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Alex Descas

Jean-François Stévenin

Óscar Jaenada

Luis Tosar

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Youki Kudoh

John Hurt

Gael García Bernal

Hiam Abbass

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Héctor Colomé

María Isasi

Norma Yessenia Paladines

Alejandro Muñoz Biggie

Cristina Sierra Sánchez

Pablo Lucas Ortega

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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

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Gretchen McGowan

Stacey Smith

Alberto Poveda Rey

Catalina Parra

Cristina Amengual Watson

Adrian Grünberg

Andrea Vázquez

Chris Downs

David Boulton

Mike Howells

Danut Corci

Rudy Mercado

Ryan Collison

Glenfield Payne

Gabriel Liste

Paul Yurt

David Wahnon

Francisco Artero

Clara Cardona

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Arturo Revuelta

Federico del Cerro

Roberto Torralba

Robert Hein

Steve F.B. Smith

Juan José Alcalde

Savin Borgovan

Amos Jurado

Carlos Compadre

Mikel Izaguirre

Roi Prada

Tomás Gómez

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Dominick Tavella

Rafael Esposito

José Alberto Guerrero

Ariel Margolis

Fernando Contreras

Paula González Molinero

Laurent Boudaud

Juan Antonio Torrijos

León Bigiu

Jay Peck

Pau Costa

Daniel Abramovich

Eric J. Robertson

Chris 'Pinkus' Wesselman

Richard Friedlander

Bobby Johanson

Matthew Conner

Brian Bowles

Raúl Romanillos

Glenn Allen

Diego Herberg

Falkwyn Goyeneche

Rain Li

Javier Merino

Ignacio Carreño

Eduardo Moratilla

Ella Boliver

John Mangia

Manuel Rey Gonzalez

Beatriz Bartolomé

Jun Zhang

Esteban Roma

Víctor Benavides

Rodrigo López

Iván Sequeira

Leticia Criado

Chris MacKenzie

Alberto González

Drew Kunin

Claire Rose

Javier H. Moneo

Francisco Izaguirre

Pipo Rivas

Eva Salas

Julio Fernández Santa

Javier Casado

Miguel Ángel Cárdenas

Teresa Isasi

Sergio Delgado

José Sacristán

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Juan José Rodríguez

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The Limits of Control

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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.

Archival Talks: Jim Jarmusch, "The Limits of Control"

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I Used My Imagination Clip

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The Limits of Control( 2009)

For every way in, there is another way out.

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A review by CRCulver

Written by CRCulver on Sat Sep 08 2018

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