Foreign Distribution, Christopher Plummer, Agent of Influence
During a recent phone conversation, the central topic of which was the foriegn distrubution of films made in Canada, I mentioned some interesting stats regarding "Agent of Influence" (see the bottom of this post for the numbers - Ed.), Near the end of the call, I was asked what it was like working with Christopher Plummer. In an attempt to avoid the typically slavish and slightly sycophantic effusiveness that passes for commentary these days I simply said that the experience spoke to the highest levels of professionalism. Period. People do not often realize what a huge amount of effort making a film represents. Chris delivered and kept delivering. He was prepared, understood the social and political aspects of the story, and was incredibly flexible when it came to the subtle shading of character required for the role. A pleasure. The story is complex and tragic, revealing significant and emblematic examples of the manipulation of elected governments by security services and showed how a righteous man, faced with self-righteous so-called defenders of democracy, played his hand. Chris played it perfectly. If you get the chance, pick up a copy of the book from which the movie was made and give it a read. As it is out of print, you'll have to try your local library or reseller. Here is the cover to help you recognize it. Enjoy.
"Agent of Influence," starring Christopher Plummer, adapted by Ian and Riley Adams from Ian Adams's 2001 novel of the same title, is based on the true story of Canadian ambassador John Watkins who died while under RCMP and CIA interrogation. Produced by Alberta FilmWorks and Gala Films, and premiered on April 13/03, "Agent of Influence" has been sold by Alliance-Atlantis to TV networks in 132 countries.
posted by The Editor at
3:28 PM
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