MovieChat Forums > The American (2010) Discussion > A breath of fresh air

A breath of fresh air

posted 14 years ago by conny-noren
15 replies | jump to latest

I see a lot of people find the movie slow, dull, "euro" (as a derogatory word), and other things of that nature.

I on the other hand go in the completely different direction. The movies I enjoy most are the ones that give you time to reflect, to "feel" the movie. I guess I like 'cinema' better than 'movies'.

The American had a perfect soundtrack. The best soundtrack is the one that you hardly notice. This one was just that. Long beautiful sequences with nothing but the sound of feet on cobble stone. Wind, noises. The occational tune here and there that weaves into the picture. Perfect!

Clooney played Clooney, a bit darker. More introspective. He does it well I think, though others could do it better. Or it may be that I fail to realize and see what he does, the small nuances.

In any case, I much appreciated "The American". I found it perfectly paced, nicely filmed and with great sound to match.

Yes, there were flaws. I'm swedish myself and the magazine he recieves is filled with errors. Some scenes were really questionable. But on a whole, I'd recommend it to anyone who enjoys CINEMA. For the action lovers, see "Shooter" again. Also a good movie, but in a different type of way.
It's like comparing Guns'N'Roses to Dire Straits.

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] marktarnovetsky 11 years ago

there is nothing boring about this film. step your taste up.

[–] spookyrat1 11 years ago

I enjoyed it too.

I would have liked to see the main back stories filled a little more than the "minimal" content we were given. I also had issues with the usual stuff, like lack of police investigating car crashes and violent deaths in the village.

But great locations, a compelling story and interesting characters.

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] bruno-saramago-43-375336 11 years ago

rightly said. the only big issue with this film... is in the eyes of the mostly 'american' teenie-popcorn posters who come here to ditch it. as if they ever had a clue. to say this film is boring or slow is to completely miss its point. there are slow movies - this is not one of them. it's just comtemplative, atmospheric. and definitely deeper, more philosophical and lyrical than a bucket of popcorn for the hollow thrill-chasers. to equal euro with bad is just plain dumb. a good example of missing-the-point is the sheer quantity of posters who bother to write about... guns. taking everything at face value. there are no symbols in these people's planet, nothing lurks beneath the surface - only instant and obvious satisfation. which is actually sad, coz you do miss out a lot in life. amazing things, such as this movie right here, and Corbijn's whole body of work. cheers all.