The Limits of Control

Jim Jarmusch's latest film may be his boldest and most accomplished cinematic statement to date. Isaach DeBankole plays an unnamed man on an unspecified mission through Spain, receiving cryptic directions—from the likes of Tilda Swinton, John Hurt and Gael García Bernal—along the way.

Pleasures abound in the form of visual, verbal and aural details that might be clues to a metaphysical mystery, although they may also be nothing more than winsome distractions. Ace director of photography Christopher Doyle ensures that every composition counts, while the soundtrack—a combination of Boris, Sunn O))), Schubert, Earth, flamenco and Jarmusch himself—couldn’t be more skilfully used.

The Limits of Control, dir Jim Jarmusch, US 2008, 116 mins, 35mm