The Limits of Control (2009)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Mark W

  
  Jim Jarmusch has always been a director that's very particular in his structure, his pace and his mood. Some of his films are more successful than others and often they are not everybody's cup of tea. So, if your not a fan, avoid this one completely. A mysterious, nameless… More
  Jim Jarmusch has always been a director that's very particular in his structure, his pace and his mood. Some of his films are more successful than others and often they are not everybody's cup of tea. So, if your not a fan, avoid this one completely. A mysterious, nameless assassin (Isaach De Bankole) travels across Spain on some kind of criminal mission. Wandering throughout the picturesque city he comes across an incalculable ensemble of oddballs who join him in drinking coffee, passing him matchboxes with directions contained inside and delivering existenstial monologues and advice. This offering from Jarmusch could been seen as a self-indulgent experiment and it will most definitely not appeal to everyone. The length approaches 2hrs and the pace is very meditative indeed. It's quite possibly one of the slowest films I've ever seen. Yet, despite this, I found it also retained a sense of purpose. It always looked like it had a reason and a direction, although it was never exactly clear what they were. The first 20 mins alone consist of De Bankole just walking around. Then, doing a spot of Tai Chi. Drinking an Espresso. More Tai Chi. The occasional meeting with eccentric strangers and their philosophical meanderings. More Espresso and then at least half an hour passes before he realises he's forgotten to do his Tai Chi, before promptly doing so again. Believe me, that's all that happens throughout but I still found it captivating and real. The locations are wonderful and perfectly captured by the excellent cinematographer Christopher Doyle, who crafts a dreamlike painting of a film. If you can imagine a mixture of the George Clooney film "The American" with Richard Linklater's "Waking Life" then this would be the result. Having just recently viewed the documentary "Exit Through the Gift Shop", which explores the difference between art and pretentiousness, this would make a nice companion piece to discuss along with it. Arrogant filmaking from the experimental Jim Jarmusch that's not for all tastes but it's highly meditative and epitomises it's title in 'the limit of control'. I loved it.

• Anthony L

  
  People have accused Jarmusch of not putting enough effort into this one but I think they're missing the point, Jarmusch makes cool films effortlessly! The Limits of Control is a love letter to old classics, its a neo-noir if you will (ugh, I can't believe I just wrote… More
  People have accused Jarmusch of not putting enough effort into this one but I think they're missing the point, Jarmusch makes cool films effortlessly! The Limits of Control is a love letter to old classics, its a neo-noir if you will (ugh, I can't believe I just wrote Neo-noir). Typically of Jarmusch's films, it's brilliantly cast with some special performances, the writing is subtle but is like having your face smashed in with a poignancy hammer and the locations should have had billings of their own but above all, this is a visually rich and beautiful film. A future classic, albeit a cult classic but mark my works, this will one day be a very influential film!

• Michael G

  
  If there was ever a movie you could us the phrase "you'll either love it or hate it" to describe, The Limits of Control is that movie. I really wish I didn't read Dr. Benway's review (link below) because he nailed it beautifully and there's really not… More
  If there was ever a movie you could us the phrase "you'll either love it or hate it" to describe, The Limits of Control is that movie. I really wish I didn't read Dr. Benway's review (link below) because he nailed it beautifully and there's really not much more to say. Like its soundtrack (courtesy of Boris, Sunn O))) and Earth), the movie doesn't take the obvious straight line route to get its point across and drowns you in beautiful space, imagery and cryptic half-moments. If it wasn't for the utter lack of madness, you'd think this movie was directed by David Lynch. Like Dr. Benway, I was overcome by fascination which eventually gave way to boredom (I fell asleep, but in my defense it was like 2AM when I watched this) then appreciation. </span><a style="FONT-FAMILY: trebuchet ms" href="http://www.flixster.com/movie/the-limits-of-control#review:818108472_770784006">Dr. Benway's review.

• El Hombre I

  
  The Limits Of Control is beautifully filmed, easy and difficult to grasp, and you will either love it or hate it. In other words, it's an art house movie to the fullest. I started off fascinated, then I got bored, and then I ended up really liking it. Though the movie is nearly… More
  The Limits Of Control is beautifully filmed, easy and difficult to grasp, and you will either love it or hate it. In other words, it's an art house movie to the fullest. I started off fascinated, then I got bored, and then I ended up really liking it. Though the movie is nearly 2 hours long, its' actual story could be conveyed in five minutes. A semi-psychedelic, neo-noir set in Spain. Its' narrative is as ambient as the drone-metal soundtrack to include some of my favorite bands Sun 0))), Boris, and Earth. Much like the bands listed, its' minimalist approach may be irritating to some as is the droning, repetitive nature of the film. Isaach De Bankole was great and some of the cameos were really enjoyable while others had me tempted to fast forward. I enjoyed it, for the most part, but also imagined this is what sitting though a David Lynch film must be like for those who aren't a fan of such. <a href="http://s273.photobucket.com/albums/jj203/goji9000/?action=view&current=thelimitsofcontrolmoviestil.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj203/goji9000/thelimitsofcontrolmoviestil.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

• Jake .

  
  I realize that everyone else apparently hates this movie, but, god, I thought it was awesome. It's incredibly stylish, trippy and artistic; absolutely intoxicating. It is extremely slow paced and there is hardly any plot or action, but it is still completely enthralling. The… More
  I realize that everyone else apparently hates this movie, but, god, I thought it was awesome. It's incredibly stylish, trippy and artistic; absolutely intoxicating. It is extremely slow paced and there is hardly any plot or action, but it is still completely enthralling. The production and editing are amazing. It is all obviously filmed on location somewhere, but I've never seen places like these. It creates a world that I would like to experience. The story itself is incredibly suave and, also, a bit boozy. At the same time it also gently satirizes the typical tale of thrills and espionage. The sheer irrationality and pointlessness is part of what makes the film great. It is incredibly stimulating and fun to watch, and I'm pretty sure part of Jarmusch intention was to make his audience go 'what the fuck?' at least once. Everything is at once significant and at once meaningless. It really doesn't make any difference either way. Use your imagination, the experience is the same.

• Nicki M

  
  Not entirely sure where to start with this one! I have rated it reasonably high because I think it was a well made film, but I couldn't honestly say I liked it all that much. It is painfully slow at around two hours and very little happens. It is pretty much just a guy walking… More
  Not entirely sure where to start with this one! I have rated it reasonably high because I think it was a well made film, but I couldn't honestly say I liked it all that much. It is painfully slow at around two hours and very little happens. It is pretty much just a guy walking around, coming across other characters, some more interesting than others, and while you understand he is on some type of a job, it is not really explained until the end, and then the dramatic part, (if you could call it that), is over so quick that I still didn't get it, and then back to the walking around. After it was explained to me I was like Oh, is that all. Nothing is still really explained, you don't know who this guy is, who employed him, why he did it. And there is questions that aren't explained - the naked girl for example, I mean WTF?! I didn't hate it, but I really don't think I would ever sit there and watch it again either. Well made, but pretty pointless and unmoving.

• Drew S

  
  The Limits of Control isn't really a movie that you, or anyone else, is supposed to like. Sure, it has a great cast, but it doesn't do anything with them. Damn if Isaach de Bankole isn't the coolest looking dude in Hollywood, but complete emotional paralysis and almost… More
  The Limits of Control isn't really a movie that you, or anyone else, is supposed to like. Sure, it has a great cast, but it doesn't do anything with them. Damn if Isaach de Bankole isn't the coolest looking dude in Hollywood, but complete emotional paralysis and almost no dialogue beyond "yes" and "no" doesn't exactly create a compelling protagonist. Plenty of other venerated cinematic figures are enlisted to ask Bankole if he speaks Spanish, spew some senseless dialogue about drugs or science or film, and then inch the plot forward ever so slowly by exchanging a matchbox with him. And as fancifully as Jim Jarmusch has outfitted them, they are immediately jettisoned from the movie without an ounce of importance to their name. There's no true story to speak of, merely a protracted following of one man's doing a job, which eventually reaches an entirely ambiguous conclusion. The viewer has learned nothing, found nothing to grow attached to, and most likely has found no excitement or suspense in what is supposedly a suspense film. The sheer pointlessness of it all is rescued, to an extent, by The Limits of Control's primary theme: the power of imagination. All those pointless figures Bankole finds himself surrounded by represent different knowledges and cultures and fascinations - again, drugs, science, film. In the end, he finds that capitalism (or something resembling it, it's not really clear) stands in direct opposition to all of these things that we've been indirectly immersed in, and thus he takes a stand. A lot of viewers are going to find this movie "dull," as I did, because there is quite simply nothing there. What The Limits of Control seems to want from us is to fill in the blanks using our - you guessed it! - imagination. In this way, the film is like a much less offensive though equally difficult Funny Games, drowning us in the point it's trying to make. Again, like Funny Games, that point will not necessarily be appreciated by those who watch it, which you can't really fault anyone for. I can't say for a second that I enjoyed this, but I found it fascinating, not only for its message but also for its composition. Aesthetically, there's a really interesting circle motif, which is the movie's possible bid at an ancillary theme about how numbing repetition can be. The soundtrack's great too. And again, the cast is too sumptuous to be ignored. Unfortunately, for a lot of people these things aren't going to be viewed as merits, but mere casualties in a film that's too boring to be redeemable. I want to recommend it, but just by writing this I'm afraid that I'll have poisoned someone's perception of the film, not to suggest that my words are all that influential. Like Antichrist, what you get from this film will probably mirror what you put into it.

• Greg S

  
  An enigmatic, silent killer is sent on an obscure mission to kill an unknown man for unexplained reasons; the movie follows him as he meets with a long string of contacts of unclear significance, each of whom gives him a matchbook with further instructions and offers him a piece of… More
  An enigmatic, silent killer is sent on an obscure mission to kill an unknown man for unexplained reasons; the movie follows him as he meets with a long string of contacts of unclear significance, each of whom gives him a matchbook with further instructions and offers him a piece of dime store philosophy. Slow as molasses and often wincingly pretentious, but technically it's extremely beautiful, with incredible Spanish vistas and a measured cinematic poetry that's reminiscent of Sergio Leone. Not for all tastes, but worth a shot if your interested in seeing an experiment in pure cinema with almost no plot.

• Aaron N

  
  Blonde: Are you interested in films, by any chance? I like really old films. You can really see what the world looked like, thirty, fifty, a hundred years ago. You know the clothes, the telephones, the trains, the way people smoked cigarettes, the little details of life. The best… More
  Blonde: Are you interested in films, by any chance? I like really old films. You can really see what the world looked like, thirty, fifty, a hundred years ago. You know the clothes, the telephones, the trains, the way people smoked cigarettes, the little details of life. The best films are like dreams you're never sure you've really had. I have this image in my head of a room full of sand. And a bird flies towards me, and dips its wing into the sand. And I honestly have no idea whether this image came from a dream, or a film. Sometimes I like it in films when people just sit there, not saying anything. For people that enjoy making fun of the obscure challenges of an indie film, prime examples would be Gus Van Sant's Gerry (and most smaller films he does) and this film, from director Jim Jarmusch. This is a long stretch of very little happening, only to reach a confrontation at the end, which results in very little explanation (if one just looks at the surface) and then the film ends. It can be intriguing for the right mood, and being shot in Spain certainly helps. Isaach De Bankole stars as a mysterious lone man who performs the same actions for about an hour and forty-five minutes before the last bit. He is in Spain, sits at a cafe, orders two espressos in separate cups, meets a random person who knows him and asks if he can speak Spanish (which he can't) only to have the random person go into a monologue, exchange matchboxes with certain items in them, and leave. Rinse. Repeat. The random people include Tilda Swinton, Gael Garcia Bernal, and John Hurt, with Bill Murray being the final encounter. This is very much in line with other Jarmusch films, but certainly not as satisfying. The obscure lines of dialog can easily be interpreted in many different ways, making it at least good for discussion if one can find another person they know, who has actually gone out of their way to sit through the whole film. Overall, the mild intrigue and scenery make it bearable, but not a film I want to revisit. American: How the fuck did you get in here? Lone Man: I used my imagination.

• William D

  
  Jim Jarmusch's new film, "The Limits of Control," is highly avant-garde. It does not obey the normal conventions of storytelling. Not for a minute. None of the actors play characters in the normal sense. Instead they enact scenarios that are meant to convey… More
  Jim Jarmusch's new film, "The Limits of Control," is highly avant-garde. It does not obey the normal conventions of storytelling. Not for a minute. None of the actors play characters in the normal sense. Instead they enact scenarios that are meant to convey something to the viewer. But as is always the case with avant-garde material, it is not obvious what the artist intends to convey. It's "open-ended," as late-20th-century artists frequently said. There are pieces of the puzzle left out so that the viewer must add something to construct meaning -- if the viewer wishes there to be meaning, which normally is the case. Almost everyone enjoys when a film puts the story aside for a few minutes to express feelings or impressions. Nothing is more boring than a film that only focuses on plot advancement. But when every moment of a film is non-narrative in nature, it can be tough for even the most intrepid cinephiles. Jarmusch and his producers of course know this, so they show impressive courage in financing a project that is so challenging. I am very glad there are filmmakers like Jarmusch still around and producers willing to bankroll their projects. I cannot say that I found "The Limits of Control" endlessly fascinating, but I was enraptured by its hypnotic imagery much of the time. Jarmusch here displays the visual power of a painter. (Several scenes, furthermore, take place in an art museum.) Everyone will surely interpret the film differently, but I saw it for the most part as a celebration of the avant-garde spirit itself. The enemy would be the kind of person to insist that every movie be obvious -- and controlled. The figure we see on screen the most is a man in a suit (played by Isaach de Bankole) who is involved in some sort of conspiracy with other odd characters who speak enigmatically and wear unusual clothing. Tilda Swinton, John Hurt, Gael Garcia Bernal, and several other well-known arthouse actors play the co-conspirators. The man travels around France and Spain meeting his co-conspirators and receiving coded messages from them. Every time he reads a message, he eats the paper on which it's written. This concern about leaving no paper trail conveys a sense of secrecy and danger. The music is also quite effective in conveying danger. (Whenever the music got scary, I felt I was watching a David Lynch film. I'm fairly certain that Jarmusch was in love with Lynch's last film, the wildly avant-garde and scary "Inland Empire.") Each of the conspirators is a fan of a different art form. Tilda Swinton's character is a cinephile and announces how much she enjoys when actors in a film sit quietly and say nothing, which Swinton and Bankole then proceed to do. This woman seems to be a stand-in for Jarmusch himself, one of the funniest and most self-referential sequences in the film. Swinton is also at her magnetic best and decked out in a fabulous costume. Eventually the goal of the conspiracy is revealed, so there is something of a plot. But nothing about the murder at the end appears real. It appears fake, so even it remains more symbolic than literal. For a film like this to be effective, its images have to take one's breath away in almost every scene. "The Limits of Control" didn't quite get to that level -- but almost. Also the director has to hint from time to time about what he or she is thinking. It doesn't have to be obvious, but whispers of possible meaning have to be there, it seems to me. Jarmusch does this, but that's where he's at his worst actually. The actors say cliche intellectual slogans such as, "The universe has no center and no edges." A pick-up truck also has a nihilist slogan painted on the back, which I found crushingly clumsy. I felt as though Jarmusch had just read Samuel Beckett for the first time, which is a bit shocking given that Beckett's work is 50 years old. Artistic engagement with the concept of meaninglessness is at this point old hat. Offering regurgitated Beckett-isms (or epigrams from similar artists, such as William Burroughs) is hardly a step forward artistically. In fact it makes one seem painfully behind the times, as if one is frozen artistically in 1965. While "The Limits of Control" is not a major or truly original artistic statement, it at least keeps the tradition of avant-garde cinema alive. We certainly must thank Jarmusch for this. It also has many moments that explode with gorgeous cinematic passion and dream-like wonder. Today's rather pedestrian cinematic age could certainly use more of that.

• Walter M

  
  A profile of Jim Jarmusch in the New York Times Magazine at the time of his previous film "Broken Flowers" stated that he is America's most independent director, a title that he earned with his offbeat style. So, while he has usually at least had something to say, with… More
  A profile of Jim Jarmusch in the New York Times Magazine at the time of his previous film "Broken Flowers" stated that he is America's most independent director, a title that he earned with his offbeat style. So, while he has usually at least had something to say, with his latest, "The Limits of Control," which is also his first filmed entirely in Europe, he pulls a full Antonioni and goes off the deep end of pretentiousness and incoherence so far that it verges on parody. It might be about artistic freedom and then again it might not be. "The Limits of Control" starts with a man(Isaach De Bankole) meeting with two others(Alex Descas & Jean-Francois Stevenin) in the business class lounge of an airport who give him an assignment and a matchbook. On arrival in Madrid, he exchanges the matchbook for another which contains coded orders, then eats the slip of paper with his espresso which might also be his dinner. At first, I thought the phrase about him not knowing Spanish might be a running joke, but that is also part of the code. Actually, some of the encounters are entertaining and I could watch Tilda Swinton talking about movies all day. And Christopher Doyle's spectacular cinematography does a wonderful job of capturing all that Spain has to offer. But maybe because Jarmusch is getting bored himself, he introduces a beautiful naked woman(Paz de la Huerta, on the verge of being typecast) with a gun who the mystery man does not want to have sex with since he is on the job.(This is also the first time Jarmusch has put nudity in a film.) Whatever.

• Eric B

  
  I appreciate the bold minimalism, and I'm not going to just whine that this film was "boring," but I do think it would have been a lot more effective if it had been at least 20 minutes shorter. Maybe 30. A rather poor title, too.

• Lesley N

  
  Jim Jarmusch film about a hit man on a secret mission, played enigmatically and silently and very very methodically by Isaach De Bankole. He goes to a very sparsely populated Spain, sits in a cafe, a cameo comes along to trade matchboxes and speak a couple of thoughts. And then it… More
  Jim Jarmusch film about a hit man on a secret mission, played enigmatically and silently and very very methodically by Isaach De Bankole. He goes to a very sparsely populated Spain, sits in a cafe, a cameo comes along to trade matchboxes and speak a couple of thoughts. And then it happens again. And again. And so the plot crawls. And then there's an ending. Repetitive yes, minimal dialog, yes, plain old dull , yes possibly, but all the same I was suprised how much I enjoyed this film. Then again I think sometimes people talk way too much. <img src="http://www.welt.de/multimedia/archive/1243504682000/00820/jim_bild01_DW_Kultu_820747g.jpg">

• Mike T

  
  Jarmusch's film is puzzling, demanding and, at times, even a bit frustrating. But that doesn't make it a bad film. I appreciate movies that take me to surprising places and present me with something I haven't seen. That's exactly what this one does. This is a bare,… More
  Jarmusch's film is puzzling, demanding and, at times, even a bit frustrating. But that doesn't make it a bad film. I appreciate movies that take me to surprising places and present me with something I haven't seen. That's exactly what this one does. This is a bare, dreamy narrative that suggests a whole lot more than it actually says. It's well-directed, with superb visual sense and control of tone throughout. All the performances mesh well with Jarmusch's experimental vision, and I found this piece to be well worth my time and money.

• Bill C

  
  Oh yea I forgot how much I was bored watching "Broken Flowers" (2005), this movie is more of the same but more draining on patience. The act of summarizing the movement of this film would destroy the unbelievably labored effect of this movie that similar to hanging around… More
  Oh yea I forgot how much I was bored watching "Broken Flowers" (2005), this movie is more of the same but more draining on patience. The act of summarizing the movement of this film would destroy the unbelievably labored effect of this movie that similar to hanging around stoned people when you're not. There are several devices like life imitating art imitating life. Juxtaposition of interpretation of people saying the same the same thing coming off different because of you own cultural lens effect. The cinematography is very attractive and the static shots are very well arranged, but it's so taxingly boring, boring and boring!

• Ivan D

  
  The conversation near the opening of "The Limits of Control" had intrigued me that I quickly reconsidered that this may not be as bad as Roger Ebert thought it was.With the self-consciousness of the three characters that what they're talking about circles around the… More
  The conversation near the opening of "The Limits of Control" had intrigued me that I quickly reconsidered that this may not be as bad as Roger Ebert thought it was.With the self-consciousness of the three characters that what they're talking about circles around the forays of foreign cinema cliches, it's quite interesting, but that's just about it. Jim Jarmusch may have been trying to produce a film not vain about how the film would look and sound like, to expose the cliches of the arthouse scene that nobody dare to touch and frown upon, and to some extent, inspire some chuckle or two. But as the film unveils, what Jarmusch is trying to explore became the very magnetic force that pulled it down. "The Limits of Control" is a very good title, but if Jim Jarmusch had only limited his uncontrollable indulgence as an auteur, the content could have deserved the title more.

• James B

  
  This one went over my head...Jim Jarmusch is clearly trying to say something beneath the minimialistic hitman theme. I just don't know exactly what! I've got an idea, but the film leaves much to the viewer to analyze on his/her own. Issach De Bankole sure looks and acts… More
  This one went over my head...Jim Jarmusch is clearly trying to say something beneath the minimialistic hitman theme. I just don't know exactly what! I've got an idea, but the film leaves much to the viewer to analyze on his/her own. Issach De Bankole sure looks and acts cool, as do most of the characters he meets. I can't really recommend this movie to anyone unless you are just looking for something completely different....or if you just want to see the lovely Paz de la Huerta nude!

• matt s

  
  Looking at this film as an exercise of beautiful shots and cinematography, this is high art. But it's hard to judge this film and give it a passing grade, because just when you think all your investing, all your anxiety, all your might in following these characters will result in… More
  Looking at this film as an exercise of beautiful shots and cinematography, this is high art. But it's hard to judge this film and give it a passing grade, because just when you think all your investing, all your anxiety, all your might in following these characters will result in something... it results in nothing. And maybe there is some glowing point Jim Jarmusch is trying to reveal, but he's made a film so cold, so unrelenting in its emotionless qualities, that it will be hard to find a reason to care. The Limits of Control is east to look at, but before renting this, maybe you should just do what the main character does...go to an art exhibit instead.

• Alex F

  
  I think Jarmusch tried to make his own Inland Empire, but if you keep a movie like that out of the dreamworld you're basically swimming in a pool of crap. It's interesting anyway, but too repetitive and awfully pedantic.

• Robert F

  
  Jarmusch is a national treasure who has done some very cerebral and soulful work. An emptiness pervades this film, however, and I was left feeling unfulfilled.

Read all 20 featured audience ratings