introduced Collateral
as soon as he arrived at the festival !
 

PostED ON 18.10.2025

When I decided to make Collateral, I had just finished directing The Last of the Mohicans, Heat and Ali. For me, they were very large-scale films, so the idea of shooting a story that takes place in a single night in dark and gloomy LA was very appealing.

This story featuring a specific location and a hostage situation in a taxi, with two male characters, the driver played by Jamie Foxx and the hitman played by Tom Cruise, was constructed in such a way that when they meet, we understand that one complements the other. Max, the taxi driver, is constantly imagining things about himself. He imagines a future and makes plans that will never transpire. Vincent, the killer, on the other hand, is very, very nihilistic; everything that makes us human doesn't exist in him. Collateral was also inspired by my time as a student in Chicago. For two years, I worked as a taxi driver to earn a living and interacted with a very particular group of people, like the characters you see in the film.’

© Jean-Luc Mège Photography