits

The opening credits are shown as clouds being viewed from an airplane blow past... not so crazy, except that it actually makes one of the credits unreadable.

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Connections

Featured in Maltin on Movies: Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011)

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Soundtracks

Streets of Istanbul
(uncredited)
Performed by Kevin W. Buchholz (as Buchholz) & Jessie Shapiro (as Shapiro)
Written by Kevin W. Buchholz (ASCAP) & Jessie Shapiro (ASCAP)
Courtesy of Acumen Audio & Cutting Edge Music

User Reviews

Bourne Identity meets The Commuter in The Twilight Zone

Über talented ensemble of actors and the trademark style of the director delivers on-the-edge-of-your-seat suspense, despite a preposterously convoluted story.

Director Jaume Collet-Serra's ('The Commuter') surrounds the mature action star with an ensemble of actors who deliver superb performances.

It all sets up to be a first-rate suspense film, except the story itself is like one of the more fantastical types Rod Serling might have used in his 'Twilight Zone' TV series that press the boundaries of believability.

Unknown delivers on "entertainment", and I recommend seeing the film, but leave your storyline expectations with the cloakroom before viewing.

Note that Collet-Serra uses a similar style of suspense-film story telling seven years later in 2018's 'The Commuter', once again teaming with Neeson in the lead role - if you liked that movie, you will like this one as well.

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Warner Bros. [Japan]

Country:

UK Germany France USA

Language:

English German Turkish Arabic

Release Date:

18 February 2011 (USA)

Also Known As:

Unknown

Filming Locations:

Tresor, Berlin, Germany

Box Office

Budget:

$30,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$21,856,389, 20 February 2011

Gross USA:

$63,686,397

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$135,710,029

Company Credits

Production Co:

Dark Castle Entertainment, Panda Productions Inc., Canal+

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1