The International 2009 Movie | Review & Summary

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The International 2009 Movie | Key Facts & Characters & Ending Explained

The international movie 2009 tells the Interpol Agent Louis Salinger (Clive Owen) and his partner who are investigating the International Bank of Business and Credit (IBBC) in a joint operation with the District Attorney Eleanor Whitman (Naomi Watts) from Manhattan in a two hundred million dollars illegal business of weapons trading. They schedule a meeting with an insider informer from IBBC at the Central Station in Berlin; however his partner is mysteriously killed after the encounter. Salinger finds the identity of the informer when he sees that the Vice President of Acquisitions André Clement (Georges Bigot) had died in a car accident. Salinger and Whitman head to Milan where they meet the politician Umberto Calvini (Luca Giorgio Barbareschi), who is great manufacturer of arms, and he explains that IBBC is interested in buying the missile guiding system that he produces in his factory. When Calvini is murdered by a sniper in a political rally, Salinger and Whitman head to New York following the killer and later to Istanbul, and disclose a scheme of arms supply and destabilization of governments to make their nations slaves of debt. Further, the bank is protected by legal systems and only if Salinger crosses the line he might bring some justice to the corrupt system.

We can’t expect every Tom Tykwer film to be as inventive or intense as Run Lola Run or The Princess and the Warrior, and The International feels almost like a breather, an intentional turn at a conventional film. It’s an espionage and high stakes international drama with guns and deceit and a pair of very distinctly good good guys played by Clive Owen (brilliantly) and Naomi Watts (unconvincingly…probably just miscast). And overall it’s completely enjoyable and slick, well paced, and beautifully filmed, of course.

The plot is one of those sprawling, behind-the-scenes conspiracy, third world, big money scenarios that must have shades of truth, or lots of truth, but gets simplified into a handful of bad guys and a parade of exotic locales (including the inevitable Third World warlord who is an intelligent and willing pawn in the whole game). What I mean is, the plot almost doesn’t matter in the details, though it’s interesting, and makes you think and worry a little about the world we live in. It’s more how the heroes unfold the facts of the plot, against the odds, the clock ticking, that make the movie good. If you liked the Bourne movies (which are as a whole probably faster and more edgy) or Syriana (which is actually kind of similar in feel overall, Clooney substituted for Owen), this will really suit you.

Tom Tykwer, the German director of hits like “Lola rennt”, has a keen sense of style that he brings to any of his projects. “The International” is no exception. The film was written by Eric Singer, better known as the author of the screenplay of “Aeon Flux”. There is plenty of action in this film to keep audiences at the edge of their seats. The best sequence being the one that involves an all out shoot out inside New York’s Guggenheim Museum, which by the magic of the movies, did not take place there but in a German film studio.

Characters

Clive Owen makes an excellent case of his Salinger, the agent at the center of the action. Mr. Owen keeps getting better all the time. Naomi Watts makes a valuable contribution to the film with her Eleanor Whitman, the Manhattan D.A. that is investigating the activities of a bank run by criminals. Armin Mueller-Stahl appears as one of the corrupt individuals. Ulrich Thomsen plays the head of the bank. The supporting cast does a wonderful job for Mr. Twyker.

Ending Explained

The ending truthfully showed that one man cannot ever stop or even affect much the international corruption of man or his businesses, in this case banking, as it will go on and on mostly unchanged no matter the wasted efforts of possibly the most totally committed, skilled and persistent man who ever tried to bring it down(in movies, that is).

IBBC claims that banking is not actually about money. It has to do with control. authority over governments. about terrorism. concerning rebels. of law enforcement agencies. Of someone who requires money to fund acts of violence. The potential to influence global affairs, serve as the ultimate arbiters of disputes, and exert control over those who are indebted to IBBC is something that Jonas Skarssen and his allies take great pride in.

The Interpol agent is motivated to bring Skarssen and Co. to justice by an above-the-law mentality that makes Louis Salinger sick. There is only one issue. And here’s the big one: Skarssen controls the legal system, therefore he cannot be prosecuted.

Salinger reluctantly gives in to Wexler’s argument during their interrogation that IBBC can only be overthrown by operating outside of the law rather than by working within the system. And Salinger discards it when he starts to feel that the law isn’t working in his favor anymore. For the fleeting thrill of retaliation, he gives up his ideal of legal integrity.

The International’s message appears to be very clear: Giving up moral values for the sake of society as a whole is, in fact, a positive thing. In this instance, a world devoid of the IBBC is the intended better benefit. Put otherwise, the goal always justifies the means.

We read media headlines regarding Skarssen’s passing during the closing credits. He was replaced by one of his colleagues, who carried on the IBBC’s illicit operations while giving the impression that the bank was clean. According to the most recent newspaper clipping, Whitman will conduct a second inquiry of the IBBC after being appointed to a job in Washington.