The Limits of Control

The Limits of Visual Narrative
"Limits" DOES tell a story. It has a plot, almost the same plot really as many films about assassination. An impassive, relentless,'professional' hit man is commissioned by a syndicate to kill a big shot of another syndicate. The 'hit' requires him to make contact witha series of strangers who present him with crucial info, presumably about the location of his target. The strangers are bizarre. The mission proceeds to its climax, as it has been obvious that it would from the first scene.

However, there's no explication. No context. We have no idea who wants whom killed, or for what reason, and we never learn. Likewise, we have no reason to care, no favorites as it were, no complicating empathy for the killer or sympathy for his target. The whole verbal script for this film could be typed on a single flash card, and if its insistent repetitions were deleted, half the flash card would be blank. There is nothing in this film to engage the viewer's involvement. It's a pure...

One of the Most Overlooked Films of Its Time
Jim Jarmusch's The Limits of Control is one of the rare pieces of cinema that I consider to be fine art. Straight-faced, I'll call it a masterpiece. Not just because of Jarmusch's solid direction, the well placed cameos (read end of review for spoiler theory about the film's best cameo) and endlessly interesting location choices. Not just because of the epic/drone-y guitars (played by both Boris and Jarmusch himself) and Christopher Doyle cinematography, but, most importantly, because of the holes and hints and clues in the story we see unfold.

You can - nay, must - make up your own version of what's going on every time you watch The Limits of Control. I'm guessing that this is the reason why American critics, for the most part, hated this film. These are people who - more than in any other country - are paid to go into a theater ready to quickly judge art - it's their job. They research and think ahead, knowing that they're responsible for insightful ideas and opinions as...

Jim Jarmusch should have been persuaded to make the X-Men movies
The filmmaker's skill and the leading man's presence managed to hold my attention for more than an hour. This movie is mainly the camera resting on the leading man's face and sometimes hands. Other times, the camera is used judiciously and well to move the plot forward. There is not one false move on the part of the camera. So many times, I feel my head explode when I see poor use of camera angles - sometimes lazy, often stupid and mostly tasteless. Not here. I remember enjoying Stranger than Paradise but this is the movie that impresses me that this director's uniquely talented but also important in the business of movies - highly skilled and well trained choices means he can make great movies - that his contribution to a vehicle will improve that movie. Take him out of the arthouse genre and give him something big to do. There was a big problem in editing of Southland Tales which was filled with a plethora of delights that it cancelled itself out in front of the audience...

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