Death in the skin: when Matt Damon (really) knocked out his partner – CinéSéries

Jason Bourne, action hero in our time

In 2002, The memory in the skin disrupts action cinema. Starring Matt Damon as amnesiac CIA assassin and fugitive Jason Bourne, Doug Liman directs from a screenplay by Tony Gilroy – adapted from the novels by Robert Ludlum – an ultra-realistic action-spy thriller. The success is global and The memory in the skin given the perfect recipe for high-quality action cinema in the 21st century. The same recipe is thus applied for a direct sequel. It was released in 2004 at the cinema and was considered superior to the first film: The death in the skin.

For The death in the skin, so we take the same ones and start over. Well almost. Unavailable at the time, and also following the difficulties encountered with the studio during the production of the first film, Doug Liman was replaced as director by Paul Greengrass. A filmmaker with a quasi-documentary style, which is perfectly suited to the high level of franchise realism.

In The death in the skinJason Bourne lives hidden in India with Marie (Franka Potente), after the adventures of The memory in the skin. Located by an FSB agent (Karl Urban), gun holder of a plot involving a Russian oligarch and officials of the Treadstone program, the couple flees but Marie is shot. As much for revenge as to shed light on this plot, Jason Bourne will go on the hunt…

When Jason Bourne puts the CIA down

If he does not know much more about his identity, Jason Bourne now knows what he is capable of. And he makes maximum use of his skills in The death in the skin. Having no leads following Mary’s death, he deliberately decides to be arrested at Naples airport. This way he will know who in Langley is in charge of his hunt and why.

A situation that results in a memorable sequence of The death in the skin. Using his passport in the name of Jason Bourne at Naples airport, he is immediately locked in an interrogation room, where local CIA agent John Nevins (Tim Griffin) is quickly dispatched. Neither one nor two, once in the same room, Jason Bourne violently stuns his goalie and Officer Nevins. He copies the SIM card from his phone, which allows him to discover that Pamela Landy (Joan Allen) is leading his hunt, and which also gives him his next destination: Berlin.

Tim Griffin saw some stars

As Paul Greengrass says in the audio commentary of the film (from 29’50), Matt Damon’s last blow to Tim Griffin really hit home, which directly knocked him out and sent him to the ground.

The most important thing in this scene is that this punch, which sends poor Nevins to the ground, was very real. It really knocked him out. When he came to his senses, he asked me: “Were you able to film that?” I was afraid that he had his nose broken, or some other injury, because it was quite a blow! But it worked. It makes the scene very realistic.

Fortunately, more fear than harm for Tim Griffin, who got off without a hitch. Was he too close or did Matt Damon go too far? We will probably never know. But it is obvious that the incident lends authenticity to this perfect sequence of The death in the skin.