“A
scientist wakes up to find that his
lifeis
not what he remembers it to be —
or is it? He must discover what is real
or if his memories are just a fantasy
while avoiding crack assassins in the
fast-paced, keep-you-guessing thriller Unknown...”
WHAT IF YOU DISCOVERED ALL YOUR MEMORIES could be wrong? That's the
dilemma facing Dr Martin Harris (Liam Neeson), who wakes up in a Berlin Hospital
to a world that doesn't appear to know him, after nearly losing his life
in a car accident.
As he begins to piece together his life from the flashbacks he is experiencing,
he is warned by Dr Farge (Karl Markovics) that he is unlikely to recall all
the events surrounding the accident. And nobody, it seems, is missing a Martin
Harris.
Watching the news, Martin sees that the wealthy Prince Shada (Mido Hamada),
has arrived in Berlin. The prince funds the work of eminent, Nobel Laureate
Professor Leo Bressler (Sebastian Koch) to end world hunger, and is to attend
a Biotechnology Summit where Bressler is to announce a breakthrough in his research
to leading scientific minds.
Martin knows he should be there and he recalls the taxi in which he was travelling
plunging from a bridge and the young Bosnian female driver Gina (Diane Kruger)
pulling him from certain death.
Checking himself out of the hospital, he makes for the Hotel Adlon to find his
wife Liz (January Jones). But when head of security Herr Strauss (Rainer Boch)
takes Martin to see Liz, not only does she insist she doesn't know him but she
is with another man (Aidan Quinn), who has taken his identity.
Martin's only hope is to find Gina, but she has reasons for keeping a low profile.
He is beginning to think he is losing his mind as everything points to the other
man being Martin Harris and he is credible enough to reassure Professor Bressler.
Why has he stolen both Martin's identity and his wife of five years?
It seems that nobody in authority is prepared to believe Martin. With the American
Embassy closed for Thanksgiving, he tracks down former Stazi officer Ernst Jürgen
(Bruno Ganz), whom Nurse Gretchen Erfurt (Eva Löbau) has said "finds people".
With only a book that had belonged to his father and Gina's help, Martin finds
himself on the run, placing everyone he sees in danger. Tailed by an unseen
driver in a black Volkswagen Tourag that turns up everywhere, and hunted by
determined assassins, he begins to wonder if he has been set up for some biotechnical
espionage as Bressler's patents are worth a fortune.
In very real and constant danger, nowhere is safe for Martin and Gina. In desperation,
he tries fruitlessly to contact his closest friend, Rodney Cole (Frank Langella).
The truth is bizarre, but will Martin be able to make anyone believe him?
Unknown is a tense and exciting thriller that keeps you firmly rooted to the
chair through a series of superbly-executed twists and turns, multi-layered
tension and a fantastic car chase with danger constantly snapping at the hero's
heels. An absolutely brilliant film.
Unknown also features: Olivier Scheider as Smith; Stipe Erceg as Jones; the
lovely Clint Dyer as Biko; Helen Wiebensohn as Laurel Bressler; Oliver Stolz
as River Samaritan; and Heiki Hanold-Lynch as Anna, Lost & Found Clerk.
Original Music by John Ottman and Alexander Russ; Director of Photography is
Flavio Martinez Labiano; Writers are: Oliver Butcher and Stephen Cornwell (Screenplay)
and Didier van Cauwelaert (Novel: Out Of My Head); Written by Tim Alverson;
Produced by Leonard Goldberg, Andrew Rona and Joel Silver; Director is Jaume
Collet-Serra. Also known as Hors de moi.
• The worldwide Box Office hit Unknown
sees Dr Martin Harris plunge headlong into a deadly mystery that forces him
to question his sanity, his identity, and how far he's willing to go to uncover
the truth; released on DVD, DoublePlay and EST on 18 July 2011.
Extras: "Liam Neeson: Known Action Hero" | Featurette: The Story | Behind The
Scenes | Red Carpet Footage | Soundbites and B Roll | Berlin Film Festival EPK
| Trailer | Interviews.
"Unknown is a tense and exciting thriller that keeps you firmly rooted
to the chair through a series of superbly-executed twists and turns, multi-layered
tension and a fantastic car chase with danger constantly snapping at the hero's
heels. An absolutely brilliant film" — Maggie Woods, MotorBar
“A
scientist wakes up to find that his