De Palma’s mastery of cinematic space bears itself out in the rush of a pre-credits set-up, which employs such CV-echoing tics as false sets, POV-tracking shots and (literally, in this case) masked and mistaken identities.
The glee with which he approaches the film’s central set-piece – a raid on an impenetrable vault – is at once a model of economy and the very explication of Hitchcock’s definition of cinematic tension.
Ethan Hunt
Tom Cruise
Jim Phelps
Jon Voight
Claire
Emmanuelle Béart
Kittridge
Henry Czerny
Krieger
Jean Reno
Luther
Ving Rhames
Sarah Davies
Kristin Scott Thomas
Max
Vanessa Redgrave
Hannah
Ingeborga Dapkunaite
Kittridge Technician
Nathan Osgood
CIA Analyst William Donloe
Rolf Saxon
Matthias
Karel Dobrý
Director
Brian De Palma
