When Spike Lee robs the bank
In 2006, director Spike Lee directed a first-rate thriller, his biggest commercial success to date and the first film for which he wasn’t also the screenwriter. To stage Inside the man, works with a top-notch cast including Clive Owen, Denzel Washington, Jodie Foster and Christopher Plummer and Willem Dafoe.
It was supposed to be the perfect heist, the masterpiece of a criminal genius. The setting: a major Manhattan bank. The protagonists: a masked, hooded and bespectacled commando and dozens of shocked hostages, forced to wear the same multipurpose suit as the robbers. The question: the vault and its treasures? Or an old secret that only 2 people know about
A brilliant film about robberies, Spike Lee combines plot and action with a social commentary on American society, with characters representing the different communities of New York. And to give Inside Man further authenticity, Spike Lee and production designer Wynn Thomas had the chance to film it a real Wall Street bankat 20 Exchange Place, which had recently closed and which the decorating team was able to partially renovate.
A shooting in the heart of Wall Street
The entire film was shot in New York, on various locations in Manhattan and mostly indoors at Steiner Studios in Brooklyn. But for the bank, the teamInside the man he was thus able to install his cameras opposite, on the ground floor and first floor.
The film is set in the financial world of old New York. So we had to do major renovations to make the first floor look like a powerful “old school” banking institution – where thieves hold hostages first.
According to Spike Lee, finding this bank was a relief.
At first we had difficulty because the bank was the last position found and it was the most important. Without the bank, we wouldn’t have had a film. But in the end everything went perfectly. We shot in the heart of Wall Street in a bank that had just closed, it was really like having a studio in the middle of Wall Street.
Both inside and outside the bank, Spike Lee, his team and the film’s cast exploited these almost real conditions to create this crazy story with maximum authenticity.
Source: Cine Serie
Ray Ortiz is a journalist at Gossipify, known for his coverage of trending news and current events. He is committed to providing readers with accurate and unbiased reporting, and is respected for his ability to keep readers informed on the latest news and issues.
