Review of The Limits of Control (2009) by Christopher C — 23 Apr 2010

Jim Jarmusch's 2009 film THE LIMITS OF CONTROL concerns a nameless hitman (IsaachDe 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 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, in attempts to engage the assassin in conversation, end up delivering eccentric monologues. Now, many critics lambasted these lines as so much metaphysical babble, but it's not: watch the film a second time (or just remember what you hear the first time around) and you'll find that it all relates very directly to the plot. The synchronicity of the artworks and songs that the hitman finds in Spain with the characters he meets is also rather charming.

All in all, I enjoyed this film. It's fine entertainment. That said, I agree with the general opinion that this is not one's of Jarmusch's greatest films. The director has always acknowledged his debt to previous filmmakers, but he has layered his own personal aesthetic over the film. In THE LIMITS OF CONTROL, I felt that too much of the film evoked obvious antecedents: Antonio, Goddard, Kaurismaki. The film's climax is also problematic. The film contains elements of magical realism, but not enough to see the way the hitman overcomes his obstacles as anything other than a deus ex machina. Nor does the film easily allow us to interpret these circumstances in a metaphorical sense (there is a metaphorical reading, but I don't find it a satisfying one).