The Limits of Control (2009)
The story of a mysterious loner, a stranger in the process of completing a criminal job.
Cast and Information
Directed By: Jim Jarmusch
Written By: Jim Jarmusch
Starring: John Hurt, Tilda Swinton, Bill Murray, Gael García Bernal, Jean-François Stévenin, Hiam Abbass, Luis Tosar, Isaach De Bankolé, Paz de la Huerta, Alex Descas, Óscar Jaenada, Yûki Kudô
Genres: Drama, Suspense/Thriller, Crime
AKA: No Limits, No Control
Country: Spain
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The Limits of Control belongs to 25 collections
1. boobs (collaborative: moderated by Pickpocket - 53 stars)
2. Full Female Frontal Nudity (Yes, Bush!) (collaborative: moderated by iceblox - 27 stars)
3. They Shoot Pictures' Recommended Viewing (collaborative: moderated by Cinephile - 19 stars)
4. Films available in HD (collaborative: moderated by kubricksucks - 12 stars)
5. Christopher Doyle, Cinematographer (collaborative: moderated by paulofilmo - 10 stars)
6. similar to julien donkey boy (public: kikifas - 8 stars)
7. Capsules, guest reviews, list candidates... (366weirdmovies) (collaborative: moderated by sesito71 - 5 stars)
8. Hitman (collaborative: moderated by td888 - 3 stars)
9. Focus Features (collaborative: moderated by Pickpocket - 2 stars)
10. Naked Female Swimming (collaborative - 1 star)
11. Eligible for Academy Award Best Picture 2009 (collaborative: moderated by Ross - 1 star)
12. Sound Design (collaborative: moderated by paulofilmo - 1 star)
13. Beautiful, intriguing & sinister titles (collaborative: moderated by von krogh - 1 star)
14. Submitted by blank (collaborative)
15. 2009 US Theatrical (collaborative: moderated by DrBroel)
16. IMDB Ratings (collaborative: moderated by notyou)
17. Movies I Saw in Theaters (public: theficionado)
18. Kosmorama (public: von krogh)
19. ondisc (public: sonique)
20. director marathon (public: MartinTeller)
21. 2009: Year in Review (public: polanski28)
22. Filmspotting Ratings Project: Week 38 (public: PeaceAnarchy)
23. To Watch (public: Temptershell)
24. Forrest Watch List (public: ForrestQ)
25. hmt (public: rnest)
Browse the full list of collections
| Stars | User | Rating | |
| 6 |  |
joseywales | 72 63rd |
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007 on xanax.
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| 3 |  |
Cerebrus | 90 93rd |
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Fuck all y'all, this is fantastic.
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| 3 | theficionado | 50 48th |
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In my theatre, someone asked, "Did we just watch some black guy fucking walk around & change clothes every so often?" to which his friend replied, "Titties." Sad thing is, that isn't so reductive as one would hope. Gorgeously filmed by Chris Doyle, but its focus on how our perception is colored and manipulated -- by commerce, by science, by art and, of course, film -- doesn't really pay any dividends. Interested in power dynamics and agency, but time could be better spent reading some sociology.
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| 2 |  |
MartinTeller | 25 2nd |
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I've read that this is supposed to be "an action movie with no action", a zen koan, or a Rivette-style puzzle. All of those are apt descriptions. So is "boring as fuck". The meditative quality that the film strives for is not present. Just because nothing happens doesn't make it meditative. Jarmusch is merely making a stylistic choice, an empty gesture. The film references LADY OF SHANGHAI, STALKER and LA VIE DE BOHEME. Go see any of those, they're all far better than this navel-gazing nonsense.
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| 2 |  |
Pickpocket | 5 44th |
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All of Jarmusch's past films have had great dialogue. This one, not so much. There are some great moments to be found here though, as expected. My favorite brief encounter was obviously Paz de la Huerta. Tilda Swinton was the worst. It looks stunning but it became too repetitive for its own good, almost like he had to fill 2 hours so the same lines and motions were gone through. I still liked some of it but this is my least favorite from Jarmusch. Disappointing cause I love the guy.
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| 2 |  |
PeaceAnarchy | 74 40th |
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The film is slow, repetitive and somewhat lifeless, but it still has a sense of meditation that makes it intriguing. In fact, it's the little lively pieces that stand out of the film's conscious rut that were most jarring. The film references Jarmusch can't help making, the multitude of curious but quickly disposed characters, and a climax that serves little purpose. The dissonance between the film's visual style, its character design, and general tone keep each aspect from being fully effective
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| 2 |  |
Bitch Alert | 40 25th |
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Jarmusch has been close to pretentious before. Now he finally goes overboard.
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| 2 |  |
Luna6ix | 61 17th |
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It's a strange facade of a great movie that is completely hollow. I found myself scratching my head at the end of this wondering what the heck it was about, and after an hour had passed I had completely forgotten everything about it except for Paz de la Huerta's nipples.
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| 2 |  |
antitype | 90 92nd |
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This is my favorite Jarmusch since Dead Man. Sure, the dialogue will strike some as pretentious; everyone is a philosopher--one references Tarkovsky's Stalker, while another considers the usage of the word "bohemian." Anyhow, it's a pleasure to watch and hear (Boris!), cool, minimalistic, a bit Lynchian. It's like movie meditation: hypnotic, repetitive, droning, aimlessly transcending. The Lone Man fills himself with all he sees, understands the limits of control; the limits of language.
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| 1 |  |
cambel | 44 16th |
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perfect boredom
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| 1 |  |
syvyys | 70 25th |
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would have been so so great without letting the actors actresses speak the whole film through. but they do. and it's horribly written. nothing but silly, brutally forced "let me just explain the world/universe/life"-monologs. but, as said, the rest is fantastic. jarmusch in colour is a pleasure.
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| 1 |  |
Danilolopes | 80 58th |
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"La vida no vale nada."
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| 1 |  |
Barthalen | 55 32nd |
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So hard to rate, since it exists on the fine line between 'interesting' and 'pretentious nonsense'. While the repetitive nature gets annoying, the cinematography is wonderful. While the dialogue seems little more than some philospophical ramblings, that one chick was naked the whole time. Gah, so many conflicting emotions!
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| 1 |  |
JakeAesthete | 43 40th |
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If Jarmusch intended this as a parody of what non-cinephile types imagine "pretentious European art films" to be like, he sure had me fooled. It does look beautiful, but Chris Doyle's time could be better spent elsewhere (like with Wong Kar-wai *ahem*). I have to give Jarmusch credit for cashing in all his "art film" credit on something as willfully ponderous as this, but at the same time he's always struck me as a bit of an art school poseur and this film simply reaffirms my suspicions.
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| 1 |  |
chiefg | 50 28th |
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Beautifully filmed, but took me 2 sessions to view because I fell asleep halfway through :/
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| 1 | pieterpronk | 85 85th |
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I don't even know why and how it works. Maybe it's the espresso or his immaculate suits.
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| 1 | simplicio | 76 61st |
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A highly structured, repetitive flow of a film. Jarmusch draws it out, matching the pacing perfectly to the Boris score , enough that the later flamenco feels out of place. The cameos (except de la Huerta's) don't quite gel with this rhythm, but it suits the more solitary sections. The real power here lies in the image, Bankolé's statuesque, color shifting form against the graceful curvatures through the frame. In many ways it nearly seems to be more Christopher Doyle's movie than Jarmusch's.
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| 1 | zuleyka | 65 40th |
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The quality of this movie depends on your ability to overinterpret. I'm obviously not very good at it, because even though I found a relatively logical interpretation of what I saw, I couldn't enjoy the movie very much.
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| 1 |  |
loc42 | 85 88th |
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I used my imagination.
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| 1 |  |
lisa- | 6 83rd |
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repetitious, self-referential and utterly deadpan, this is another jim jarmusch film which i think i like but ultimately have no idea what to think about. rewatch september 2017: i like it.
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| Average Percentile 46.84% from 845 Ratings |  |