The International (2009 film)
| The International | |
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Theatrical poster
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| Directed by | Tom Tykwer |
| Produced by |
Charles Roven Richard Suckle Lloyd Phillips |
| Written by | Eric Warren Singer |
| Starring |
Clive Owen Naomi Watts |
| Music by |
Tom Tykwer Reinhold Heil Johnny Klimek Matthew Bellamy |
| Cinematography | Frank Griebe |
| Edited by | Mathilde Bonnefoy |
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Production
company |
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| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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118 minutes |
| Country | United States Germany |
| Language | English German Italian |
| Budget | $50 million |
| Box office | $60,161,391 |
The International is a 2009 German–American political thriller drama film directed by Tom Tykwer. The film follows an Interpol agent and an American district attorney who investigate corruption within the IBBC, a fictional merchant bank based in Luxembourg. It serves organized crime and corrupt governments as a banker and as an arms broker. The bank's ruthless managers assassinate potential threats including their own employees.
Inspired by the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) scandal of the 1980s, the film's script, written by Eric Warren Singer, raises concerns about how global finance affects international politics across the world. Production began in Berlin in September 2008, including the construction of a life-size replica of New York's Guggenheim Museum for the film's climactic shoot-out scene. The film opened the 59th Berlin International Film Festival on 5 February 2009. Reviews were mixed: some praised the sleek appearance and prescient themes—The Guardian called it a thriller with "brainpower as well as firepower"—but The New Yorker criticised the development of the characters.
Louis Salinger, of Interpol, and Eleanor Whitman, an Assistant District Attorney from Manhattan, are investigating the International Bank of Business and Credit (IBBC), which funds activities such as money laundering, terrorism, arms trading, and the destabilization of governments. Salinger's and Whitman's investigation takes them from Berlin to Milan, where the IBBC assassinates Umberto Calvini, an arms manufacturer who is an Italian prime ministerial candidate. The bank's assassin diverts suspicion to a local assassin with political connections, who is promptly killed by a corrupt policeman. Salinger and Whitman get a lead on the second assassin, but the corrupt policeman shows up again and orders them out of the country. At the airport they are able to check the security camera footage for clues on the whereabouts on the bank's assassin, and follow a suspect to New York City.
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