Killing Zoe (1993)

Director:

Roger Avary

Writer:

Roger Avary (written by)

Release Date:

September 1994 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Plot:

Zed has only just arrived in the beautiful Paris and already he's up to no good. Having just slept with a call girl...

Plot Keywords:

Heroin | Shot In The Back | Male Rape | Stabbed In The Face | Siege

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Eric Stoltz	...	Zed
Julie Delpy	...	Zoe
Jean-Hugues Anglade	...	Eric
Tai Thai	...	François
Bruce Ramsay	...	Ricardo
Kario Salem	...	Jean
Salvator Xuereb	...	Claude
Gary Kemp	...	Oliver
Martin Raymond	...	Cab Driver
Eric Pascal Chaltiel	...	Bellboy
Cecilia Peck	...	Martina
Gladys Holland	...	Sub Lobby Teller
Gian-Carlo Scandiuzzi	...	Assistant Bank Manager (as Gian Carlo Scandiuzzi)
Gérard Bonn	...	Assistant Bank Manager (as Gerard Bonn)
Bernard Baski	...	Policeman

Also Known As:

Killing Zoe (France)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence and language, plentiful drug use and a sex scene. (edited for re-rating)

Runtime:

96 min | France:99 min (director's cut)

Country:

France | USA

Language:

English | French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Denmark:15 | Australia:R | Canada:R | Finland:K-18 | France:-16 | Germany:18 | Hong Kong:III | Israel:18 | Italy:VM14 | Netherlands:16 | Norway:18 (video premiere) | South Korea:18 | Spain:18 | UK:18 | USA:NC-17 (original rating) | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Davis-Films

Trivia:

The idea behind making the film actually came about when Roger Avary was scouting locations for Quentin Tarantino on Reservoir Dogs (1992). Avary found a great bank set in Los Angeles and informed Tarantino, who said that although the location was no good for Dogs, it would be good for a film set in a bank. One of Avary's scripts, Killing Zoe (1993), was almost entirely set in a bank, and with that as the motivation, the making of the film began.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: As they enter the jazz club on the night before the heist, a Dixieland band is heard and seen playing, but the drummer is obviously not touching the drums with the drum sticks.

Quotes:

Eric: We go in. We get what we want. We come out.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Charlie Rose Show: Quentin Tarantino" (1994)

Soundtrack:

La Chansonnette

this movie is awesome

Killing Zoe played in Seattle theaters for 1 week in August of 1994 and I managed to see it twice. This is one of my all-time favorite films and its savage critical reception has always puzzled me; I find it much more to my taste than Pulp Fiction. I think Roger Avary is one of the most gifted filmmakers to arrive on the scene in the last 20 yrs and I hope that he someday gets the recognition he deserves. Everything about this movie worked for me: the cinematography,the acting, the editing and especially the music. From the first images rushing thru the streets of Paris until the blood-soaked climax, I was mesmerized. I consider myself lucky to have seen it in theaters with a good sound system; I have queried friends who've seen it on DVD/VIDEO and they had a completely different opinion of the film because they had missed key lines of dialog that really go a long way towards investing KILLING ZOE with a certain quintessentially 90's vibe of doomed heroin-soaked romanticism, giving it deeper levels than most people are willing to admit. Without divulging too much, it's the fact that one of the character has AIDS that makes a lot of what happens later not only believable but poignant as well.

I loved this so-called "repulsive" film. I think it's really funny too, in a lunatic sort of way.