IsaachDeBankole Tagged Articles at Cinematical

A man with no name sits down at an outdoor cafe and orders two espressos in separate cups. A flock of birds gently take flight. A helicopter briefly whirls overhead. The man sips espresso. Silence. Calm.

A man with no name sits down at an outdoor cafe and orders two espressos in separate cups. A flock of birds gently take flight. A helicopter briefly whirls overhead. The man sips espresso. Silence. Calm. He is approached by another person, who sits down. The other person says "You don't speak Spanish, right?" The other person says something more, in Spanish or in another language. The man removes a matchbox from his pocket. The other person places a matchbox with the same design, but a different color, on the table. The matchboxes are exchanged. The other person says something more, and leaves. The man opens the newly-exchanged matchbox, takes out a tiny piece of paper, unfolds it, reads the coded, hand-written message on it, puts it in his mouth, and swallows it along with another sip of espresso.

A man with no name sits down at an outdoor cafe ...

So goes Jim Jarmusch's The Limits of Control, the perfect summer movie for people who prefer museums to amusement parks. Wearing a multitude of enigmas on its well-coifed sleeve, the film is cool, dark, mysterious, and altogether refreshing. Isaach De Bankolé plays The Man With No Name (actually identified as "Lone Man" in the credits), and if that moniker calls forth memories of Clint Eastwood in Sergio Leone's Spaghetti Westerns, so much the better, though Lone Man's espressos, matchboxes, and chastity place him firmly within the realm of post-modern masculinity.

I regret to say that I don't feel that I've seen enough of Jim Jarmusch's work to determine whether or not I'm a capital-f Fan, but I do know that I do like what I have seen -- namely, Broken Flowers, much of Coffee and Cigarettes, and Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai.

That last title seems to be the one to which his new film, The Limits of Control, merits the most comparison, if this new trailer (watch at Apple or below) is any indication. This time, though, our stoic assassin (Isaach De Bankole) has a bit more of an ensemble to work with on the streets of Spain, including Tilda Swinton, John Hurt, Gael Garcia Bernal and melonfarmin' Bill Murray.

Normally, I'd be put off by the hipper-than-thou fortune-cookie banter we're treated to here, but I've got a feeling that there might be more than meets the eye (namely, the other 98 minutes of the movie), and speaking of 'meets the eye,' it certainly never hurts when cinematographer Christopher Doyle (Hero) is lensing your latest.

The Limits of Control goes into limited release on May 1st.

When news broke about Jim Jarmusch's next film back in November, The Limits of Control, it was said that JJ regular Isaach De Bankolé would star, along with "an international collection of bankable stars." Well, they're certainly living up to the promise so far. Reuters reports that the filmmaker has once again grabbed Bill Murray and Tilda Swinton for roles, both of whom appeared in Broken Flowers, as well as Gael Garcia Bernal. That fills the old comedy contingent, the drama power, and the young Mexican boy-crazy crowd.

It turns out that this will be a road movie of sorts -- how, they're not saying. We know that De Bankolé will play an outlaw doing some sort of job in Spain, and Reuters adds that he's a loner, but that's it. Since the road comes into play, I imagine either he'll try to hook on to some innocent roadtrippers to escape the area, or maybe they'll be his accomplices -- but that latter doesn't work with the loner deal. The film shoots this month in Spanish cities like Seville, Madrid, and Almeria, so hopefully we'll hear more soon.

Meanwhile: Swinton has been busy all over the literary world, from filming Burn After Reading, to some Narnia, to Lewis Carroll and a stint as Lady Macbeth, Bill's spent some time getting Smart and leading the City of Ember, and Bernal has been busy with a number of foreign projects from Mammoth to Pedro Paramo.

There's nothing like a little Jim Jarmusch to get the blood flowing.There's Johnny Depp traveling the frontier in Dead Man. Or, perhaps some Coffee & Cigarettes with the wonderful Tom Waits. Or even something like Broken Flowers that has Bill Murray looking for a long-lost son while Jeffrey Wright goes nuts with the channeling of Nancy Drew. (I would love a whole movie with Wright as a zany sleuth.) Now, according to The Hollywood Reporter, Jarmusch is teaming up with Focus Features again, who will deal with the film's worldwide distribution, for his next project -- the currently-titled The Limits of Control.

The movie focuses on "a secretive, mysterious outlaw" played by Jarmusch pro Isaach De Bankolé, who is "in the process of completing an undisclosed criminal job around Spain." Like Flowers, the actor will be teamed with "an international collection of bankable stars" to up the appeal to wider audiences. He has, however, had his own share of high-profile flicks, nabbing parts as Steven Obanno in Casino Royale, and Neptune in Miami Vice. (Although my favorite role of his is his stint as Timothy in Manderlay -- iffy movie, good role.) Either way, the casting plan worked last time, as Flowers nabbed the Grand Prix award at Cannes, and was the filmmaker's highest-grossing film. Production begins in Spain this February.

You might have heard of Amy Redford. She has a fairly famous Sundance Kid for a father, and she has spent a number of years acting in both theater and cinematic productions. Now, news is out that the younger Redford is gearing up for her directorial debut -- a completely unsurprising and inevitable move. In 2002, while performing for CanStage, Redford talked with Eye.net about fighting the desire to follow in her father's footsteps, which is exactly what she's doing. Although her cinematic roles haven't brought her the same acclaim, she's following them up with an interesting indie directorial stint. The force is strong in this one. Before we know it, she'll have a famous film festival in some surprising locale.

If her directorial debut is any indication, it'll be a refreshing diversion from her father's tastes. The film in question is The Guitar, which has just entered production in New York. The script comes from punk filmmaker Amos Poe, who is seen by some as the father of America's indie cinema. Having worked with the likes of Debbie Harry and Lydia Lunch, its no surprise that the film revolves around a spunky woman with head-bangingly bad luck who yearns to follow musical aspirations. When she is diagnosed with terminal cancer, fired from a crappy job and dumped by her boyfriend, the woman uses her last two months to grab all the money available to her and fulfill her two dreams -- romance and playing the electric guitar. Boney actress Saffron Burrows is a logical pick to head the feature, and she's got Casino Royale's Isaach De Bankolé and indie punk actress Paz de la Huerta to back her up. The next branch on Hollywood's family tree has broken through.