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The American
(2010)
  
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Director:
Anton Corbijn |
COUNTRY
USA |
GENRE
Drama/Crime |
NORWEGIAN TITLE
The
American |
RUNNING
TIME
105
minutes |
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Producer:
George Clooney
Grant Heslov
Anne Carey
Jill Green
Ann Wingate |
Screenwriter (based on the novel by Martin Booth):
Rowan Joffé |
Review
Anton Corbijn, the brilliant Dutch
photographer, music video director and creative mind behind much of U2's
and Depeche Mode's visual output during the past two decades, took the
plunge to feature film making with Control in 2007, a biopic about Joy
Division frontman Ian Curtis which earned the Dutchman rave reviews. His
second film, The American, is a far bigger test. This
time he is directing a Hollywood superstar and making a film without the
safety-net which his knowledge of the music business provided him with
Control. This time, Anton Corbijn is exposed.
And although Corbijn again
demonstrates his talent for compositions and choice of locations, he
also reveals that he hasn't got full command of all facets of the craft
of filmmaking yet. The clumsy editing and inhibited storytelling drains
the life out of this potentially interesting story of a disillusioned
assassin who goes into hibernation in a sleeping Italian village.
Corbijn's lack of experience with actors also becomes apparent; the
performances feel stiff, and only an experienced George Clooney on
autopilot saves the film in a lacking middle part. In the end, we
understand that the denouement is quite clever, and the film does retain
a nerve, but the story is told as if by a deaf-mute; an indistinct
grumble from which you must guess your way to the essence.
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