. Jean-Jacques Annaud spent four years preparing for the film, traveling throughout the United States as well as Europe, searching for the perfect cast and film set locations. He supposedly felt personally intrigued by the project, among other things because of a lifelong fascination with medieval churches and a great familiarity with Latin and Greek.[citation needed]
For Seven Years in Tibet, a film adaptation of the life of Heinrich Harrer, he has received a lifelong denial of entry to China, as have starring actors Brad Pitt and David Thewlis.
In 2000 he wrote and produced Running Free directed by Sergei Bodrov. He also directed the 2001 film Enemy at the Gates, detailing the exploits of Vassili Zaitsev during the Battle of Stalingrad.
His latest work was filmed in the year 2006, a film known by the name His Majesty Minor, which was filmed in Benitatxell and Benigembla, basically in the district of the Marina Alta, which is located in the Valencian Community.
Annaud's next project will be the film adaptation of the award-winning best-selling Chinese novel Wolf Totem
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A good mystery thriller, casting Holmes and Watson as 14th century monks. Along the way it explores adolescent desire, love of literature, religious persecution and questions of integrity. It's not very complex, I suspect the book runs quite a bit deeper. The direction is competent if not especially stunning, Connery is typically charismatic, and Slater hasn't yet become annoying. The big reveal is a little on the unsatisfying side, but the trip getting there is worthwhile.