The Terminal Certificate: 
- Duration:
- 129 mins
- Year produced:
- 2004
- Director:
- Steven Spielberg
- Cast:
- Tom Hanks
- Catherine Zeta Jones
- Stanley Tucci
Director Steven Spielberg’s bittersweet comedy drama is inspired by a real-life story. Tom Hanks plays Viktor, a man from a small Eastern European country who is travelling to New York. However, by the time he reaches his destination, his country has descended into civil war, leaving his passport invalid, which in turn means that he cannot enter America. But he cannot return home to a warzone either. So Viktor, who speaks very little English, sets up residence in the airport - slowly making friends with the people who work there, including a beautiful flight attendant. Although he’s stuck in a bureaucratic nightmare, Viktor takes each day as it comes, and it’s his simplicity and love of life that makes this such an inspirational tale.
- Average rating:
(1 votes)
Fascinating facts
Inspired by the story of Merhan Nasseri, an Iranian refugee. In 1988, he landed at Charles de Gaulle Airport near Paris after being denied entry into England because his passport and United Nations refugee certificate had been stolen. French authorities would not let him leave the airport. He remained in Terminal One, a stateless person with nowhere else to go. He has since been granted permission to either enter France or return to his own country. He instead chose to continue to live in the terminal for another few years and tell his story to those who will listen.
Steven Spielberg couldn’t shoot at a real airport while making The Terminal, so had an entire airport terminal set constructed in a three-storey aircraft hangar, complete with working escalators and real shops and restaurants.