The Innocent (1993 film)

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The Innocent
The Innocent poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by John Schlesinger
Written by Ian McEwan
Based on The Innocent
by Ian McEwan
Produced by Norma Heyman
Wieland Schulz-Keil
Chris Sievernich
Starring Anthony Hopkins
Isabella Rossellini
Campbell Scott
Cinematography Dietrich Lohmann
Edited byRichard Marden
Music byGerald Gouriet
Distributed by Jugendfilm-Verleih (Germany)
Entertainment Film Distributors (United Kingdom)
Release dates
  • 16 September 1993 (1993-09-16)(Germany)
  • 24 June 1994 (1994-06-24)(United Kingdom)
Running time
107 minutes [1]
CountriesGermany
United Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Box office$525,955 (USA)

The Innocent is a 1993 drama film directed by John Schlesinger. The screenplay was written by Ian McEwan and based on his 1990 novel of the same name. The film stars Anthony Hopkins, Isabella Rossellini, and Campbell Scott. It was released in the US in 1995.

Contents

Plot

The film takes place in 1950s Berlin at the height of the Cold War and centres around the joint CIA/MI6 real-life [1] Operation Gold: building a tunnel under the Russian sector of Berlin.

Cast

Rossellini and Hopkins on location at Berlin Tempelhof Airport I Rossellini A Hopkins.jpg
Rossellini and Hopkins on location at Berlin Tempelhof Airport

Releases

The film had a double world premiere in Berlin in English and German on 16 September 1993. [1] It opened on 4 screens in the United Kingdom on 24 June 1994. [2] [ author missing ] The movie was then withdrawn from circulation and held in studio quarantine, eventually receiving a limited theatrical release in the United States in September 1995 without advance screenings for critics. [3]

Reception

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 22% of 9 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4.8/10. [4] Reviewing its 1993 German premiere, Rebecca Lieb of Variety wrote that the film "rings hollow... lacks real drama... [and] fails to build tension or suspense." [1] When the film as released two years later in the United States, The New York Times ' film critic Caryn James felt that it "eventually overcomes its obstacles and almost lives up to its promising pedigree.... a tense and suspenseful love story with Hitchcockian overtones", [3] while Rita Kempley, in The Washington Post , called the movie "baffling... [T]he acting proves as inconsistent as Schlesinger's ability to build and release suspense." [5]

Box office

During its limited release opening weekend in the United Kingdom on 24 June 1994, The Innocent grossed UK£15,436. [6] [ author missing ] In its limited theatrical release in the United States 15 months later, it grossed US$525,955. [7]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Lieb, Rebecca (20 September 1993). "The Innocent". Film: Reviews. Variety . Retrieved 8 December 2025.
  2. ↑ "UK this week". Screen International . 1 July 1994. p. 34.
  3. 1 2 James, Caryn (2 September 1995). "Anthony Hopkins as a Brash Yank" . Movies. The New York Times . p. A11. Archived from the original on 23 April 2024. Retrieved 8 December 2025.
  4. ↑ "The Innocent". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango Media . Retrieved 12 April 2025. OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
  5. ↑ Kempley, Rita (2 September 1995). "The Innocent". The Washington Post . Retrieved 8 December 2025.
  6. ↑ "UK this week". Screen International . 1 July 1994. p. 34.
  7. ↑ "The Innocent". Box Office Mojo . IMDb . Retrieved 8 December 2025. OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
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