The Cypriot
It all began in the summer of 1974 when Turkey invaded
Cyprus. Two Greek Cypriot brothers that had been fighting
together in battle were in a sudden battle separated from
each other. One was captured and lost. The other was
retrieved but had fallen into a deep comma. Six years later
the brother that was in a comma, the elder one, awoke out of
it. He awoke with the trauma of the battle in his mind and
the last images when he was separated from his dear brother.
Indeed the first words he said when he woke up were: "Where
is my brother."
Filled with anger and a thirst of revenge the Cypriot
leaves the hospital he is in and goes out to Cyprus. Buying
dozens of weapons, the Cypriot sneaks his way pass the
"Green Line" (the line that divides the Greek and Turkish
parts of the island) and goes into the Turkish part wanting
answers and hoping to find his brother. Blasting his way
through all of the military and armed service members, the
Cypriot makes his way to the dictator of that part of the
island, Denktash. There, in a stunning scene, he is
confronted with all of his security reinforcement while
holding one of them and threatening to kill him if Denktash
doesn't tell him where his brother is.
Denktash falls through and the Cypriot's brother is
alive, but has been taken away to Saudi Arabia, and is being
held to be executed. The Cypriot is not going to stop at
anything to get his brother, and with the help of a lady and
a young boy he leaves the island to makes his way to his
brother. Many things will be revealed and the Cypriot's own
salvation will be put to the ultimate test....
-- Script Pitch III Host Commentary --
by Lee Tistaert and Stephen Lucas
Lee's Analysis:
While everything starts with a script, a project like
this can heavily depend on the director’s vision; sometimes
directors can screw up good setups, and sometimes it’s the
other way around. Enemy at the Gates comes to mind with this
character doing everything he can to reach his brother, sort
of like Jude Law chasing down Ed Harris in that film. And my
bet is that if I were to read the script for that film, it
wouldn’t be as engaging as the film itself (which I liked).
The Cypriot can be thrilling and heartfelt at the same
time with the brotherhood theme, but the viewer needs to
feel for the character’s goal of finding his brother, or it
doesn’t work. One of my big complaints with Cold Mountain is
that I never cared whether Nicole Kidman and Jude Law got
together in the end after all the complications. Nothing
about their characters, despite them "apparently" falling
for each other, really made me root for their fate – I never
knew them.
This could use the style of Spy Game but with a script
that functions even without the director’s input. I thought
Spy Game was nearly all style and little substance (with the
actors just barely making it tolerable), but if you can
manage to have style "and" substance, then that is golden.
But if your intent isn’t a partly flashy movie, then that
could also be an accomplishment if you pull if off with the
story being the center attention.
Stephen's Analysis:
Interestingly, you use a brother-brother story, which
doesn’t come up very often in Hollywood. Revenge tales are
always fun (except, most notably, "The Punisher" – don’t
touch it with a ten-foot pole) and so I think this film may
work.
I like your setting as well; the different time period
and geographic location give your movie some flair that it
may need. If the project gets a skilled director and strong
male leads, "The Cypriot" may not be half bad. One bit of
advice: aim for "Kill Bill," and avoid "The Punisher."
Rating: B
