True Lies: And James Cameron Attacked Claude Zidi
In 1994, James Cameron directed True liesan action comedy that became a real success at the international box office. The film, with Arnold Schwarzenegger in the main role, is in fact a remake of a French film much less known to the general public: The total! by Claude Zidi released in 1991.
In the latter, Thierry Lhermitte and Miou-Miou play the main roles, with Lhermitte playing a man who leads a double life by day: modest engineer and by day secret agent at nighthiding this aspect from his wife. James Cameron is inspired by this plot True liesbut accentuates the spectacular action elements by adding its unique visual signature.
The film stars Schwarzenegger as Harry Tasker, a secret agent for an anti-terrorist agency, who leads a double life hiding his profession from his wife Helen, played by Jamie Lee Curtis. The setting brilliantly mixes breathtaking action scenes and moments of comedyparticularly thanks to the subplot in which Helen, unaware of her husband’s true identity, accidentally finds herself involved in a dangerous mission. With impressive special effects and spectacular stunts, the film quickly became a benchmark in the action-comedy genre.
As a wink, Arnold Schwarzenegger speaks French in one of the scenes:
A failure for the franchise, but a triumph at the box office
Contrary to James Cameron’s initial intentions to launch a franchise True liesthe film never had a sequel, despite its commercial and critical success. True lies reported more than $378 million worldwide, becoming one of the biggest hits of 1994. However, the sequels never saw the light of day due to several factors, including Cameron’s reluctance to revisit this story after the events of September 11, 2001, believing that the theme of terrorism had become too sensitive to make it an object of entertainment.
Although the original French film, The total!did not have as notable a career as its American remake, it remains an emblematic example of the comic talent of Thierry Lhermitte and Miou-Miou. James Cameron’s adaptation marked a turning point in Schwarzenegger’s career, confirming his status as an actor capable of juggling action and comedy roles, and offering Jamie Lee Curtis a remarkable performance, for which he will win a Golden Globe.
A legal battle
In 2001, screenwriter Lucien Lambert, who had contributed greatly to the writing of the series Belphagorfiles a complaint against Claude Zidi and James Cameron for plagiarism.
Lucien Lambert has in fact stated that the scenarios of The total! AND True lies they were titled falsifications of his own script Emilywritten in 1981. According to him, Emily followed a similar plotin which a man posed as a spy to seduce a woman. Although his screenplay was not adapted for film, it was nevertheless published as a play and translated into an American version.
After an initial verdict in 2001, which rejected his charges of plagiarism, Lambert returned to the office with new evidence. Finally, on June 4, 2004, the Paris Court of Appeal agrees noting “striking similarities” between the scenarios ofEmilyFrom The total!AND True lies. Claude Zidi and James Cameron were later convicted of counterfeiting.
This affair had significant financial consequences for Claude Zidi, who not only had to compensate Lucien Lambert, but also compensate James Cameron for the damages that the American director had also been condemned to pay.
Source: Cine Serie
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