Killing Zoe (1993)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

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
Michel Jean-Philippe	...	Policeman
Michael Kayman	...	Policeman (as Michel Kayem)
Elise Renee	...	Patchoo (as Elise Renée)
Ron Jeremy	...	Bank security guard (as Ron Jeremy Hyatt)
Chris Tragos	...	Sub Lobby Assistant
George Hernandez	...	Stodgy Customer
Rich Turner	...	American Tourist (as Richard Turner)
Kimberly Beck	...	Customer
Sandra Larédo	...	Teller
David Richard Thompson	...	Burnt Vault Guard (as David Thompson)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Sean Galuszka	...	Heroin Addict (uncredited)

Directed by
Roger Avary

Writing credits
Roger Avary		(written by)

Produced by
Lawrence Bender	....	executive producer
Rebecca Boss	....	executive producer
Samuel Hadida	....	producer
Jeff Schechtman	....	co-producer
Quentin Tarantino	....	executive producer

Original Music by
tomandandy

Cinematography by
Tom Richmond

Film Editing by
Kathryn Himoff

Production Design by
David Wasco

Art Direction by
Charles Collum

Set Decoration by
Sandy Reynolds-Wasco

Costume Design by
Mary Claire Hannan

Makeup Department
R. Christopher Biggs	....	special makeup effects artist
Ashlee Petersen	....	makeup artist
Tom Savini	....	special makeup effects
Toni Savini	....	special makeup assistant
Heidi Seeholzer	....	assistant hair stylist
Heidi Seeholzer	....	assistant makeup artist

Production Management
Sara Spring	....	unit production manager
Olivier Thaon	....	unit production manager: France

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Trey Batchelor	....	second assistant director
Christine Fuller	....	second second assistant director
Jason Roberts	....	additional assistant director
John E. Vohlers	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Michael Armani	....	set designer
John Felgate	....	assistant property master
Kym Kartiganer	....	swing gang
Richard Louderback	....	tattoo artist
Michael Lusk	....	swing gang
Mike Malone	....	on-set dresser
Ray Maxwell	....	construction coordinator
Stanley Pasay	....	scenic painter
Mario Saverino	....	lead man
Stork	....	assistant mural artist
Thomas R. Wagner	....	property master (as Thomas Geraci-Wagner)
Kevin White	....	assistant art director
Chris L. Winslow	....	mural artist

Sound Department
Ulrika Akander	....	dialogue editor
Bobbi Almoite	....	assistant sound editor
Steve Bissinger	....	sound effects editor
Giovanni Di Simone	....	sound mixer
Rubén Domingo	....	sound editor
Susan Dudeck	....	dialogue editor
John Edwards-Younger	....	sound effects editor
Gary Gegan	....	sound re-recording mixer
Tommy Goodwin	....	adr mixer
Tommy Goodwin	....	foley mixer
Kimberly Harris	....	adr supervisor (as Kimberly Harris-Rivolier)
Tim Song Jones	....	sound transferer
Stanley Kastner	....	sound re-recording mixer
John A. Larsen	....	supervising sound editor
Yehuda Maayan	....	boom operator
Jennifer Myers	....	foley walker
Margie O'Malley	....	foley walker
Frank Smathers	....	dialogue editor
Frank Smathers	....	sound editor
Steve F.B. Smith	....	stereo sound consultant: Dolby
David Spence	....	dialogue editor
John Joseph Thomas	....	sound effects editor
Beth Wiehe	....	apprentice sound editor
Linda Lew	....	foley recordist (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Andre G. Ellingson	....	special effects coordinator
Josh Hakian	....	key effects coordinator
Anthony Simonaitis	....	special effects technician
Randy Tarum	....	special effects technician

Visual Effects by
Gretchen Avary	....	positive visualization
Sylvia Keulen	....	visual effects

Stunts
Rick Avery	....	stunts
Dane Farwell	....	stunts
Glory Fioramonti	....	stunts
Tim Gilbert	....	stunts
Tabby Hanson	....	stunts (as Tabitha Hanson)
Al Jones	....	stunt coordinator
Brett A. Jones	....	stunts (as Brett Jones)
Erik Stabenau	....	stunts
Cherie Tash	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Bruce Bellamy	....	grip
Linda R. Chen	....	still photographer
Claude Chron	....	key grip: France
Jason 'Jake' Cross	....	grip
Lee A. Dublin	....	second assistant camera
Kirk R. Gardner	....	Steadicam operator
Michael Graef	....	electrician
David Travis Grieb	....	grip
Chris Haarhoff	....	Steadicam operator
Robert C. Haile	....	second assistant camera
Smitty Howell	....	electrician (as Henry Smitty Howell)
Jay Anthony Jones	....	first assistant camera
Chris Lombardi	....	camera operator: "b" camera
Shaun Madigan	....	gaffer
Jose Ricardo 'Stickshift' Martinez	....	grip
Eamon McGillicuddy	....	electrician
Jason Prezant	....	additional assistant camera
Sacha Riviere	....	camera loader
Red Sinclair	....	best boy electric
Rick Stribling	....	key grip
Jean-Pierre Supe	....	first assistant camera: France
John 'JW' Warner	....	best boy grip
Kenny Yakkel	....	dolly grip
Kenny Yakkel	....	zipcam grip

Casting Department
Leah Applebaum	....	extras casting

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Jacqueline Aronson	....	costume supervisor
Jeannie H. Kelly	....	costumer
Patia Prouty	....	set costumer

Editorial Department
Phillip J. Bartell	....	second assistant editor: France
Gary Burritt	....	negative cutter
Lesley Langs	....	apprentice editor
Karey Maltzahn	....	first assistant editor: France
Dan Muscarella	....	color timer
Michael J. Harker	....	post-production consultant (uncredited)

Music Department
Jerry Gottus	....	music engineer
Scott Harding	....	music engineer
Randy Lee	....	musician: bass
Stephanie Rubin	....	music production coordinator
Brooke Wentz	....	music consultant

Transportation Department
Stephen Brown	....	driver
Jeff Hubacek	....	driver: honeywagon
James Lowder	....	transportation coordinator
Robert McCord	....	transportation captain
John Simanovich	....	driver

Other crew
Kate Axelrod	....	production coordinator
Stephanie Axe	....	office production assistant
Thierry Benloulou	....	consultant: France
Bruce Comtois	....	security officer
Claudette Cribbin	....	craft service
Claudette Cribbin	....	first aid
Rob Disner	....	production assistant
Frédéric Doniguian	....	location manager: France
Arnaud Dupont	....	location manager: France
Marc J. Federman	....	insurance
Jacquelyn Frisco	....	assistant production coordinator
Martin Grange	....	action car coordinator: France
Garrett Grant	....	location manager
Barbara Harris	....	adr loop group
Dominique Hascoet	....	production assistant: France
April A. Janow	....	production accountant
Petra Jorgensen	....	script supervisor
Sarah Kelly	....	set production assistant
Yrava Regor	....	translator
Jonathan Slater	....	location scout (as Jonathon Slater)
Robert Wayne Vaupel	....	assistant accountant
Thomas R. Wagner	....	weapons handler
Bumble Ward	....	unit publicist
Shelley Wolfe	....	payroll (as Shelly Wolfe)
Michael Mendelsohn	....	financial consultant (uncredited)

Thanks
Bill Unger	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• Davis-Films
• Live Entertainment
• PFG Entertainment

Distributors

• October Films (1994) (USA) (theatrical)
• Metropolitan Filmexport (2004) (France) (DVD)
• Live Entertainment
• Manga Films (Spain)
• Maple Pictures (2007) (Canada) (DVD)
• RCV Home Entertainment (2008) (Netherlands) (DVD) (limited edition steelbook)
• Versátil Home Vídeo (Brazil) (DVD)
• Versátil Home Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Alexander, Halloran, Nali & Shanker  music clearances
• Axium Entertainment Group  payroll
• Banque Paribus L.A.  production financing
• Cinelease  electrical and grip equipment
• Cinécam  Arriflex cameras provided by
• Dennis Davidson & Associates Public Releations (DDA)  unit publicity
• Fantasy Studios  foley
• Film Finance  completion bond
• First Interstate Bank Dayna Salz  bank services
• High End Inc.  post sound editing
• JDH Sound  post sound recorded at
• Mario's Catering  catering
• Near North Insurance Brokerage  insurance
• Otto Nemenz International  Arriflex cameras provided by
• Skywalker Sound  post sound recorded at
• The Casting Group  extras casting
• Title House  opticals
• Titra California Inc.  subtitles
• Tomandandy Studios  original music recorded at
• Transpalux  grip and lighting equipment

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:

Ricardo: Let me properly introduce you. That is Henri. He likes to be called Chim-chim but we don't always get what we like.

Movie Connections:

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

Soundtrack:

Afrika

See this film for entertainment's sake.

Killing Zoe (1994) is not groundbreaking but is never-the-less more entertaining than most crap in cinemas these days. This film is a great character study. None of the characters are boring or dull and they all are unique. Anyway, the story goes like this:

Zed (Eric Stoltz) is an American visiting Paris who gets more than he bargained for in his trip. On his first night he meets call-girl Zoe (Julie Delpy) and they pretty much have sex then fall in love. Their bonding is temporarily broken up by Eric (Jean-Hughes Anglade), Zed's old childhood friend who rudely throws a naked Zoe out into the hallway. Eric and Zed catch up on a few things and head down to Eric's place. There, they plan to rob the only bank open on Bastille Day, which is the following day. Zed, Eric, and Eric's crew then have a night on the town: doing drugs, doing more drugs, drinking, and then doing even more drugs. The next day Zed wakes up with a hangover but still has to do the heist. Well, almost everything goes wrong when everybody basically forgets the plan and Eric turns into a psycho. What makes matters even worse for Zed is that Zoe works at the bank and is now held as a hostage. Betrayal, greed, bloody violence, and love ensue.

Eric Stoltz always does a great job in everything he's in. There's no fault in his character and he portrays an extremely funny/cool Zed. Jean-Hughes Anglade nearly steals the show as the murderous sociopath Eric. Julie Delpy is decent as the lovely Zoe. The rest of the cast, especially Gary Kemp, are outstanding.

The violence is pretty bloody, the worst being the last death in the film. There's some splatter and all of the bank scenes are very tense. But that shouldn't drive you away from seeing this movie.

Roger Avary is a great writer/director. I especially enjoyed his work on The Rules of Attraction (2002). The editing for Killing Zoe is fantastic, as is the music supplied by tomandandy.

So see this film for entertainment's sake. It's got great character developments and bloody violence (if you're in to that stuff). While no masterpiece, I give Killing Zoe a 7 out of 10.