16/02/2011

A €30m budget, 99-day shoot in the Thai jungle, Bangkok, Hong-Kong, Belgium, Germany, the South of France and London, action a-plenty with fighting, free-fall and a car chase, and a cast including French actor Tomer Sisley, US actress Sharon Stone and German thesp Ulrich Tukur: Jérôme Salle’s French/Belgian/German co-production The Burma Conspiracy [+see also:
trailer
film profile], launched in theatres today by Wild Bunch Distribution, put everything into achieving its blockbuster ambitions. After the success of the first instalment released in late 2008 (1.77m admissions in France), the second episode in the saga adapted from Jean Van Hamme and Philippe Francq’s comic books has opted for a spectacular look in an attempt to conquer bigger audiences.

In the film (co-scripted by the director and Julien Rappeneau), Largo, who had decided to sell the W group to devote himself to humanitarian work, finds himself accused of crimes by a mysterious witness. To prove his innocence, he must retrace the trail of his past life, in the Burmese jungle.

"It’s similar to the super hero theme", commented Salle. "Often, super heroes find themselves in possession of powers they didn’t really seek and which give them huge responsibilities. What will they do with those powers? Good, Evil? That’s what is interesting. In the same way that James Bond is a Cold War hero, Largo Winch is a product of triumphant capitalism. Therefore the character himself contains this moral question. Can you be in charge of hundreds of thousands of people without behaving in an immoral way, without committing Evil at some point? That’s the real question."

Produced by Nathalie Gastaldo for Pan Européenne, The Burma Conspiracy was co-produced by Wild Bunch, TF1 Films Productions, Casa Productions, LW Productions, Wild Bunch Germany, RTBF and Climax Films, with backing from Canal + and Ciné Cinéma. Wild Bunch has already pre-sold it to almost all territories across the world.

This week’s ten other new releases also include Philippe Le Guay’s Service Entrance [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (presented out of competition on Monday at the Berlinale and distributed by SND); Rachid Dibou’s comedy Halal Five-O [+see also:
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film profile] (EuropaCorp Distribution); and Massy Tadjedin’s French production Last Night [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (Gaumont ).

Also hitting screens are four top-quality non-domestic European titles: directorial duo Stéphanie Chuat and Véronique Reymond’s Swiss film The Little Room [+see also:
film review
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interview: Véronique Reymond, Stéphan…
film profile] (distributed by KMBO); Rafi Pitts’s Iranian/German co-production The Hunter [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (in competition at the 2010 Berlinale – see review – Sophie Dulac Distribution); Ivano De Matteo’s Italian feature The Beautiful People [+see also:
film review
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film profile] (see review – distributed by Bellissima Films); and German co-production Santiago 73, Post Mortem (in competition at Venice 2010 – Memento Films Distribution).