THE MIASMA OF MR. BUTTERFLY: a review of "The American"

"THE AMERICAN"
Based upon the novel A Very Private Gentleman by Martin Booth
Screenplay Written by Rowan Joffe
Directed by Anton Corbijn
** 1/2 (two and a half stars)

There’s a “blink and you’ll miss it,” moment in Director Tony Scott’s kinetic paranoid surveillance thriller “Enemy Of The State” (1998) that made me smile and pause. During a brief respite in the action, fugitive attorney Will Smith comes across a photo of a younger version of Gene Hackman’s embittered surveillance expert. I smiled because the photo appeared to be a promotional head shot from Hackman’s starring role as surveillance expert Harry Caul from Francis Ford Coppola’s atmospheric, paranoid thriller “The Conversation” (1974). I paused because as I saw the photo and thought of that film, I remarked to myself that there would be absolutely no way “The Conversation” could be made in the exact same way today.

My relationship with “The Conversation” has been previously detailed on this site yet to quickly recount, my initial meeting with that film was not a pleasant one. I found the interior story of a psychologically tortured surveillance expert consumed in self-isolation and increasing paranoia and guilt to be a excruciatingly boring experience, and its deeply celebrated legacy escaped me completely. But, subsequent viewings over the years revealed to me its brilliance. It is not a film with much action. There’s not much actual momentum as Gene Hackman is in a state of emotional paralysis for much of the running time. But the atmosphere Coppola creates, combined with Hackman’s incredible performance, weaves a spell of dread, anxiety and anguish that is nearly impenetrable and amazingly artful. It truly is one of the best films of the 1970s.

With that memory in place, I can easily see why photographer turned filmmaker Anton Corbijn’s “The American,” did not survive long at the box office this past fall. It is an internally complex and provocative film which proves that a film like “The Conversation” could get made in the 21st century. However, despite its classy stature, noble artistic intents and another strong leading performance by George Clooney, it is a film that is much too dry for its own good and brooding to the point of being somnambulant.

Clooney stars as Jack, an aging assassin and arms maker who is increasingly confronting the consequences of his chosen profession. As “The American” opens, Jack is nestled quietly in Sweden with a lover. While on a silent morning snowy walk, he is attacked by two Swedish hit men, which jack quickly and fatally dispatches. Leaving no loose ends, Jack is also forced to murder his lover. Upon exiting Sweden, Jack is given a cell phone and informed by his superior Pavel to relocate to a small Italian town named Castlevecchio, await further instructions and under no circumstances, create any friendships or relationships with anyone.

Once Jack arrives in Castlevecchio, he reconsiders. Seemingly appearing to reject his profession and the accompanying psychological and spiritual baggage, Jack ultimately rejects Pavel’s orders as he throws away the cell phone and relocates to a nearby town called Castel del Monte. After acquiring simple lodging for himself, he throws caution to the wind. Jack, now identifying himself as “Edward,” is soon befriended by Father Benedetto (Paolo Bonacelli), a highly gracious and astute Priest, who sees right through Jack and offers comfort, food, drink and spiritual counseling. To satisfy his physical needs, Jack begins to make frequent visits to a local brothel where he surprisingly discovers his growing affection for Clara (Violante Placido), his prostitute of choice. His nights are plagued with restlessness and nightmares and his source of tranquility is a small almanac of butterflies.

Compulsively, Jack finds himself at a pay phone, placing a call to Pavel, alerting him to his whereabouts and announcing that he is ready for new instructions. Jack is ordered to create a weapon for a female assassin named Mathilde (Thekla Reuten) to be used in an upcoming political killing. As Jack silently and diligently creates the weapon, and deepens his romance with Clara, he continues to wrestle with his inner turmoil as the life he feels resigned to and the life he truly wishes to lead ultimately converge with tragic results.

“The American” is a story of isolation and quite possibly, the character study of a man on a quest for atonement he knows is undeserved, yet nonetheless seeks it. Like “The Conversation,” Corbijn weaves a predominantly silent tale of insular sorrow There’s not much in actual momentum and actually, there’s not much copious dialogue either. “The American” is a moody affair designed to create a certain pall of existential melancholy, which is elegantly delivered through Corbijn’s stark, sharp cinematography where you can feel the openness of the landscapes and the emptiness contained within them. Ironically, for a film entitled “The American,” the film actually feels like a European film with its complete lack of concessions to Hollywood film conventions and spectacle. This is a film about behavior, something Hollywood thinks audiences do not have much of an interest in anymore.

I have to commend George Clooney, who also serves as one of the film’s producers, for being able to get a film this meditative made at all in today’s cinematic climate, which has grown increasingly unwilling to take artistic risks. I must also commend him fro his performance, which is filled with depth, pathos and gravitas, and all without very much dialogue at all. We are forced to study Clooney’s face and the most minuscule expressions in order to fathom just exactly what he may be thinking about in any given moments. It is a fascinating portrayal that sits nicely alongside his many other illustrations of the lives of solitary men from Steven Soderbergh’s “Solaris” (2002), Tony Gilroy’s “Michael Clayton” (2007), and Jason Reitman’s "Up In The Air” (2009). Clooney’s skillful performance reminded me very much of William Hurt’s series of roles in the 1980s, like Randa Haines’ “Children Of A Lesser God” (1986), James L. Brooks’ superlative “Broadcast News” (1987) and Lawrence Kasdan’s “The Accidental Tourist” (1988). Within all of those roles, Hurt was sublimely able to fully realize the souls of the faceless men who wear business suits and that specific quality is one of Clooney’s greatest attributes as each of his portrayals is independent from each other and uniquely rich in quality and dramatic heft.

With the character of Jack, Clooney embodies the spirit of a man who exists but is unable to live. He skulks in a haze through the world as a living dead man, a reticent specter consumed with eternal punishment for his evil deeds. Yet, he struggles to exit his violent life with finality, rediscover and reclaim his humanity and the juxtapositions of his character are compelling. Amidst all of the sequences where we watch Jack slowly creating a rifle we are given scenes of his desire to engage his fragile spirit, either through his romance with Clara, discussions with the priest or his fascinations with butterflies. Furthermore, I think we are actually meant to wonder if his pseudonym of “Edward” is actually his real name, and even deeper, his real self.

All of that is extremely gripping and I love character studies of this sort but I did not love or even really like this film. I appreciate this film. I admire this film. I commend Clooney for making it. But, again I just didn’t like it very much. Like Noah Baumbach’s well-intentioned “Greenberg” (2010), “The American” was a film severely undone by its own inertia and snowflake silence.

Perhaps this was another fault of the studio’s promotion and advertising elements as the film’s trailer and one sheet poster suggested a film that is much more aggressive than it actually is. Certainly that could be a dramatic contributing factor to the film's massive box office drop off from its first weekend to its second. But, on a creative level, Corbijn, while able to elicit terrific performances, visual sophistication and complex themes, is not quite able to establish a certain momentum to keep the story flowing. I mean, there’s contemplative and probing and then there’s narcoleptic!

And worst of all were his choices for the film’s final moments of which I would certainly not reveal here, but I will say drifted towards a higher melodrama that was not present at any point, anywhere else in the film, making an ending that was almost laughable instead of crippling. Since Corbijn is a photographer, I wondered if that had anything to do with my lack of emotions for his film, for this is a motion picture and “The American” felt static to the point of being emotionally stifled.

“The American” is a valiant effort and I am so pleased that it at least tried to address issues of humanity honestly. Can you ever truly escape the life you make for yourself? Is what you do the thing that truly defines who you are? Can you ever really change and do you deserve to? Great questions but I wish the way in which those questions were addressed were more emotionally satisfying.