Anton Corbijn is one of Holland’s best photographers. He has done a lot of work for bands like Depeche Mode and U2, taking pictures and making videos. As for movies, he already made Control , a movie about Ian Curtis. Now he’s back in the director’s chair in a return to the silver screen with The American. The movie tells the story of American Hitman Jack (George Clooney). After an unexpected situation in Sweden he leaves the country and ends up in a little village in Italy, where he receives a very easy assignment.
When you look at the movie poster promoting the film (which shows George Clooney running with a gun in his hand) you would think that The American is an action movie. If you expect this you will leave the theater disappointed, because there are hardly any action scenes.
The movie doesn’t move fast and almost seems to become one with the slow tempo of the village it has been shot in. It is not something everyone will be able to appreciate, but it really fits the story that is being told. There isn’t a lot of dialogue either, but Clooney manages to show that you can tell so much with just your eyes and body language.
The suspense builds up towards the end and this results in a very satisfying finale.
It is very obvious that Corbijn is a photographer as the way he frames his shots is just breathtakingly beautiful. He uses a lot of fixed cameras and by doing so he’s able to create beautiful compositions. For those that have a bit of knowledge of photography will notice his use of framing the shots according to the rule of thirds. With this technique you draw imaginary lines across your shot and frame them in such a way that your subjects are on these lines, resulting in a much nicer picture. You can see some examples of it at this site.
The American is not a movie everyone will be able to enjoy because of the slow tempo, if you are not part of the “MTV-generation” or are able to enjoy beautiful images, it will be a very statisfying movie to watch.
Score: 8
Somehow I missed some reviews of films that I’m interested to know what others think about. I do observe that ‘The American’ is highly praised by guys, but as for us, the other part of the audience, we are not happy about it. If I have opportunity, I’ll try to see it for the second time but if it is a torture, I won’t bother.
Why do you think that women are not happy about it? Is it because he visits a hooker or generally how the women are depicted in this movie?
No, of course it’s not about the hooker or the general depiction of women. It’s just my observation that the majority of female audience didn’t like The American. I read/looked through quite a few reviews of this film, and the majority of girls-bloggers/reviewers panned it, while guys praised it. It’s just a fact.
I, for one, didn’t like it because of the misleading poster and trailer. If I were prepared for such an introspective journey, my attitude could’ve been different.
Yeah, the poster was very misleading. Interesting to see the difference in appreciation. I noticed something similair when The Curious Case of Benjamin Button came out. I liked it and some friends of mine did as well, but my girlfriend and the wife of a friend of mine did not.