Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They
AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German
Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who
By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an
My Profile
Top News
Reuters top ten news stories delivered to your inbox each day.
Subscribe
You are here:
Home
>
News
>
Entertainment
>
Article
Home
Business & Finance
News
U.S.
Politics
International
Technology
Entertainment
Film
Music
People
Television
Arts
Industry
Sports
Lifestyle
Oddly Enough
Environment
Health
Science
Special Coverage
Video
Pictures
Your View
The Great Debate
Blogs
Weather
Reader Feedback
Do More With Reuters
RSS
Widgets
Mobile
Podcasts
Newsletters
Your View
Make Reuters My Homepage
Partner Services
CareerBuilder
Affiliate Network
Professional Products
Support (Customer Zone)
Reuters Media
Financial Products
About Thomson Reuters
Reckless bank is villain at Berlin film festival
Thu Feb 5, 2009 11:55am EST
Email | Print |
Share
| Reprints | Single Page
[-]
Text
[+]
By Mike Collett-White
BERLIN (Reuters) - A thriller about an international bank that takes huge and morally dubious risks in order to control more and more debt was a fitting opening to the Berlin film festival on Thursday.
"The International," starring Clive Owen and Naomi Watts, was contrived years before the banking crisis hit, but German director Tom Tykwer said that what has happened on the markets did not come as a complete surprise.
"Back then many people said, is it actually feasible that a private bank is the villain in a movie?" he told Reuters.
"But we instinctively ... said this is a reality we have to formulate because this represents a system that is about to torpedo itself," said the maker of the critically acclaimed "Run Lola Run." "And the fact this is actually happening now is a grotesque coincidence."
The International, shown to the press earlier on Thursday, opens the 2009 Berlin film festival with a red carpet gala event. It kicks off 11 days of screenings, parties and deal making at Europe's first big festival of the year.
Owen plays Interpol agent Louis Salinger, who sacrifices everything to bring down a major multinational bank which is selling arms to anyone willing to buy them and prepared to stop at nothing to protect its own interests.
INTERNATIONAL PURSUIT
His mission takes him to Milan, Istanbul and New York, where he narrowly survives a gunfight in the Guggenheim museum.
The point of a bank buying and selling arms, one character explains, is not to control conflicts around the world but to control debt, the key to the bank's profit and power.
The plot echoes recent criticism of banks and their aggressive lending policies which many blame at least in part for the economic crisis.
"The fact that the bubble has burst the moment the movie is coming out I don't find enjoyable but ... dismal," Tykwer said.
For Owen, the attraction of playing the doggedly determined Salinger was his moral strength.
"He has got weaknesses, his private life is a mess, the pursuit of this bank is at the cost of everything else in his life, but at the center of him is this morality," Owen told Reuters in an interview to publicize the film.
The Berlin film festival has earned a reputation for tough, hard-hitting cinema, and 2009 is likely to be no exception.
In the main competition "Storm" examines the legacy of war in former Yugoslavia while "Mammoth" tackles issues of globalization and economic migrants. Continued...
View article on single page
Share:
Del.icio.us
Digg
Mixx
My Web
Facebook
LinkedIn
Next Article:
Just a Minute With: music producer Danger Mouse
Also on Reuters
Nine-year old whiz-kid writes iPhone application
Video
Video: Summit's global warming warning
All aboard! GE CEO Jeff Immelt goes to Washington
More Entertainment News
Meryl Streep, Kate Winslet Oscar front-runners
| Video
Judge denies bid to halt actors, studio labor talks
Just a Minute With: music producer Danger Mouse
Jolie urges Thailand to welcome Muslim refugees
Netflix says 1 million Xbox members use movie service
More Entertainment News...
Related News
FACTBOX: Movies in main competition at Berlin film festival
04 Feb 2009
Editor's Choice
Slideshow
A selection of our best photos from the past 24 hours. Slideshow
Most Popular on Reuters
Articles
Video
Obama admission of mistake rare for presidents | Video
Miley Cyrus' slant-eye pose slammed by Asian group
Madoff client list peppered with big names | Video
Nine-year old whiz-kid writes iPhone application
Man jailed for taking 50 cents 24 years ago
U.S. housing market bottom within sight | Video
"Osama Bin Laden" rejected for dream island job
Senate OK's softened "Buy American" plan | Video
UPDATE 2-Madoff client list peppered with big names
US pushed Bank of America to complete Merrill buy-WSJ
Most Popular Articles RSS Feed
Video
Ferrell plays Bush on Broadway
Wanting for water in Mexico City
Obama nominee Daschle withdraws
Madoff whistleblower
Pop goes dance in 2009
Holbrooke's Mission
Obama sets cap on executive pay
Winds of trade wars
CEOs feel "entitled"
'Nazi Dr Death dead' claim
Most Popular Videos RSS Feed
pictures
Slideshow
Celebrity sightings
When the stars are out, so are the cameras. Slideshow
Reuters Deals
The global destination for corporate leaders, deal-makers and innovators
Knowledge to Act
Reuters.com:
Help and Contact Us |
Advertise With Us |
Mobile |
Newsletters |
RSS |
Interactive TV |
Labs |
Reuters in Second Life |
Archive |
Site Index |
Video Index
Thomson Reuters Corporate:
Copyright |
Disclaimer |
Privacy |
Professional Products |
Professional Products Support |
About Thomson Reuters |
Careers
International Editions:
Africa |
Arabic |
Argentina |
Brazil |
Canada |
China |
France |
Germany |
India |
Italy |
Japan |
Latin America |
Mexico |
Russia |
Spain |
United Kingdom |
United States
Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.