Interpol Agent Louis Salinger (Clive Owen) and Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Eleanor Whitman (Naomi Watts) are determined to bring to justice one of the world’s most powerful banks.
Uncovering myriad and reprehensible illegal activities, Salinger and Whitman follow the money from Berlin to Milan to New York to Istanbul. Finding themselves in a high-stakes chase across the globe, their relentless tenacity puts their own lives at risk as their targets will stop at nothing – even murder – to continue financing terror and war.
About the Film
“The International is about two people who attempt to overcome forces much bigger than they are,” says producer Charles Roven. “We’re all pawns in the world of big corporations and our destinies are being tugged and pulled by their plans for us. But the film shows us that no matter how insignificant we may feel, we as individuals can make a difference.”
In the film, Interpol agent Louis Salinger (Clive Owen) and Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Eleanor Whitman (Naomi Watts) are driven by the pursuit of justice to take down the most powerful foe imaginable: an international bank with financial and political tentacles that reach into the world’s houses of government. Though their task seems impossible, they are determined to take down the bank, which has proven it will stop at nothing, even murder, to advance its own interests.
If the story seems ripped from the headlines, says director Tom Tykwer, it’s because the headlines have shown that the banks do control all aspects of our lives. “The mess we’re in now started when the banks took advantage of people and encouraged them to live way beyond their means,” he says. “The banks’ decisions had far-reaching effects – our houses are at risk, our jobs are at risk, ultimately the entire quality of our lives. Global business has developed into an empire with executives of leading corporations – for whom the public doesn’t vote – exerting an enormous influence over politics, the economy, our everyday lives, everything.”
And though The International is a work of fiction that raises the stakes appropriately for a thriller, Tykwer says that the central issue remains the same. “At the core there are two ordinary human beings – people like you and me – fighting a cold-blooded corporate beast that appears unstoppable. I think anyone can relate to their struggle,” he says.
Read the Full Production Notes
The International
Starring: Clive Owen, Naomi Watts, Brían F. O’Byrne, Ulrich Thomsen, Armin Mueller-Stahl
Directed by: Tom Tykwer
Screenplay by: Eric Singer
Release Date: February 20, 2009
MPAA Rating: R for some sequences of violence, language.
Studio: Columbia Pictures
Box Office Totals
Domestic: $25,450,527 (49.1%)
Foreign: $26,391,327 (50.9%)
Total: $51,841,854 (Worldwide)