i must have seen a different film!!

A lot of fun.

It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

If someone would ask me to describe this movie in only one single word, i would say "bullseye". Because that's what this movie really is. We all got used to expect nothing less than brilliant from Jarmusch, but still, surprise from this title is something a bit unexpected, when compared to his previous works. But, for me, this movie sums up all of his experience and skill, to become THE movie. The movie of Jim Jarmusch.Untied by the storyline, Jim creates a surreal collage of scenes and shots that combine perfectly with each other, while still being a small, delicious part of the big cake itself. There is a quote from Tilda Swindon in the movie, which describes itself completely, and sets the tone for all your future movies. All of them.Acting - nothing to say. Everyone is doing the perfect job to keep the moment alive, and it goes all the way throughout the movie. Anyway, after seeing the movie you won't even remember the actors. Just the mood. And that pleasant dreamy feeling. Release yourself, and watch this masterpiece.

The overarching concept for me during this viewing was that of optical illusions. There are several moments in the film where my eyes literally lost focus for a moment or blended into the surroundings of the Lone Man, which distorted the actual image of him in my mind. An example is when he walks into an elevator, the rich blues and reds causing him to disappear and leave behind an aura as the doors close. The material of his suit itself is enough to make it a real effort to digest the intermittent clashing and submerging into the streets, signs, buildings and lighting. The odd shapes of the scenery and staircases, specifically, force you into the life of paintings similar to the ones the Lone Man visits at the museum in Spain. The film's musical interludes as the backdrop of the Lone Man's walking/traveling also take the viewer out of the immediate space of the film, almost putting the conscious mind to sleep for a moment, letting the subconscious meditate on the odd stimulations the brain is receiving. Certain films I've seen since my first viewing of this one came to my mind during which I had similar reactions. The presence of repetition and longer than expected scenes of music married to movement in Bela Tarr's The Turin Horse, and, more of a visual statement, Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life, both offer a portal and give permission to peer through an infinitely widened camera lens that captures not just individual subjects of a film's story, but the absorption of a single consciousness past the "arbitrary reality" into the intersecting mental resting place that everyone visits, at least once in their lives. It is in these places where the eyes wander off the screen and the mind escapes for a little while, un-chaperoned and unseeing, until the next scene break calls you back and you wonder what you were just given by this film as an old man walks the space of ten yards from his home to the horse barn. I wonder if this experience isn't equivalent to chanting mantras or meditating on a koan. However one describes it, it is beautiful. At some point in life, hopefully sooner rather than later, a person comes to a crossroads and either decides he is going to continue walking down the well trodden path that "everyone else" is walking or suddenly veer to the left into dark, uncharted territory. This first path is easier, the lines and rules which are generally excepted as not just guideposts of truth but eventually truth, in and of itself, are frequent and heavily supported. The Lone Man has chosen the latter, the road less traveled. This choice offers revelations that are both scary and exhilarating, the experiences and guideposts are taken into the self, consumed, as the Lone Man literally does in the film, and he continues on to the next one. Each discovery is guided by a hunger that comes into existence without explanation. But it is very strong, and, once the Lone Man has awoken to its presence, unavoidable and irrevocable. The food that this presence devours is found in art, in physical pleasure, in music, etc. but they are not indulged much here, as the Lone Man has moved past this point with the knowledge that these things do not themselves hold any answers, even though he may not even be searching for one. My understanding of Alfred Camus' concept of the "absurd" is the awakening of the mind to the conflict between this kind of hunger and the inevitability of dying without it having ever been satisfied. But, as in Camus' essay "The Myth of Sisyphus," this film embodies a certain truth that is stumbled upon at some point in the journey and that is the essential necessity of movement, whether it be pushing the same rock up the same hill again and again for all eternity or walking from one place to another to another eating crumbs for the rest of one's life. The only satisfaction, the only answer, is simply to continue. Or if you're Ayn Rand, productivity as movement--"man is an end in himself."Now I zoom way out and look at the overall context and story as it relates to the ending. A young man develops his mind and passion and becomes a conscious person. It is inevitable, then, to look around at society and start comparing yourself to it. Is this woman who talks about Hitchcock and old movies (Tilda Swinton) just a superficial self-obsessed student borrowing from others and those before in order to adorn herself and convince people that she is original and a free-thinker? Perhaps the only one she is fooling is herself? Perhaps he is thinking about the fact that he can absorb himself into a piece of art but also retain himself and keep an objective distance from it while people like the "bohemians" seem to find their solace in becoming the art they admire, losing the responsibility of themselves? Inevitably, his vision becomes sharp enough to become aware and curious about the broader system in which he is having these meditations. Who is in control? Why doesn't anyone care? I care. I'm going to do something about it...I could go on and on from here I guess but I'll let you take it from here. Peter Joseph's Zeitgeist, Wall Street, Charles Ferguson's Inside Job, blah, blah, blah...what time does X Factor come on tonight?http://funkyforestfirstcontact.wordpress.com/

"The Limits Of Control" is a twisted and visually stunning experience with a philosophical background that leaves each one enough space to interpret the movie in one's own way. I think it all has something to do with two extremes: having a strong ego and only caring about one's own insignificant destiny on one side and always blindly accepting commands from others in an inhuman robotic way on the other side. But you are not forced to go that far and you can also take the movie as an eccentric and experimental film about a silent killer on a weird journey through Spain before committing his murder.It's quite hard to put the name of a genre on such a movie. The movie has a few suspenseful moments but not enough to be called a Thriller or a horror movie. There are no important action scenes in here. It's not a drama either because we only get to know a few details about the character and nothing at all about his boss, his contacts or his target. It's not a sexually driven movie despite a nude lady following the trace of the killer. Both are attracted to each other but the killer refuses to sleep with her because he wants to focus on his job only. I wouldn't call this film a mystery movie neither because nothing truly abnormal or surreal is happening. The only way to describe this movie is an experimental avant-garde film that can't be put into a certain category. That's also the main object of this film that wants the viewers to use their own imagination, to be creative and spontaneous or to confront this film with their very own reality. This is the kind of movie you can discuss and think about for a very Long time if you are able to open up your mind.What we get in here are in fact many stunning landscapes that almost look like paintings. It's a very artistic movie anyway. We get to see a whole lot of diversified paintings. We listen to a lot of diversified music from classical music over electronic music to improvised flamenco sounds. Many of the contacts the main characters meets talk about arts as well before transmitting new secret messages or weapons to the killer.The other thing we get in here are a lot of dialogues. While the main character only talks a few repetitive and mechanical words like "yes" and "no", almost all other characters apart of his boss, the nude lady and his target who talk a little bit more to him, approach him the very same way. They first ask the killer if he speaks Spanish which he always denies. Then, they ask him if he is interested in arts, hallucinations, sciences or anything else and start a short monologue about that topic. The killer remains silent and listens to them. These strange meetings always end with an exchange of two matchboxes that include secret messages written on a paper which the killer reads and then swallows with the help of two espressos in two cups.This movie surely isn't everyone's cup of tea and may frustrate some viewers. Others like me may though be charmed by this unusual and creative way of movie making. This film has enough details and intriguing scenes to justify multiple concentrated viewings. It's hard to ultimately rate this film but I really liked what I saw. The movie made me think a lot at some points or just adore the cool soundtrack, the beautiful Spanish landscapes, the beautiful actresses Yuki Kudo and Paz de la Huerta, the cool clothes of Isaach de Bankolé and the well written dialogues. If you're intrigued by my Review, watch this movie at all costs but if you think what i've just written sounds too strange you won't like this film.

Somewhat interesting try. Nothing short of the destruction of the entire universe could justify this much cryptic behavior - it's simply carried to absolute absurdity, the film filled with relentless minimalism and repetitive nothingness.Such a work requires compelling performances to carry such a lean (perhaps absent) plot - and simply glaring/gazing and not speaking doesn't quite cut it. Some humor or further character development might have saved this dreary viewing experience.By far my least favorite film from JJ. Many a great film has been made with few to no details about the actual "assignment" or the actual revelation of the MacGuffin. Sadly this is not one of them.