Unique Twist in the Plot of The American - Essay Example

Film Analysis: The American Introduction The film The American, stars George Clooney as a hit man has come to the end of his career and is trying to get out to live some kind of life. He goes to Italy for his last assignment and ends up befriending a priest and pursuing a woman, two human interactions that were unfamiliar in his life. His job in Italy is to construct a special weapon, but soon the plot changes as Clooney finds that he is the target of betrayal. The film is designed as a thriller, thus the tone suggests suspense through building anxiety. At the same time, the character is lonely, disconnected from the rest of the world and attached to death. In his attempts to disengage from death and to connect to the rest of the world, the filmmakers must find ways to emotionally express these changes through the way in which the production is designed. Plot Summary and Critic’s Reviews There is a unique twist in the plot of The American, the story not following the normal hit man thriller formulation that one might expect. Clooney plays a man who is good at his craft, making unique weapons that are used for creative assassinations. This is not done with some type of fantastical or over the top, “Q” from James Bond sort of way, but with a sense of realism. The brooding nature of the film helps to frame this profession, the seriousness of the ‘business’ of death relevant to the structure of the story. Clooney’s character, Jack, wants to be at the end of his career, the most recent event of an ambush bringing his attention to the fact that he was lucky to have survived the many close calls in his life. When he goes to Italy and to the town in which he is to make his last weapon, he begins to reach out, but almost imperceptibly, to the others. The priest and the prostitute provide a contrast of moral natures, each providing a part of the human contact that he has been without for most of his life. Film critic Rebecca Murray sees Jack’s relationships with the priest and the prostitute as cold and unresponsive. While both characters seem to be fascinated by Jack, he gives them very little in return, their investment in his attention far greater than his in theirs. Murray describes the film as being vacant, without much action or dialogue, thus leaving the film viewer as empty as Jack in the way in which they are limited in engaging with the film. She says “Even the charm and talent of Clooney can’t make Jack accessible to the audience as he’s trying to stay alive”. The American was not a critical success with average film viewers. According to Murray, “The American doesn’t capitalize on its uniqueness, taking leaps in storytelling and using far too many coincidental events to move things forward”. The problem with the film is created through the conflict of having an unsympathetic, emotionally crippled character and trying to evoke sympathy and emotional connectivity from the audience. It can be accomplished, but it is a tough project for a director to do it with success. According to Clabough, Clooney’s character establishes earlier on in the film that he is not a good guy, thus disconnecting the audience from their sympathy with him. Clabough states “Jack has loyalties to no one but himself, a malevolent character trait exemplified early in the film when Jack must kill the woman with whom he just made love to protect his own identity, though he is ridden with guilt that often materializes in nightmares”. Unfortunately, he never really turns that corner to reconnect or create a sympathetic reaction from the way in which the story unfolds after his unsympathetic nature is revealed. Clabough sees no point to the character of the priest, his appearances only seeming to provide an opportunity for dialogue. The critic feels that this is one more opportunity for Hollywood to attack Christianity through revealing that the priest has a child out of wedlock, thus should not have put himself up as one to judge Jack about his sins. However, the point that seems more relevant is that being human is about being able to commit sins and to overcome the social pressures that come from those sins in order to stand up within the world. While Jack’s sins are far greater than the priest’s, they find common emotional ground within the story through the way in they are similar - both sinners in a world of judgment. Notable film critic Roger Ebert felt that The American delivered, his review of the work full of praise. Of the character of Jack and the overall film he states that the character is “Sealed, impervious and expert with a focus so narrow it is defined only by his skills and his master. Here is a gripping film with the focus of a Japanese drama”. While lesser film critics may not have understood the direction of the film, Ebert understands the subtlety of the work, the plot creating a highly complex character space in which Clooney doesn’t need the average explosions and wild action scenes repeated over and over to keep the attention of the focus of the film. The character is developing within the plot, rather than the plot running away with the characters. Film Analysis There are several plot themes and emotional themes that relate to the plot that can be observed in the way in which the film is presented. As the film opens in Sweden, the cold panoramic view sets the tone. The camera moves slowly, indicating a thoughtfulness, as much as it indicates a sense of tension. However, everything else about the beginning of the film is deception, Clooney’s character seeming to be engaging in a relationship with a woman in which he is real and accessible. As the female character says “You have a gun, why would you have a gun?” (The American), the deception begins to unfold as Clooney is not what first appeared. The cold of the wintry scene becomes the ice in his veins as he must navigate through encounter which reveals his truth. Compromised, he kills the woman. This scene is emotionally confusing, not in a way that is poor film making, but on the contrary it asks the question about all relationships, in that how do we really know each other? This woman is obviously intimate with the Jack that she knows, her representations clearly establishing that being with this man is not brand new and she thinks she knows his nature. This scenario sets up one of the primary themes within the film, the concept of ‘knowing’. Jack is not someone that anyone in the film truly understands. His nature is contradictory, his actions focused on protecting himself because of the high level of danger in which he lives. Even in the moment that he kills the woman, a complexity of emotions are palpable across a face that shows regret, sorrow, and determination, and yet he only stares at her corpse. This moment sets up the emotional context of the film, his emotive position within his life crippled by the conflict of what he must do in contrast to what he desires. However, as heroic as this sounds, he is clearly not a film hero. He moves without grace and without the expected precision of a heroic assassin, filled with machismo and determined skill. As he kills the second assassin who has come to ambush him, he almost tosses the bullets from the gun, his aim not reflecting honed skill or finesse, but reflecting the weakness of a desperate villain in the act. In the original snow covered setting, Jack looks cold and weak, his demeanor revealing a sense of vulnerability, even when he is attacked by the assassins. However, once the setting shifts and we see Jack get off of the train, he is clothed in a manner that reveals his vulnerability has retreated, his walks more erect and his glasses cover his eyes. It is as if out in that desolate space he had thought he could reveal himself, but now as the truth of his life had imposed upon that moment, he once again needed to shield himself from revealing his humanity. “Don’t make any friends, Jack. You used to know that”. Jack’s handler says this to him as he dictates the next step for Jack. This is the next theme within the film. Jack is at odds with the requirements of his position which conflicts with his need for human contact. As Jack drives through a long tunnel, the dark of night made light by the fixtures within the amber colored tunnel, the opening credits roll, two main themes established from which the subtext of the storyline will be revealed. The concept of ‘knowing’ each other and the theme of disconnection to human contact provide a framework for the development of the story. As he arrives in the town where he is suppose to wait for further instructions, he does not feel comfortable, his last location having been compromised. Instead he drives on until he drives from Castlevechio to Castel del Monte where he establishes a place to set up for awhile. The charm of the town, the white angular cuts of a village built into the side of a hill, the ringing of a church bell and the clean uniformity that appears from a distance, is revealed for its nature upon close observance. While still charming, the older, individuated buildings that are covered in decay can be compared to the truths about a human life. From a distance a man or woman may appear to be one thing, wearing his morality as the ring of a church bell signals morality in a town, but up close, the differences and the decay becomes more visible. The priest says “You are American, you think you can escape history”. In this moment, the film viewer realizes that history is chasing Jack. In the next scene, Jack is exercising, a clear view of the butterfly tattoo in the center of his back connecting a major theme to the visuals of the film. The “butterfly affect” has created a catalyst for what will occur, all of the events that lead to the climax stemming from a small puff of influence that spreads throughout the entire plot. Ebert states “The entire drama of this film rests on two words. “Mr. Butterfly”. We must be vigilant to realize that they are spoken once and only once by the wrong person”. He further explains “They cause the entire film and all of its relationships to rotate”. Visually, however, we see the first clue as his back comes into view on the screen, his body exercising as if in preparation for what is coming. The scenes are methodical, beautiful as each movement is carefully constructed. Many of the scenes are designed with Clooney in the left third in profile, even one of the most beautiful moments when he goes from a position on his back to fold over upon himself. As he constructs the weapon, as he waits for the prostitute, he faces right, as if to be looking over the length of the point of view of the camera towards the future. His face shows little change through most of the film, a blank expression that is a shield against the danger that lies in connecting to others. When the butterfly appears again, he shows an attraction to it, asking his female client to stay still. It is as they arrive back to the city after examining the weapon that he has prepared that she calls him Mr. Butterfly. Many of the scenes are drenched in a single hued color of light. Sometimes in amber, sometimes in blue or sea foam green, the scenes set up the transitions, each reflecting his singular mind that tries to stay on focus without becoming connected to the emotions of others. The scenes in the room of the prostitute are drenched in a red tone, the overtone providing context in which sexuality is explored, his intentions unclear as the passion spills onto the screen. Whether it is commerce or emotional attachment, the color helps the viewer to explore all that is in-between. The past begins to haunt him, his exterior beginning to break down as he engages in conversation with the priest. He engages in a quiet self-examination, revelations of emotions drizzling out in small moments of human interaction. He shows more emotions with the prostitute, a vulnerability that he holds in check for most of the film. The end of the film is not a big surprise. He has been betrayed by his handler, the weapon he was building was for his own assassination, and he double crosses the woman who was to be his assassin by building a weapon that will shoot her as she tries to shoot him. As his handler appears to try to finish the job, Jack kills him, only to be shot himself, managing to drive to the place where he will meet the woman that he has decided to love, the prostitute with whom he will now share his life. In breaking open his emotions, he emerges as a fully developed, emotionally charged individual who wishes to engage with life. As he dies, the emergence of his emotional self is represented as a butterfly, lightly ascending upward against the dark bark of a tree. Conclusion The film is reminiscent of European films, not only because of the location in Italy, but because of the restraint upon which the emotional themes build. The people are not high polished representations of stereotypes, but are seen as human because in real life emotions are not spilling forth in every key moment of life. Despite the heavy use of representation within the film, the sub context is subtle. The tension is created through the waiting and in the tedium of everyday life. As he builds the weapon, the weapon of his own destruction, it can be seen as the way in which human existence is often enough to cause a person’s end. One’s own drives and ambitions outdistancing the dreams that should have come before the end. The man that was Jack is never fully known, his history never truly explored. The viewer knows little of this man, only slightly more than the priest and the prostitute who befriend him. Thematically, it represents how as humans we rarely truly know each other. Jack spends his time not connecting until it is near his end, too late to fully enjoy all that intimacy with others can provide. His emotional emergence comes at the end of his life. Works Cited Clabough, Raven. George Clooney’s The American. New American. 5 September 2010. Web. 27 March 2011. Ebert, Roger. The American. Chicago Sun-Times. 31 August 2010. Web. 27 March 2011. Murray, Rebecca. The American movie review. About. 4 September 2010. Web. 27 March 2011. The American. Anton Corbin, dir. Perf. George Clooney, Violante Placido, Thekla Reutin and Paolo Bonacellli. 2010. Film. Read More