Review of The Limits of Control (2009) by Mike U — 30 Apr 2011

The Limits of Control could be well described as the definition of cool. Until you've seen something like this, you really haven't seen a cool movie. That said, cool comes with a price - the core of the film is an extremely slow-paced, minimalist tale that suggests a plot more than it conveys one in concrete terms. Those lacking in patience and unwilling to challenge themselves to engage their imagination will find The Limits of Control completely inaccessible, as most viewers and critics have.

Isaach De Bankole is completely stoic, expressionless, and nearly silent as the lead, Lone Man, one of the film's entire cast of nameless characters. One of the coolest performances you will ever see in film, and this is in a movie rife with them. Over the course of the film, Bankole meets with a number of other characters, each conveying a specific theme or object as they exchange matchboxes bearing messages. Luis Tosar carries a violin, Paz de la Huerta is constantly nude and focused solely on trying to get De Bankole to sleep with her, Tilda Swinton discusses old art house movies in a completely self-aware manner, Youki Kudoh discusses molecules, John Hurt bears a guitar, Gael Garcia Bernal discusses the nature of reality and peyote, and Bill Murray is largely displeased in his brief screen time, acting as the end goal of the story.

Jim Jarmusch's direction is at his slickest and most stylish here, and coupled with Christopher Doyle's always breathtaking cinematography, the film is an absolute feast for the eyes at every turn, with so many incredibly angled and framed shots of endlessly interesting scenery in Spain. The film's evocative score (Primarily by Japanese band Boris) recalls the fantastically atmospheric soundtracks of Dead Man and Ghost Dog, both of which are recalled stylistically by The Limits of Control, though the aforementioned films both have much more developed plots where The Limits of Control is an experiment in minimalism, the story guided only by brief cryptic dialogue and imagery.

To be upfront - odds are very, very good that you won't get anything out of The Limits of Control. Most people won't. This is a movie that you will either love or despise, and most will fall into the latter category - considering the film's experimental extreme minimalism and utterly cryptic plot, that's completely understandable. The fact of the matter, though, is that THIS is pure art house filmmaking - complete with the self-aware pretension and fixation on mood over character development or well-fleshed-out narrative. The facts that the film didn't provide any satisfying illumination to what its bizarre, cryptic plot was pursuing the whole time and that it's hard not to wish for a little more character development have me docking a little bit from my score here. Likewise, the fairly pretentious core and utter inaccessibility to most viewers have me hesitant to give the film a score any stronger than I do. That said, I absolutely loved every minute of The Limits of Control from beginning to end. It's visually enthralling, the performances are pitch perfect, and the core story is so challenging, cryptic, mysterious, and cool that I just can't help but love the film. There's very little else out there quite like it, and as such, for the Jarmusch lovers out there and those brave enough to risk losing a couple of hours on a challenging film that they might come out despising, I have to recommend The Limits of Control. It's not a flawless film, to be sure, but it accomplishes everything it sets out to do with a detached coolness that completely blew me away. This film is a dreamlike experience with an atmosphere that I will definitely be plunging myself back into in the future.