JCVD

Year:

2008

Duration:

97 min

Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Drama

IMDB rate:

7.2

Director:

Mabrouk El Mechri

Awards:

2 nominations

Details

Country: Belgium

Release Date: 2008-06-04

Filming Locations: Brussels, Brussels-Capital, Belgium

Earnings

Opening Weekend: $20,119 (USA) (9 November 2008)

Gross: $470,691 (USA) (18 January 2009)

Cast

Actor

Character

Jean-Claude Van Damme

JCVD

Valérie Bodson

Veuve Film Budapest

Hervé Sogne

Lieutenant Smith

Rock Chen

Réalisateur asiatique

Huifang Wang

Traductrice asiatique

John Flanders

Avocat ex-Femme

Renata Kamara

Juge Tribunal Los Angeles

Mourade Zeguendi

Client Vidéo club

Vincent Lecuyer

Vendeur Vidéo Club

Jenny De Chez

Taxiwoman JCVD

Patrick Steltzer

Policier 1

Bernard Eylenbosch

Technicien Telecom

François Damiens

Bruges

Pascal Lefebvre

Képi 2

Jacky Lambert

Képi 3

Norbert Rutili

Perthier

Olivier Bisback

Docteur GIGN - Eric

Armelle Gysen

Journaliste 1

Karim Belkhadra

Vigile

Jean-François Wolff

Trentenaire

Michel Bouis

Otage Cigarette

Raphaëlle Lubansu

Otage 1

Claudio Dos Santos

Otage 2

Zinedine Soualem

Homme au Bonnet

Anne Paulicevich

Guichetière

Hyppolyte Eloy

Fils Guichetière

Alan Rossett

Leon Bernstein

Saskia Flanders

Fille JCVD

Jesse Joe Walsh

Agent JCVD

Bella Wajnberg

Dame Poste de Police

Jérôme Varanfrain

Képi Poste de Police

Caroline Donnely

Journaliste 2

Eric Boever

Journaliste 3

Liliane Becker

Mère JCVD

François Beukelaers

Père JCVD

François De Brigode

Journaliste Plateau Télé

Gregory Jones

Détenu

Paul Rockenbrod

Tobey Wood

Dean Gregory

Réalisateur Film Tobey Wood

Alice Hubball

Assistante Tobey Wood

Steve Preston

Accessoiriste Film JCVD

Janine Horsburgh

Assistante JCVD

Isabelle de Hertogh

Manager Magasin de Jouets

Ingrid Heiderscheidt

Mère Gamin Magasin de Jouets

Fjoralba Cuni

Serveuse Boite de Nuit

Massimo Brancatelli

Gardien de prison (uncredited)

Alan Delabie

Policier (uncredited)

Kim Hermans

Prisoner in kickboxing outfit (uncredited)

Leslie Woodhall

Prison visitor (uncredited)

Did you know?

Trivia

The whole scene in the taxi is completely improvised. Mabrouk El Mechri told Jean-Claude Van Damme to just be nice to the driver no matter what she said.

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In the opening intro scene, Jean-Claude Van Damme's comment about not being able to film in one shot was his own ad-lib, partly in response to Mabrouk El Mechri actually wanting to shoot the scene in one shot.

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Jean-Claude Van Damme made Mabrouk El Mechri swear not to tell anyone about the content of the six minute monologue he delivers straight to the camera. So El Mechri booked off 2 hours in the 5th week of shooting, and called it the X scene. He had a big black curtain set up, as Van Damme is a shy person, and El Mechri didn't want him to make eye contact with anyone before or during the scene. When Van Damme talks about not wanting to die in the post office, that was the cue for the crew to bring him back into the post office by lowering the crane. There was a red light next to the camera to indicate when the camera was running empty of film.

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Goofs

In the court room the attorney says, "How does this actor play Death? Let me count the ways: mangled under the wheels of a truck, strangulation, fracturing the skull, taking out the tibula..." There is no anatomic structure named tibula. The lower leg is made of two bones, the tibia and fibula. It is a common mistake of people who do not know anatomy to say tibula.

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Police chief Bruges tells Van Damme the decision to act was GIGN's move, not his. GIGN (Groupe d'Intervention de la Gendarmerie Nationale - French SWAT) exists in France but not in Belgium where the movie story takes place. In Belgium, police's tactical unit is called ESI (Escadron Special d'Intervention).

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Towards the end of the movie, after JCVD is taken into custody and Bruges talks to the SWAT's chief, as the camera moves up we can see on the ground the shadow of a microphone.

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Quotes

J.C.V.D.: This movie is for me. There we are, you and me. Why did you do that? Or why did I do that? You made my dream come true. I asked for it. I promised you something in return and I haven't delivered yet. You win, I lose. Unless... the path you've set for me is full of hurdles where the answer comes before the question. Yeah I do that. Now I know why. It's the cure, from what I've seen here. It all makes sense. It makes sense to those who understand. So... America, poverty, stealing to eat... stalking producers, actors, 'movie stars', going to clubs hoping to see a star, with my pictures, karate magazines. It's all I had. I didn't speak English. But I did 20 years of karate. 'Cause before I wasn't like that

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