Babylon A.D.
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Short description
Babylon A.D. is set in a near-future world shattered by war, where a mercenary named Toorop, a veteran of numerous conflicts, is offered a job by a powerful Russian criminal. The task is to smuggle a young woman called Aurora out of Eastern Europe and deliver her to New York. Toorop soon learns that Aurora is not travelling alone; a nun has appointed herself the girl's protector, and that the journey is far more dangerous than promised. Powerful forces are hunting Aurora, and what she carries makes her valuable to parties with very different plans for her.
The film was directed by Mathieu Kassovitz, his fifth feature after La Haine, Assassin(s), The Crimson Rivers and Gothika, and he wrote the screenplay with Éric Besnard. Vin Diesel plays Toorop, with Mélanie Thierry as Aurora, Michelle Yeoh as Sister Rebeka, Gérard Depardieu as Gorsky, Lambert Wilson as Dr. Arthur Darquandier and Charlotte Rampling as the head of the Noelite Church.
Babylon A.D. was released in 2008, runs 101 minutes and was made for about 70 million US dollars, a figure it only narrowly exceeded at the worldwide box office. Audiences have been lukewarm: on IMDb it holds 5.5 out of 10 from around 101,000 votes, and on TMDB 5.7 out of 10 from some 2,300 votes. A film critics' rating of 3.4 out of 10 from 102 reviews is noticeably lower than those audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- The film's soundtrack features the work of the Kyiv-based band "Sister Siren." Specifically, the song "Trideo." In the final selection, "Sister Siren" outperformed the popular American band "8 Mile." Moreover, the film's director liked the music video so much that some excerpts and shots from the video will be included in the film.
- Vincent Cassel auditioned for the lead role.
- The film features parkour scenes choreographed by David Belle ("District 13").
- Visual effects were handled by the French studio BUF Compagnie, which also worked on "The Dark Knight".
- In March 2007, during filming in the Czech Republic, Kassovitz was forced to take a two-week break due to the weather – he needed snow, which was critically lacking. He found snow in Iceland, where the necessary location scenes were filmed.
- Filming was originally scheduled to begin in February 2006, but due to a number of problems, it was postponed for almost a year.
- In the scene of boarding a train traveling to Vladivostok from Kazakhstan, a clip from the film "Bride & Prejudice" was shown on the station's information board.
- The film significantly exceeded its budget and shooting schedule, so the insurance company voided its insurance policy.
- The protagonists are traveling in a car with license plates from the 73rd region (Ulyanovsk Oblast).
- Troitsk is located in Russia, not in Kazakhstan, as indicated in the credits.
- The film is based on the novel 'Babylon Babies' (1999) by Maurice Georges Dantec.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
