While “The American” did some decent business, hauling in nearly $70 million worldwide on a budget of $20 million, the anti-thriller failed to gain traction with critics. And it deserved better. Methodically paced, meditative and haunting, it’s a film whose emotions play out in the roiling interior of the central assassin, with his feelings and motivations revealed in small moments thanks to a stoic and nuanced performance by George Clooney. While we think the critical community needs to give the film a reassessment, at least the financial success of the picture means that it could make things easier for Anton Corbijn to get his next picture going. If he wants to.
Back last fall, Corbijn revealed that he may only have one more film in him, a German-set thriller with that would star German actor and musician Herbert Grönemeyer, who most notably appeared in Wolfgang Petersen‘s 1981 movie “Das Boot.” We hope that’s not the case and there is plenty more Corbijn to come, but until then, we’ll take what we can and in this case the director has returned to his photographic roots. His latest project has been shooting the newest ad campaign for G-Star clothing featuring actress Gemma Arterton and more intriguingly, chess champion Magnus Carlsen as the models.
Nothing too fancy here, just a simple, beautiful black and white pic that Corbijn makes look so easy. We’ll patiently await his next theatrical effort, and hope it isn’t too far off but if you missed “The American,” you can catch up with it now on DVD and BluRay. And hit the link if you want to see what a chess master looks like in designer clothing. [JustJared]