The International (2009)

An Interpol agent attempts to expose a high-profile financial institution's role in an international arms dealing ring.

Director:

Tom Tykwer

Writer:

Eric Warren Singer

Stars:

Clive Owen, Naomi Watts, Armin Mueller-Stahl

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Clive Owen	...	Louis Salinger
Naomi Watts	...	Eleanor Whitman
Armin Mueller-Stahl	...	Wilhelm Wexler
Ulrich Thomsen	...	Jonas Skarssen
Brían F. O'Byrne	...	The Consultant
Michel Voletti	...	Viktor Haas
Patrick Baladi	...	Martin White
Jay Villiers	...	Francis Ehames
Fabrice Scott	...	Nicolai Yeshinski
Haluk Bilginer	...	Ahmet Sunay
Luca Barbareschi	...	Umberto Calvini (as Luca Giorgio Barbareschi)
Alessandro Fabrizi	...	Inspector Alberto Cerutti
Felix Solis	...	Detective Iggy Ornelas
Jack McGee	...	Detective Bernie Ward
Nilaja Sun	...	Detective Gloria Hubbard

Storyline

In The International, Interpol Agent Louis Salinger and Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Eleanor Whitman are determined to bring to justice one of the world's most powerful banks. Uncovering illegal activities including money laundering, arms trading, and the destabilization of governments, Salinger and Whitman's investigation takes them from Berlin to Milan to New York and to Istanbul. Finding themselves in a high-stakes chase across the globe, their relentless tenacity puts their own lives at risk as the bank will stop at nothing - even murder - to continue financing terror and war.

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Plot Keywords:

money laundering | post punk | bank | interpol | district attorney | 

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Taglines:

They control your money. They control your government. They control your life. And everybody pays.

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some sequences of violence and language

Details

Official Sites:

Sony Pictures [United States]

Country:

USA Germany UK France

Language:

English Italian French Danish

Release Date:

13 February 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

Agente internacional

Filming Locations:

USA

Box Office

Budget:

$50,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$10,702,613, 15 February 2009

Gross USA:

$25,450,527

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures, Relativity Media, Atlas Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

118 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The roof of the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul would later be used as the location of the motorcycle chase inn Skyfall (2012).

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Goofs

After the meeting with General Motomba, Skarssen walks out to talk with White & Wexler and his suit jacket is noticeably unbuttoned. However when he sits down, he proceeds to unbutton his jacket.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Thomas Schumer: Listen, I'm from the Bronx, so you need to keep it simple. Why is the bank buying all this missile-guidance stuff from Calvini? - I don't get it.

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Crazy Credits

During the credits fade-in on the second and third newspaper printed articles, look above the main story of focus and you will see articles that reference a company by the name of SuckleOil, which is most likely a nod to Producer Richard Suckle.

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Connections

Featured in The Architecture of 'The International' (2009)

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Soundtracks

The International End Title
Written by Matthew Bellamy, Tom Tykwer, Johnny Klimek and Reinhold Heil
Produced by Tom Tykwer, Johnny Klimek and Reinhold Heil

User Reviews

Conventional for Tykwer means still among the best of this formulaic type of corporate espionage flick

The International (2009)

We can't expect every Tom Tykwer film to be as inventive or intense as Run Lola Run or The Princess and the Warrior, and The International feels almost like a breather, an intentional turn at a conventional film. It's an espionage and high stakes international drama with guns and deceit and a pair of very distinctly good good guys played by Clive Owen (brilliantly) and Naomi Watts (unconvincingly...probably just miscast). And overall it's completely enjoyable and slick, well paced, and beautifully filmed, of course.

The plot is one of those sprawling, behind-the-scenes conspiracy, third world, big money scenarios that must have shades of truth, or lots of truth, but gets simplified into a handful of bad guys and a parade of exotic locales (including the inevitable Third World warlord who is an intelligent and willing pawn in the whole game). What I mean is, the plot almost doesn't matter in the details, though it's interesting, and makes you think and worry a little about the world we live in. It's more how the heroes unfold the facts of the plot, against the odds, the clock ticking, that make the movie good. If you liked the Bourne movies (which are as a whole probably faster and more edgy) or Syriana (which is actually kind of similar in feel overall, Clooney substituted for Owen), this will really suit you.

And there is a Tykwer twist now and then, a camera with unusual fluidity, or a scene that gets replayed and rethought. Of course, the hugely complicated shootout in the Guggenheim is a masterpiece of excessive and brilliant kinetic filming. For an amazing short video on the building of the sets for this shoot (yes, it wasn't at the real Gug), go to www.firstshowing.net and type guggenheim tykwer.

In all? The best of it is worth the worst of it. A tightly made and not overly preposterous dip into a well stocked pond.