Isaach de Bankolé

Alex Descas

Jean-François Stévenin

Óscar Jaenada

Luis Tosar

Paz de la Huerta

Tilda Swinton

Youki Kudoh

John Hurt

Gael García Bernal

Hiam Abbass

Bill Murray

Héctor Colomé

María Isasi

Norma Yessenia Paladines

Alejandro Muñoz Biggie

Cristina Sierra Sánchez

Pablo Lucas Ortega

La Truco

Talegón de Córdoba

Jorge Rodriguez Padilla

Jon Ánder Aguirrezábal

Miguel Alcíbar

Francisco Álvarez de la Morena

Verónica Barberis

Santiago Bravo

Miguel Casas García

José Corbacho

Richard Diment

Ángel Dominguez Duran

Adolfina Escoriza Cano

Miguel Gabin Álvarez

Felipe García

Pablo García Lloret

Juan Carlos Garrido

Saskia Gonzalez

Dolores Jimenez

Mercedes Leoni

Jesús Losada Abadía

Rubén Quiñonez

Víctor Ariel Raigón

Ignacio Ramos

Ferran Rial

Henar Sánchez

Victor Vaquero

Alba María Villaneva

Carlos Martorell Ypiens

María José Rodríguez

Jim Jarmusch

Christopher Doyle

Gretchen McGowan

Stacey Smith

Jay Rabinowitz

Alberto Poveda Rey

Cristina Amengual Watson

Chris Downs

Adrian Grünberg

Catalina Parra

Andrea Vázquez

Juan José Alcalde

Francisco Artero

León Bigiu

Savin Borgovan

Clara Cardona

Carlos Compadre

Fernando Contreras

Danut Corci

Federico del Cerro

Rafael Esposito

Paula González Molinero

José Alberto Guerrero

Mikel Izaguirre

Amos Jurado

Gabriel Liste

Ralph Lopez

Ariel Margolis

Rudy Mercado

Roi Prada

Arturo Revuelta

Roberto Torralba

Juan Antonio Torrijos

Tomás Gómez

Laurent Boudaud

David Boulton

Brian Bowles

Ryan Collison

Robert Hein

Mike Howells

Bobby Johanson

Drew Kunin

Peter Murphy

Glenfield Payne

Jay Peck

Steve F.B. Smith

Dominick Tavella

David Wahnon

Paul Yurt

Pau Costa

Javier H. Moneo

Esteban Roma

Raúl Romanillos

Daniel Abramovich

Glenn Allen

Ella Boliver

Matthew Conner

Richard Friedlander

Manuel Rey Gonzalez

Chris MacKenzie

John Mangia

Eric J. Robertson

Chris 'Pinkus' Wesselman

Jun Zhang

Claire Rose

Ignacio Carreño

Diego Herberg

Eduardo Moratilla

Juan José Rodríguez

Águeda Balogh

Víctor Benavides

Javier Casado

Miguel Ángel Cárdenas

Sergio Delgado

Julio Fernández Santa

Pipo Fernández

Alberto González

Falkwyn Goyeneche

Teresa Isasi

Francisco Izaguirre

Eduardo Cabrera Jara

Rain Li

Rodrigo López

Javier Merino

José Sacristán

Iván Sequeira

Beatriz Bartolomé

David H. Kramer

Ashley Jade Parkes

Meghan Rafferty

Leticia Criado

Carlos Javier Martín

Eva Salas

Chris Blacklock

Mitchell Ferm

Crime

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The Limits of Control

PointBlank Films

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United States of America

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Jim Jarmusch's 2008 film <i>The Limits of Control</i> concerns a nameless hitman (Isaach De Bankole) as he prepares to carry out an assassination in Spain. It is not overtly stated that he is a professional, but his uncompromising posture, his unchanging expression and the omnipresent suitcase make it clear from the very first minutes of the film. Isaach De Bankole is perfect in this role, as he has a face that seems carved out of granite. The hitman's few intimations of humanity are thus all the more shocking.

As the film proceeds, the hitman meets a series of individuals who send him onwards in his journey to pick up necessary equipment and finally confront his victim. These employees of his mysterious employer are left nameless, though often referred to by items they carry or other qualities: "Guitar" (John Hurt), "Blond" (Tilda Swinton), "Violin" (Luis Tosar), "Mexican" (Gael García Bernal), and "Molecules" (Youki Kudoh). In engaging the assassin in conversation to subtly convey their messages, they end up delivering eccentric monologues. Many critics lambasted these lines as so much metaphysical babble. In fact, everything said relates very directly to the plot, but this is the sort of film that demands a second viewing to really tie everything together, and those who fail to be intrigued enough on the first viewing to go on to a second may find this film a failure.

Though Jarmusch alludes to America under the Bush administration at points, this is ultimately a psychological drama: the hitman's task and contacts represent only parts of his own psyche. While some have tried to view this as a simple Freudian struggle between the id, ego, and superego, I feel that Jarmusch is aiming for something more subtle, something that he has great difficult putting into words and, even with his best efforts, this film can only hint at. THE LIMITS OF CONTROL feels like a cinematic analogue to the late albums of Scott Walker, where the songs' characters, cultural references and "plot" only serve to express some burning flame in the artist's own psyche.

Jim Jarmusch has always stated that his aesthetic is to absorb everything he can from prior films (and books, music, etc.) and let those inspirations reflect in his own films.<i>The Limits of Control</i> abounds with references to the film canon: Jean-Pierre Melville (namely "Le Samouraï"), Orson Welles ("The Lady from Shanghai"), Alfred Hitchcock, Aki Kaurismäki ("Le Vie de Bohème"), Alejandro Jodorowsky (that auteur's entire trippy aesthetic), and probably more that I just didn't recognize.

The film's lack of conventional interaction between characters and the compilation of references ultimately makes THE LIMITS OF CONTROL feel relatively cold and lifeless compared to Jarmusch's many other films. Still, the visuals of the film make it a worthwhile experience in spite of its flaws. With Christopher Doyle, funny enough, working the camera, we get a number of beautifully composed shots that will prove memorable.

The Limits of Control

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