The Limits of Control

Colour, 35 mm
USA, Spain, Japan, 2009, 116 min
Section: Horizons

Synopsis

A lone man with no name travels the Spanish countryside meeting mysterious people for coffee and collecting information. What are his intentions and what does he write down on the flaps of match packs? Jim Jarmusch has returned to prove that he is not a creator of one style or a recurring theme. Despite the presence of several favorite actors (Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, and above all Isaach De Bankolé), his latest movie is a surprising work even considering the famed moviemaker’s varied filmography. This time around he has hooked up with renowned cameraman Christopher Doyle (In the Mood for Love) as well as Boris, a band of rough Japanese drone rockers. The director contemplates: "What would it be like if Jacques Rivette remade John Boorman’s masterpiece Point Blank? Or what if Marguerite Duras remade Jean-Pierre Melville’s Le Samouraï?” He adds that during shooting he thought about European crime dramas of the 1970s and 1980s, including the work of Francesco Rosi.

About the director

Jim Jarmusch (b. 1953, Akron, Ohio) is at the forefront of American independent cinema, and European film has had a great influence on his work. After his successful debut Permanent Vacation (1980), he shot Stranger Than Paradise (1984), winning awards at Cannes, Sundance, and Locarno. Mystery Train (1989) and Dead Man (1995) screened at Karlovy Vary, as did Broken Flowers (2005), which took the Grand Prize of the Jury at the Cannes IFF. In the 18th episode of "The Simpsons” 19th season, Jarmusch, who lives and works in New York, said that his films are about "social misfits experiencing the dark side of the American dream.”