film review: CIFF: the american

Review by Kimberley Carey

George Clooney’s is a face made to brood, and brood he does in The American, playing an emotionally run-down assassin on the verge of retirement in this adaptation of Martin Booth’s 1990 novel A Very Private Gentlemen.

Clooney is a major hook in this film, and despite the numerous topless workout scenes, he provides much more than his well-known face and delivers a compelling performance as the reclusive and lonesome hit-man.  He displays a defensiveness and uncertainty, with a touch of awkwardness; mixed in with a meticulous and ruthless nature that just switches on in an instant.

The film is a series of beautifully framed shots, and the bleak and desolate settings creating a mood reflective of Clooney’s enigmatic character. It presents a different image of Italy, a place usually associated with grandeur and indulgence, and is instead a place of desertion and isolation.

The use of sound is one of the most simple, yet effective tools used in this film. Tension builds through the rhythms and sounds of everyday life contrasted with the jolts and bangs that unsettle our main character.

Dialogue is sparse and interaction between the characters is minimal, making every word, look and movement a profound addition to the story. It is a film that subtly unravels bits of information to the audience, which only serves to emphasise everything else we will never know.

The American is a deeply introspective film that is preoccupied with the present moment, and which only ever hints at something bigger beneath the surface.

Although it is overall an intense and engaging film to watch, the running time could be cut by about 20 minutes.  Perhaps starting with cutting the obviously fake CGI butterfly, representative of freedom and peace, which felt a bit out of place in the film.