mada85
The Cosmic Force
I watched this film last night and really enjoyed it, and as there is no thread about it on the forum, I thought I would introduce it.
The International is a fast paced conspiracy thriller about a somewhat dishevelled investigator working for Interpol who, having lost his job with Scotland Yard two years before for reasons connected with the same case, is investigating the International Bank of Business and Credit. The investigator, Louis Salinger, is played by Clive Owen, and his investigating partner, Eleanor Whitman, is played by Naomi Watts. The story itself is quite straightforward – an investigator discovers the dirty dealings of a large financial organisation, investigates obsessively for years, and finally (sort of) wins the day, but the treatment elevates the film above run of the mill thrillers. It is in the tradition of films like North by Northwest, Frantic, and others of that ilk.
The film contains a few home truths about modern day banking. In one scene one of the bank’s directors states that banks want to make everyone a slave to debt, which will be controlled by the banks. The film also has its fictional bank financing terrorism and third world conflicts.
The relationship between the two leads is quite mature – there’s no ‘redemption through romance’ - they are two professionals working on the same case. The visual style complements the story, being filmed at several different international locations, some previously unseen in cinema. The ending is fairly downbeat, too, which I found to be a nice surprise, especially for a mainstream film of this kind.
The International won’t blow your mind with deep insights into the human condition, but it is an entertaining and well made conspiracy thriller. It was directed by Tom Tykwer, who also directed Perfume.
See also _http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0963178/
The International is a fast paced conspiracy thriller about a somewhat dishevelled investigator working for Interpol who, having lost his job with Scotland Yard two years before for reasons connected with the same case, is investigating the International Bank of Business and Credit. The investigator, Louis Salinger, is played by Clive Owen, and his investigating partner, Eleanor Whitman, is played by Naomi Watts. The story itself is quite straightforward – an investigator discovers the dirty dealings of a large financial organisation, investigates obsessively for years, and finally (sort of) wins the day, but the treatment elevates the film above run of the mill thrillers. It is in the tradition of films like North by Northwest, Frantic, and others of that ilk.
The film contains a few home truths about modern day banking. In one scene one of the bank’s directors states that banks want to make everyone a slave to debt, which will be controlled by the banks. The film also has its fictional bank financing terrorism and third world conflicts.
The relationship between the two leads is quite mature – there’s no ‘redemption through romance’ - they are two professionals working on the same case. The visual style complements the story, being filmed at several different international locations, some previously unseen in cinema. The ending is fairly downbeat, too, which I found to be a nice surprise, especially for a mainstream film of this kind.
The International won’t blow your mind with deep insights into the human condition, but it is an entertaining and well made conspiracy thriller. It was directed by Tom Tykwer, who also directed Perfume.
See also _http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0963178/
