The Limits of Control is a movie void of any Hollywood formula and trappings that you shouldn’t expect all the little pertinent details to be laid out in the next two sequences. This is not a typical mainstream film you can take your friends to but arguably it presents it own charm. Jim Jarmusch offers a truly minimalist flavor in this languid feature-length. Jarmusch pieces are to be appreciated as you would an art piece, vibrant but begging you to search in its depths its true intention. But patience might reward you with evasive cues that almost point out the whole motive of the film.

Although, the lone man portrayed by Isaach De Bankole, reveals only as little and offers no difference with his inscrutinable gaze and apparent lack of trust from anyone. Isaach De Bankole can’t help but place you face to face with coolness, even in sharkskin. He conveys so much meticulousness in his posture and not a hint of confusion when Creole flavored his directives with philosophies. When Nude, Paz de la Huerta’s character who is literally nude all throughout the film, asked him “No sex?,” Lone man simply answered, “Not while I’m working.” It is simply pointblank that it can be comical but he sure is cool.

Set in the present, the walking man journey starts with a job order from Creole, played by Alex Descas, a French actor. From the airport, the walking man’s directives are tinged with a sense of urgency and unease. The menace is counterbalanced with the almost comical translation delivered by Jean-Francois Stevenin, as the Creole’s sidekick, French. The Creole’s orders are in, well, Creole, subtitled in English. The sidekick repeats and modifies these orders in English. It offers a dry humor but injects a sense or urgency for the lone man to accomplish.

Repetition, by the way, is central and key in the whole story and becomes apparent as the Lone Man travels to Madrid. Days or months would roll with an indiscriminate pattern broken only with a slight deviation in his activities: a trip to the museum, two cups of espressos, and a mysterious exchange of almost identical matchboxes from a man or a woman. Tilda Swinton, a favorite of mine, plays one of the matchbox women. Repetition also comes in the oft asked question in some matchbox exchanges, “Usted no habla español, verdad?”

The films utter beauty leaves so much to question the arguments that you might be so solidly convinced. Lone Man’s “Reality is arbitrary,” points out that escape, provided by products of imagination, is our key to escape the control of everyday frustration. The movie serves images in a fantastic array that compliments should be given to cinematographer, Christopher Doyle, and the director’s decision for the collaboration.

All in all, the film is an experience. It is a boxful of sound and images affair that somehow comes up logical. Its appeal lies with its brilliant cinematography, lucid philosophies, jarring images, and an enigmatic character whose presence is a necessity in its textured storyline. With its dreamlike and stark reality weaving through the film, I could say it might be a puzzle worth your scrutiny.
  

Movie Statistics:
Directed by Jim Jarmusch
Produced by Stacey Smith, Gretchen McGowan
Written by Jim Jarmusch
Starring: Isaach De Bankolé, Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, Gael García Bernal
Cinematography: Christopher Doyle
Editing by Jay Rabinowitz
Distributed by Focus Features
Released on May 1, 2009 (limited)
Country: United States
Language: English
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closeAuthor: Aarti Bhardwaj
Name: Aarti Bhardwaj

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