Who is Jason Bourne?
... and how Jägermeister shots helped make one vital scene in The Bourne Identity happen
“Look at this. Look at what they make you give.”
Hi everyone, it’s Em, or is it?
No, it really is. But who is Jason Bourne? Turns out, even he’s not entirely sure. The rights to make a movie version of Robert Ludlum’s book were first acquired in 1981 by Orion Pictures, and then acquired by Warner Bros in 1982. Eighteen years later, there was still no feature film of The Bourne Identity, save for a made-for-TV movie in 1988, which ended up being nominated for a primetime Emmy.
In 1999, Warner Bros allowed the rights to revert back to Robert Ludlum, who agreed (with his friend Doug Liman) to negotiate a deal with Universal Pictures to adapt it for the big screen.
That would cause all sorts of legal issues, including Warner Bros being sued for making a movie they never made!
Liman was instrumental in making this action spy movie different, though. He would eschew traditional action beats and explosions, for an All-American boy-next-door hero; calculated, strategic and vulnerable. Enter Matt Damon. Pairing him with Franka Potente’s Marie proved to be a winning partnership.
But Liman’s chaotic, unorthodox directing style, along with numerous rewrites, delays and reshoots, would lead to tempers fraying on the production, and not even Jason Bourne could save Doug Liman from not being invited back to direct the sequel…
“I can tell you the licence plate numbers of all six cars outside. I can tell you that our waitress is left-handed and the guy sitting up at the counter weighs two hundred fifteen pounds and knows how to handle himself. I know the best place to look for a gun is the cab or the gray truck outside, and at this altitude, I can run flat out for a half mile before my hands start shaking. Now why would I know that? How can I know that and not know who I am?”
“Imagine if you were a woman dating Jason Bourne” - was how Liman pitched the movie to Universal. It was a unique proposition, to have Marie as focused in the story as Jason is, and the dynamic between the two had to work.
There are no clichéd sex scenes in this movie (although there could have been!), just an earnest, heartfelt and passionate hair cut and colour.
Love scenes can be quite stressful for the actors involved, so to help break the ice, Franka Potente brought a bottle of Jägermeister on set. Dutch courage was enlisted by both Potente and Damon, as well as Doug Liman who was behind the camera.
Usually in love scenes, the woman is positioned or highlighted as the vulnerable party, but this was the opposite, with Lyman encouraging Potente to be the driving force, with Damon as the regimented, brainwashed spy finally feeling safe and free.
It's the culmination of the characters' time spent together and their chemistry, turning what could have been a generic, hypermasculine spy thriller into a realist, modern classic that is deeply human.
And finally…
“People need to see this, you know? It's gonna be important. People are going to watch this.”
Em x
"[Verbal Diorama] is truly one of the best film history podcasts in the audio verse, and one of the best all-around independent podcasts.”
Frank Racioppi, Ear Worthy
Verbal Diorama is now an award-winning podcast! I won the Best Movie Podcast in the inaugural Ear Worthy Independent Podcast Awards recently. I am beyond thrilled, and hugely grateful to the Ear Worthy team. It means so much to me to be recognised by a fellow indie outlet, and congratulations to all the other winners!