Body of Lies

Trivia for Body of Lies (2008)

*Manchester scenes (filmed on actual streets in the USA), any overly "American" curbside items (like certain fire hydrants) were hidden by dropping bottom-less slatted metal trash cans over them and then adding prop "English" rubbish; however, extras and crew unaware of this subtle artful touch continuously filled the apparently-normal-looking receptacles with their own trash. Between filming sessions, rueful set dressers would have to remove a foot-high layer of discarded plastic water bottles (and then reset and fluff the "official" rubbish).


*While the derelict-but-surviving US neighborhood where the Manchester Scenes were filmed had plenty of its own street litter and urban debris, the Hollywood crew (in the effort to make the area look like an English slum) had left certain piles of prop rubbish in precise places. For scene continuity, such rubbish needed to remain present --even when scenes took multiple days to film. To protect against unwitting community litter cleanup, "essential" debris was flagged overnight and on weekends with "hot set" tape (a specialized version of other American yellow hazard tapes which say things like "caution caution caution", "wet paint", or "police line do not cross").


*During one Munich scene (actually filmed on a busy urban US street corner), civilian vehicle traffic was stopped only during actual filming. Just before and after filming, the prop streetsigns (written in German) were in place while the street was still open to thru traffic. Thus, some unknowing motorists went from seeing typical streetsigns (which said things like "Central Avenue" or "Washington Street") to reading differently-colored German signs for, say, "CharlottenStraße".


*For Manchester Scenes (filmed in a gritty and real American slum), actual English "police line" tape was used. Its distinctive blue and white coloration contrasts with US-style police tape which is yellow with black text. Comparison was easy because occasional stray bits of American police line tape from past actual crime scenes were among the real neighborhood's windblown street debris littering the edges of the filming area.


*A key scene's spectacular explosion is not a digital effect; it was a real, though controlled and safe, pyrotechnic blast - much to the delight (or, in some cases, surprise) of neighborhood onlookers.


*To get just the right look during a massive pyrotechnic explosion while also not damaging still-occupied neighborhood buildings, technicians used a "car chucker" (rather than the force of the blast) to fling a vehicle violently. The fridge-door-sized steel plate has a powerful spring-hinge device able to catapult cars for specified distances.


*Some performers in the exterior Turkish Cafe in Munich Scene were stage-reading actual Arabic newspapers. The more-attentive among them were indeed reading from right to left (most noticeable when they turn a page).


*Costume standards were such that performers portraying British police wore full regalia including a tie, utility belt, regimental insignia, and a bulletproof jacket even though none of these were visible under their blaze yellow police emergency-response raincoats. Also, these same police were usually positioned with their backs to the camera --which was often a quarter-mile away.


*During filming in the USA, a few of the POVs (privately-owned vehicles) which extras used to reach the locations were used during filming of scenes meant to portray parts of Europe, but first the cars needed to be "de-Americanized". This involved more than just switching license plates. Rear-view mirror dangling trinkets (graduation tassels, novelty-shaped air fresheners, etc) were removed. Bumper stickers advertising vacation spots and political views were scraped off. In some cases, windshield decals from European municipalities were added.


*To extras waiting to join the "Terrible Neighborhood" and "Terrible Flat" scenes, a wardrobe specialist announced, "Please remove your personal jewelry including school rings and wedding bands; this is supposed to be a gritty neighborhood full of crackhouses and you're poor... you hocked all of your jewelry - for drugs."


*Over the course of filming the Terrible Neighborhood scene, two tanker-truckloads of water were sprayed onto the location neighborhood streets because, for looks, wet roadways were considered preferable to dry pavement.


*Carice van Houten actually played the character of Roger's wife Gretchen Ferris, but all her scenes were deleted and she does not appear in the final cut.


*The soccer match that Aisha's nephews are watching on TV is a Nationwide League Division Three match between Yeovil Town and Torquay United. The match was played on 27th September 2003.