The International Review

Posted by Shawn S. Lealos on 02.17.2009

Is this tale of evil bankers worth your hard earned dough?

Directed by Tom Tykwer
Written by Eric Warren Singer
Cinematography by Frank Griebe
Music Composed by Tom Tykwer, Reinhold Heil, and Johnny Klimek

Cast
Clive Owen ... Louis Salinger
Naomi Watts ... Eleanor Whitman
Armin Mueller-Stahl ... Wilhelm Wexler
Ulrich Thomsen ... Jonas Skarssen
Brian F. O’Byrne ... The Consultant
Michel Voletti ... Viktor Haas
Patrick Baladi ... Martin White
Jay Villiers ... Francis Ehames
Fabrice Scott ... Nicholai Yeshinski
Alessandro Fabrizi ... Inspector Alberto Cerutti
Felix Solis ... Detective Iggy Ornelas
Jack McGee ... Detective Bernie Ward



Rated R for some sequences of violence and language.

The International is the latest directorial effort from Tom Tykwer, who has built a reputation as one of cinema’s most talented upcoming visual directors. His breakout feature, Germany’s Run Lola Run is a visually dynamic film that creates a non-linear narrative, mixing live action and animated scenes to amazing effect. His most recent output is the American film Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, where Tykwer took a very difficult premise for a visual medium such as film, a lead character with a keen sense of smell, and created a film where you almost felt you understood what he was smelling. He has proven to have a keen eye and is part of the new breed of auteurs on the Hollywood scene.

On the surface, The International is a beautiful film with some very impressive camerawork. The movie bounces around such locations as Turkey, Germany, Luxembourg, Italy and New York City. Tykwer, a German, has a great sense for what it is about the various cities that makes them beautiful and unique, painstakingly allowing the camera to linger on these glorious locals in cinematography only comparable to paintings.

The script for the movie never reaches the heights of the beautiful pictures displayed over its two hour running time. Clive Owen is Louis Salinger, a former Scotland Yard officer who has been investigating one of the world’s most powerful banks, the International Bank of Business and Credit (IBBC). He lost his job when he lost his temper following an incident that almost broke open his case, only to have it closed by his superiors and the witness murdered days later.

The IBBC is loosely based on the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI), which was involved in money laundering, bribery, support of terrorism, arms trafficking, the sale of nuclear technologies, the commission and facilitation of tax evasion, smuggling, illegal immigration, and the illicit purchases of banks and real estate. The BCCI was busted and brought down in the mid nineties and the focus of this movie is Salinger’s, now an Interpol agent, attempts to bring the IBBC down in much the same manner.

He is working with Eleanor (Naomi Watts), a district attorney for the Manhattan office investigating the case for the US. The movie starts with us smack dab in the middle of things with an agent speaking to a mysterious man in a car concerning turning over evidence. When the agent leaves the car, he heads in the direction of Salinger and someone bumps into him as he walks through the parking lot. He thinks nothing of it until he vomits and then dies of a heart attack. Salinger knows this was no accident, but from his standpoint never saw the incidental contact. No one else believes him, even after he finds out the witness considering helping them died in a car accident later that same day.

The story is very intriguing. It is reminiscent of Hitchcock in the double crosses and double agents on hand in the never ending battle with the bank. It is amazing that they could make a bank seem as dangerous as this one. The explanation is spot on when Salinger is told later in the film that everyone needs the banks. The job of the banks is to help you, lend you the money to make things easier on you and then everyone, from the most powerful countries to the everyday working Joe, becomes a slave to these banks. The bank in question here has been working on arms deals with resurgents and gorillas and, as a result, has the backing of powerful friends everywhere from Germany to Africa to the United States. There is no one you can trust and no one you can turn to for help. Everyone who gets close to the truth winds up dead. Even Eleanor, the classic Hitchcockian blonde, fits the profile. The entire plot is exciting.

The execution takes all the promise and flushes it down the toilet. Clive Owen was very close to becoming the next James Bond and, with all the globetrotting in this film, might be the closest you will see Owen as James Bond. That is a shame because this movie is about as far from the excitement of a Bond film as you can get. Everything in the movie is quiet chase scenes with the police running in circles.

There is only one exciting moment in the entire movie, at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City. Tykwer lovingly recreates the museum for this magnificent set piece and then proceeds to tear shit up. For those unfamiliar, the museum is a twisting runway of floors, spiraling upward through the levels. When Salinger and two NYC police officers find themselves on the fifth floor surrounded by assassins with submachine guns, the movie hits its highest level. The entire scene was shot with such a deft hand, it made me remember why I love the work of Tykwer so much. Between this scene and the landscape footage, I still find myself as a fan of the man despite the lackluster pace of this film.

The movie runs at a snail’s pace. They are searching for clues, trying to find the white rabbit that will lead them to the one item which will bring down the organization, but it seems at times they are chasing their tales. I can understand trying to build a sense of frustration that would finally pay off when they make the preemptive strike that will cripple the bank, but it never happens. There was a nice touch at the end where Salinger finds a way to hurt the bank and it brings a decent feeling of smug relief when his final plan works so well, but the climax is not satisfying.

The film ends with a series of newspaper clips as the final credits roll. These newspaper headlines explain what happens to Eleanor, who leaves the action at the behest of Salinger never to be heard from again. The newspapers also explain what ended up happening to the bank, since the movie ends when Salinger’s vendetta hits its climax. There are a number of evil men presented in the film that are allowed to escape into the shadows never to be seen again. There is a comment in the film that the difference between reality and fiction is that fiction must make sense. The screenwriter should have followed his own advice. For a two-plus hour movie, some closure would have been nice.

I would like to briefly touch on the sound design for the film. When the movie starts, Salinger races to his friend who is lying dead on the sidewalk and a truck smashes him in the ear, causing him to temporarily lose his hearing. Through the rest of the movie, he occasionally has a ringing in his ears, which we the viewer hear as well. It is reminiscent of the pace maker sounds in The Wrestler, and is used in much the same way. It is a nice touch that works well throughout the film. The music is also very well done and reminds me of the Tykwer did on Run Lola Run. I do not mean the style of music, but the way it works hand in hand with the film to tell the story. His choice of music cues is expert and adds to the picture.

The 411: At the end of the day, The International has to be considered a disappointment. The idea behind the story is brilliant but the script never allows the excitement you would get from its closest competitor - James Bond. I wasn’t expecting camp, but I would have liked more excitement from a movie touted as a thriller. Clive Owen is only average as the Interpol agent tracking the bank with Naomi Watts faring slightly better. On the positive side, the picture was shot beautifully with the various locations covered in loving detail. The highlight had to be the Guggenheim gun fight, which was extraordinary. There were just too many slow moving, boring scenes to make the movie worth more than a curious glance.

Final Score:  5.5   [ Not So Good ]