MovieChat Forums > The Limits of Control (2009) Discussion > Two espressos and the guitar

Two espressos and the guitar

posted 15 years ago by Nejc1
7 replies | jump to latest

Could someone please help me understand that? I don't get why he always orders TWO espressos and I also don't quite get the deal with the guitar...

I love the movie by the way, I am a huge fan of all Jarmusch's work but this is just something else. I think it's rather hard to compare this to his other work or to any other movie in fact. And it's not ment to be compared to other movies, because it's something tottaly different. The main reason for a 6.2 rating is probably people not getting what they expected from the movie. I think Jarmusch thought that a lot more people are ready to appreciate a movie like this, than there actually are. I mean even the cinematography itself deserves a higher than 7 rating, but the whole thing gets a place in my top 10 movies of all time list without a doubt. I really don't see how this movie could be interpreted in various ways. It just is what it is.

[–] wombat_9000 15 years ago

He gets two espressos the the contacts who are supposed to meet him know he's the guy. That, along with the code phrase they always use. Just a guess.

[–] brent_harshman 15 years ago

That's exactly what I gathered.

[–] Krustallos 15 years ago

The two espressos thing was put into the film because that's what the actor Isaak de Bankole orders in real life - Jarmusch says he saw him get annoyed with a waiter once for bringing him a double and was looking for an excuse to put it in a film ever since. (The literal meaning in the film is certainly a signal to his contacts).

Not sure what you mean about the guitar, but clearly it relates to Spain, Flamenco and some of the music in the film. Garotting Bill Murray with the guitar string is a symbol of art and imagination winning out over right-wing politics and control-freakery I'd say.

If you google "Jarmusch Control Interview" you'll turn up some very interesting stuff.

I used to want to change the world. Now I just want to leave the room with a little dignity.

[–] hoov-4 13 years ago

What specifically are right-wing politics? Was Stalin or Mao right-wing? Was Saddam, Mugabe, the Khmer Rouge, Idi Amin right-wing? I don't understand this obsession with right-wing politics. I'm very curious about your thoughts on right-wing politics. Please enlighten me!

[–] Krustallos 13 years ago

In short, yes. Authoritarian would probably have been a better word, but in the US and European context, it's normally the right that appeals to notions of authority, respecting your 'elders and betters', knowing your place and so on. The "left/right' nomenclature comes from the Constituent Assembly after the French Revolution, as I'm sure you know. The monarchists sat on the right of the chamber, the republicans on the left.

I used to want to change the world. Now I just want to leave the room with a little dignity.

[–] hoov-4 12 years ago

If right wing people obey your notion of authority, then what would you call the left wing terror found in Vietnam, East Germany, Soviet Union and Red China? Frankly, the left scares me more then the right.

[–] 12 years ago

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