The Limits of Control (2009)

Director:

Jim Jarmusch

Writer:

Jim Jarmusch (written by)

Release Date:

28 May 2009 (Germany)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

For every way in, there is another way out.

Plot:

The story of a mysterious loner, a stranger in the process of completing a criminal job.

Plot Keywords:

Instruction | Matchbox | Guitar | Espresso | Violin

Cast

Isaach De Bankolé	...	The Lone Man
Alex Descas	...	The Creole
Jean-François Stévenin	...	The Frenchman
Óscar Jaenada	...	The Waiter
Luis Tosar	...	Man with Violin
Paz de la Huerta	...	The Nude Woman
Tilda Swinton	...	The Blonde
Yûki Kudô	...	Molecules
John Hurt	...	Man with Guitar
Gael García Bernal	...	The Mexican
Hiam Abbass	...	The Driver
Bill Murray	...	The American
Héctor Colomé	...	Second American
María Isasi	...	Flamenco Club Waitress
Norma Yessenia Paladines	...	Flight Attendant
Alejandro Muñoz Biggie	...	Street Kid (as Alexander Muñoz Biggie)
Cristina Sierra Sánchez	...	Street Kid
Pablo Lucas Ortega	...	Street Kid
La Truco	...	Flamenco Dancer
Talegón de Córdoba	...	Flamenco Singer
Jorge Rodriguez Padilla	...	Flamenco Guitarist
Jon Ánder Aguirrezábal		(as Jon Ander Aguirrezabal)
Miguel Alcíbar		(as Miguel Alcibar)
Francisco Álvarez de la Morena
Verónica Barberis
Santiago Bravo
Miguel Casas García
José Corbacho
Richard Diment
Ángel Dominguez Duran
Adolfina Escoriza Cano
Miguel Gabin Álvarez
Felipe García
Pablo García Lloret
Juan Carlos Garrido
Saskia Gonzalez
Dolores Jimenez		(as Dolores Jiménez)
Mercedes Leoni
Jesús Losada Abadía
Rubén Quiñonez
Víctor Ariel Raigón
Ignacio Ramos
Ferran Rial		(as Ferrán Rial)
Henar Sánchez
Victor Vaquero
Alba María Villaneva
Carlos Martorell Ypiens
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Flo Ankah	...	Flight Attendant (voice) (uncredited)
María José Rodríguez	...	(uncredited)

Directed by
Jim Jarmusch

Writing credits
Jim Jarmusch		(written by)

Produced by
Jon Kilik	....	executive producer
Carter Logan	....	associate producer: PointBlank Films
Gretchen McGowan	....	producer
Stacey E. Smith	....	producer (as Stacey Smith)
Carlos Balsera	....	junior assistant producer (uncredited)
Yukie Kito	....	executive producer (uncredited)

Cinematography by
Christopher Doyle		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Jay Rabinowitz

Casting by
Ellen Lewis

Production Design by
Eugenio Caballero

Set Decoration by
Pilar Revuelta

Costume Design by
Bina Daigeler

Makeup Department
Ainhoa Eskisabel	....	makeup artist (as Ainhoa Esquisabel)
Manolo García	....	hair designer (as Manuel García)
Ana Lozano	....	makeup designer
Eva Quilez	....	body makeup artist

Production Management
Susan Lazarus	....	post-production supervisor
Patricia Nieto	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Cristina Amengual Watson	....	trainee assistant director
Richard Diment	....	second assistant director
Christopher Downs	....	additional third assistant director
Adrian Grunberg	....	first assistant director
Catalina Parra	....	third assistant director
Ferran Rial	....	second second assistant director
Andrea Vázquez	....	third assistant director

Art Department
Juan José Alcalde	....	carpenter
Francisco Artero	....	carpenter
Leon Bigiu	....	carpenter
Savin Borgovan	....	carpenter
Clara Cardona	....	art department trainee
Carlos Compadre	....	carpenter
Fernando Contreras	....	construction manager
Danut Corci	....	carpenter
Federico del Cerro	....	prop buyer
Emil Dragota	....	plasterer
Rafael Esposito	....	painter
Daniel García	....	plasterer
Verónica García	....	assistant scenic artist
Paula González	....	art department assistant
José Alberto Guerrero	....	painter
Mikel Izaguirre	....	swing gang (as Miguel Ángel 'Mikel' Izaguirre)
Amos Jurado	....	carpenter
Gabriel Liste	....	set designer
Juan López	....	plasterer
Rafael López	....	painter
Ariel Margolis	....	property master
Rudy Mercado	....	scenic artist
Raúl Monge	....	concept artist
Rosa Pariente	....	buyer
Leon Pop	....	plasterer
Roi Prada	....	props
Arturo Revuelta	....	swing gang
Roberto Torralba	....	swing gang
Juan Antonio Torrijos	....	stand-by props (as Juan Antonio 'Torri' Torrijos)
Tomás Gómez	....	props makers: artefacto crew (uncredited)

Sound Department
Laurent Boudaud	....	sound re-recording mixer
Brian Bowles	....	adr editor
Ryan Collison	....	foley engineer
Robert Hein	....	supervising sound editor
Mike Howells	....	adr recordist
Bobby Johanson	....	adr mixer
Drew Kunin	....	sound mixer
Peter Murphy	....	boom operator
Glenfield Payne	....	sound effects editor
Jay Peck	....	foley artist
Steve F.B. Smith	....	sound consultant: Dolby
Dominick Tavella	....	sound re-recording mixer
David Wahnon	....	dialogue editor

Special Effects by
Pau Costa	....	special effects
Javier H. Moneo	....	special effects technician
Esteban Roma	....	special effects technician
Raúl Romanillos	....	special effects

Visual Effects by
Daniel Abramovich	....	digital compositor
Glenn Allen	....	visual effects producer: Brainstorm Digital
Justin Ball	....	digital artist: senior systems engineer: Brainstorm Digital
Ella Boliver	....	digital compositor
Benjamin Bratt	....	digital artist
Nicholas Cerniglia	....	digital artist
Aaron Chiesa	....	digital artist
Matthew Conner	....	matte painter/compositor
Molle DeBartolo	....	digital intermediate coordinator
Richard Friedlander	....	visual effects producer: Brainstorm Digital
Manuel Rey Gonzalez	....	digital compositor
Chris MacKenzie	....	smoke artist
John Mangia	....	digital compositor: Brainstorm Digital
Indah Maretha	....	digital artist
Anthony Meschi	....	digital artist
Eric J. Robertson	....	visual effects supervisor: Brainstorm digital
Chris 'Pinkus' Wesselman	....	digital compositor: Brainstorm Digital
Jun Zhang	....	digital compositor

Stunts
Ignacio Carreño	....	stunt coordinator
Diego Herberg	....	stunts
Eduardo Moratilla	....	stunt performer
Juan José Rodríguez	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Víctor Benavides	....	trainee camera (as Victor Benavides)
José Luis Bernal	....	focus puller: second unit
Miguel Ángel Cárdenas	....	gaffer
Sergio Delgado	....	first assistant camera
Pipo Fernández	....	still photographer
Alberto González	....	assistant camera
Falkwyn Goyeneche	....	video assistant
Teresa Isasi	....	still photographer
Francisco Izaguirre	....	best boy lighting
Rain Li	....	director of photography: second unit (as Kathy Li)
Rodrigo López	....	second assistant camera

Casting Department
Beatriz Bartolomé	....	casting assistant: Spain
David H. Kramer	....	adr voice casting

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Laia Lipp	....	wardrobe trainee
Carlos Javier Martín	....	tailor (as Carlos Martín)
Karin Quijada	....	wardrobe stand-by
Eva Salas	....	assistant costume designer

Editorial Department
Mitchell Ferm	....	digital intermediate producer
Elsa Fernández	....	assistant editor
Joe Gawler	....	digital intermediate colorist
Miguel P. Gilaberte	....	color timer: dailies
Jack Lewars	....	assistant digital intermediate colorist
Cam McLauchlin	....	telecine operator
Perri Pivovar	....	associate editor
John Potter	....	video mastering
Mike Selemon	....	assistant editor
Brian Boyd	....	digital preview colorist (uncredited)
Andrew Gori	....	post-production assistant (uncredited)

Music Department
Jay Rabinowitz	....	music editor

Other crew
Ana Belén Abella	....	production office assistant
Randall Balsmeyer	....	title designer
Maralyn Causley	....	script supervisor
J. John Corbett	....	title designer
Stéphanye Dussud	....	adr voice
John Eccleston	....	financial controller
Duck Grossberg	....	data manager
Rubén Gómez	....	assistant to location manager
Samson Jacobson	....	office intern
Antonia Juanes	....	production secretary
Ignacio Lozano	....	assistant location manager
Gabriella Ludlow	....	production legal
Liz Modena	....	assistant accountant
Isabelle Neron	....	production office assistant
David Ocaña	....	production assistant: additional
Ana Palacios	....	production coordinator
Alberto Poveda	....	location manager
Léa Rinaldi	....	behind the scenes director
Yan Ming Shi	....	Tai Chi Master
Abi Sila	....	production accountant
Hayley Stahl	....	intern
Teddy Villalba	....	assistant to location manager
Ryan Young	....	office intern

Thanks
Pedro Almodóvar	....	personal thanks
Elena Calvo	....	thanks
Marisa Paredes	....	personal thanks
Margrit Polak	....	thanks
Sandy Wilson	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• Focus Features (presents)
• Entertainment Farm (EF) (in association with)
• PointBlank Films (as PointBlank)

Distributors

• A-Film Distribution (2009) (Belgium) (theatrical)
• A-Film Distribution (2009) (Luxembourg) (theatrical)
• A-Film Distribution (2009) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Alliance (2009) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Castello Lopes Multimedia (2009) (Portugal) (theatrical)
• Focus Features (2009) (USA) (theatrical)
• Hollywood Classic Entertainment (2009) (Czech Republic) (theatrical)
• Le Pacte (2009) (France) (theatrical)
• PiX (2009) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Revolver Entertainment (2009) (UK) (theatrical)
• TOBIS Film (2009) (Germany) (theatrical)
• A-Film Home Entertainment (2010) (Belgium) (DVD)
• A-Film Home Entertainment (2010) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Alliance (2009) (Canada) (DVD)
• Argentina Video Home (2010) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Film1 (2011) (Netherlands) (TV) (limited)
• Nordisk Film Distribution (2009) (Denmark) (all media)
• Nordisk Film Theatrical Distribution (2009) (Finland) (all media)
• Nordisk Film (2009) (Norway) (all media)
• Nordisk Film (2009) (Sweden) (all media)
• Odeon (2009) (Greece) (all media)
• Panorama Distributions (2010) (Hong Kong) (DVD)
• United International Pictures (UIP) (2010) (Argentina) (all media)
• Universal Pictures do Brasil (2009) (Brazil) (all media)
• Universal Studios Home Entertainment (2009) (USA) (DVD)
• Universum Film (UFA) (2009) (Germany) (DVD) (Blu-ray)

Special Effects

• Brainstorm Digital (visual effects)
• RotoFactory (additional visual effects) (uncredited)

Other Companies

• Dolby Laboratories  sound mix
• Film Finances  completion guarantor
• Focus Features  funding
• Lakeshore Records  soundtrack
• Mariano Cárdenas Iluminación S.L.  grip and lighting equipment
• Sastrería Teatral Cornejo, Madrid  thanks (as Cornejo)
• Trevanna Post  post-production accounting

Also Known As:

"No Limits No Control" - USA (closing credits title)

MPAA:

Rated R for graphic nudity and some language

Runtime:

116 min

Country:

USA | Japan

Language:

English | Spanish | Arabic | French | Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

USA:R | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (Manitoba/Ontario) | Canada:PG (British Columbia) | New Zealand:M | Portugal:M/12 | Japan:PG12 | Hong Kong:IIB | Finland:K-11 | Mexico:B15 | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | Netherlands:9 | Singapore:M18 | South Korea:15 | Argentina:13 | Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Almería, Andalucía, Spain

Company:

Focus Features

Trivia:

The Finnish film Guitar refers to is La vie de bohème (1992) by director Aki Kaurismäki, a friend of Jim Jarmusch.

Goofs:

Factual errors: When the Lone Man travels from Madrid to Sevilla, he enters a S 100 AVE train set. But the interior shots are clearly done in a S 103 (Velaro E), a totally different - and much newer - type of train.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Creole:[character speaks in Spanish/French creole, English subtitles] You don't speak Spanish, right?
French:[character translates for Creole] You don't speak Spanish, right?
Creole:You are ready? Everything's cool?
French:You are ready? Everything's cool?
Lone Man:Yes!
Creole:Good.
French:Good.

Movie Connections:

References Suspicion (1941)

Soundtrack:

Postmodern film for people who don't understand postmodernism

Yes, this film is slow, maybe even painfully stagnant due to long scenes and shots of mundane activates. Yes, it does not have much of a plot. Yes, the dialogue is scarce. However, these should not be reasons to not see a movie. A film can still achieve a lot without a fast plot or lots of chatting. What makes a movie really unwatchable is if it is thoroughly uninteresting, which is what Limits of Control is doubtlessly guilty of being.

From the first scene, where two men speak to each other through a translator who does not understand the conversation, Limits of Control hails itself as postmodern with the line "Reality is subjective…Reality is arbitrary," From there, the film simply proceeds to tick off a list of stereotypical postmodern themes: subjectivity of reality/human experience, an inability to communicate with others, feeling isolated from the rest of humanity, a plot that refuses to make itself logical to its audience, etc. It even chooses fill most of the movie's runtime with the most boring moments possible: endless minutes of sitting, watching, stretching, and walking. This is a stereotypical postmodern blending of fiction and reality, art that imitates real life. After all, those boring moments are what we, as the audience, fill our days with. As the film continues, the plot repeats over and over the ideas presented in the first half hour, contributing nothing new, even up to the film's conclusion.

Ultimately, Limits of Control presents no new interpretations of postmodern ideas. It is textbook, operating off of the same concepts Tomas Pynchon had written about fifty years ago. Unlike films like Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Limits of Control does not play with its ideas, have fun with them, or stack layers of confusion and meaning. It is too self-obsessed with presenting itself as art.

P.S. It might be worth mentioning that the only enjoyable part of the movie was the two-minute cameo by Bill Murray. Too bad it was right at the end.