The International's Timely Release
07 March 2009
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By Rachel Jones
Rarely is a film released with such impeccable timing. Just weeks before 'The International' hit cinemas, the world's economy began to crumble and before long, the world was in the grips of a financial crisis.
All of a sudden, banks were the most evil enemy - and Tom Twyker's gripping thriller brings this monetary fear to a completely different level.
'The International' sees Clive Owen star as Interpol Agent Louis Salinger, who makes it his personal mission to bring justice to one of the world's most powerful - and powerfully corrupt - banks.
The agent is joined by Leanor Whitman, a Manhattan Assistant District Attorney played by Naomi Watts.
Together, they set out to bring down the crooked corporation they eventually find to be guilty of innumerable illegal activities - including murder, money laundering and plans to destabilise Third-World governments.
The film was inspired by the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) scandal in the early 1990s - which saw the forced closure of the BCCI after a report was published which said the bank has engaged in "widespread fraud and manipulation".
Since filming finished early last year, the plotline has become increasingly topical.
The lead characters Louis and Leanor guide the audience through an action-packed journey which questions the behaviour of these presumably reliable establishments.
Clive thinks the film's strength is its ability to provoke viewers to challenge authorities.
He said: "Yes, it's a big entertaining thriller, but it does ask questions and opens up doors to question whether banks use people's money appropriately and whether they're completely sound institutions.
"And that's what everybody's doing right now, with what's going on in the last year."
widespread fraud and manipulation
Clive - who starred in the socially explorative 'Children of Men' and won a Golden Globe and BAFTA for his work on 'Closer' - insists this movie challenged his skills as an actor.
As the storyline follows the movement of money through multiple locations around the world - from Berlin to Milan, New York and even Istanbul - Clive and Naomi felt the added pressure of working on the move.
Clive said: "When you're travelling on a film like this, to different locations, you do hit the ground running. There's a whole team that's waiting for you, that's all ready to go.
"You arrive, there's no real time to acclimatise, you hit the ground running and you start shooting. Luckily, on this film, there were incredible locations and they were all great places."
One of the most skillfully-orchestrated scenes in the action movie sees Clive's character destroy New York City's beautiful Guggenheim museum in a cleverly-filmed gun battle.
The audience won't be surprised to learn that this is yet another movie that sees the 46-year-old actor wielding guns, driving dangerously and being clobbered by burly men.
For Clive, these scenes of violence are nothing new. He describes them as like a "big dialogue sequence".
He adds: "My job is to put people in the place of understanding what you're character's going through. At that point, when that shoot-up takes off, that character will be terrified."
He is playing the rugged heartthrob once again, but the modest star takes his sex-symbol status in his stride, is uninterested in how he is perceived and focuses solely on the task at hand.
He said: "It's simple, you can do it in a movie kind of way and try and look cool with your gun, but I'm more interested in trying to convey what it might really be like to be in that situation. That's my job as an actor, and I always treat those scenes like that, so I'm never trying to look cool."
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