Liam Neeson: You didn’t know that! This speed action movie exists in Spanish version

What is it about? A businessman discovers that an unknown assailant planted a bomb in the car he is driving. The latter orders him to perform a series of actions throughout the day or the bomb will explode… killing him and his family.

A remake of the Spanish thriller

Retribution is a remake of El Desconocido, a 2016 Spanish thriller directed by Dani de la Torre (Gun City) and written by Alberto Marin (Malevolence). Luis Tosar plays Carlos, the equivalent of Liam Neeson’s character in Nimrod Antal’s feature film. Note that the film was the subject of two more remakes: Steig. Nicht. Ouch! Directed by German Christian Alwart in 2018 and hard hitting Korean Kim Chang-ju in 2021.

“I explained everything”

The limited space in which Nimrod Antal could operate his cameras forced him to refine his directorial work daily: “The fact that the whole story takes place in the car forced me to thoroughly prepare the shooting. I wrote everything down to avoid the same shot twice, and highlighted the composition and acting of the actors to make sure I got consistency. Overall, so that the story is fluid.”

“But for this film, given that we couldn’t control the camera as freely as we would have liked, the challenge was to give the image enough relief to keep the audience’s attention and, above all, to make sure that the result was entertaining. “he recalls.

sources of inspiration

Director Nimrod Antal (Armoured, Predators) was inspired by indoor thrillers such as Loki with Tom Hardy, Vincenzo Natali’s The Cube or Galder Gaztelu-Urutia’s Platform to approach shooting thriller sequences in confined spaces.

Normal guy

If Nimrod Antal wanted Retribution to add to the collection of action films that Liam Neeson directed, he also wanted to bring real innovation to the feature film: “Liam often plays characters with specific skills, but in this film he plays a guy like no other who is just trying to protect his family. The mission is made all the more difficult as the demands of the mysterious voice become more and more dangerous and the tension on the Turner family grows every time.”

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why berlin

Nimrod Antal explains why he wanted to shoot in Berlin: “First of all, I liked the idea of ​​going back to Europe. But since we’re talking about a character who’s facing an extraordinary situation, Berlin added an extra dimension to the story. Matt Turner is an American living in Berlin, and when you’re a foreigner living in a country that’s not your own, you can feel more isolated.”

“I thought it was an interesting context. Here’s a man who’s already separated from his family and who’s going to be further torn apart by the world because of this criminal on the other end of the line – and what’s more. A city he doesn’t know very well. Setting the action in Berlin was another way to emphasize the sense of isolation that all these characters face.”

It should be noted here that Liam Neeson has already filmed in the famous German city for the thriller Identity Without (2011). But this time the experience was radically different, as the comedian explains: “The last time I was in Berlin was in the middle of winter. The atmosphere was different. There, when we were wandering the streets, I realized that I had not seen how young and alive this city is.”