Line #5 Film/TheInternational


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6	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/4de5bcfcebe977ad0f99c48159d90748.jpg]]
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8	A 2009 conspiracy thriller directed by Creator/TomTykwer, starring Creator/CliveOwen and Creator/NaomiWatts.
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10	Interpol Agent Louis Salinger (Owen) and Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Eleanor Whitman (Watts) are determined to bring to justice one of the world's most powerful banks. Uncovering illegal activities including money laundering, arms trading, and the destabilization of governments, Salinger and Whitman's investigation takes them from Berlin to Milan to New York and to Istanbul. Finding themselves in a high-stakes chase across the globe, their relentless tenacity puts their own lives at risk as the bank will stop at nothing -- even murder -- to continue financing terror and war.
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13	!!Tropes present in this work include:
14	* AlasPoorVillain:
15	** [[spoiler:The Consultant]] dying in front of Salinger with a look of regret repeating that Skarsen would not let him speak by any means.
16	** The shot of [[spoiler:Wexler]] lying dead in one of Hagia Sofia's columns. He did collaborate for a cruel organisation and had a background as a former colonel of the Stasi but his tragic backstory (divorce, a daughter who committed suicide) and his revelation that he wanted to be as honest as Salinger though destiny did not permit him. Salinger wanted to help him find redemption but [[spoiler:Wexler]] [[FaceDeathWithDignity faced it]] and [[DeathEqualsRedemption found it through death.]]
17	* AlwaysMurder: Salinger is convinced of this when his partner has a heart attack after meeting a contact. [[spoiler: He's right, of course.]]
18	* ArmsDealer: Skarsen's [=IBBC=] provides weapons to many nations in war, especially the ones in the Middle East and some countries in Africa.
19	* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Borders on DownerEnding because the bank is still doing dirty work as newer, equally corrupt leaders take the place of the ones killed off.]]
20	* BlastOut: The Guggenheim scene feels like a scene out of a FirstPersonShooter.
21	* BottomlessMagazines: Notable during the Guggenheim shootout. Guns only run dry when the story needs to build dramatic tension.
22	* BulletproofVest: [[spoiler:The Consultant]]. Subverted however -- though it stops bullets from killing him, the impacts were so severe he's forced to remove it just so he can breath, then is shot dead anyway afterward.
23	* CoDragons: Skarsen has four main assistants, including Wexler who acts as a consultant. [[spoiler:By the end, two of them die along with Skarsen but two remain alive with one becoming the new [=CEO=] of [=IBBC=].]]
24	* ColdSniper: Aside from the Consultant there was also a second sniper that was used as a scapegoat when [[spoiler:Salvini]] was assassinated. The Consultant acts very cold but he gets redemption when [[EnemyMine he momentarily allies with Salinger]] and [[spoiler:[[AlasPoorVillain dies in his arms]]]].
25	* ContractOnTheHitman: After the Consultant is exposed, hitmen are sent to silence him before he can talk.
26	* CorporateConspiracy: [[MorallyBankruptBanker The IIBC]] is at the center of one of these, [[WarForFunAndProfit funding wars in the third world as a means of profiting of the debt]]. They even have {{Professional Killer}}s on their payroll. Sadly based on a real institution, the BBCI; when it was shut down in 1991 by an international law enforcement effort, other banks began to become involved in the same sort of business, most notably HSBC which was "Too Big to Prosecute."
27	%%* CorruptCorporateExecutive: All of the IBBC.
28	* CruelAndUnusualDeath:
29	** [[spoiler:Detective Ward]] is shot in the neck and blood starts spouting from the wound. Salinger attempts to cover it but it's almost impossible with the hitmen shooting at him. He succumbs in painful agony drowned in his own blood.
30	** [[SacrificialLion Thomas Schumer]] at the beginning of the film. He suddenly vomits and then suffers a heart attack as he is about the cross the road after he is poisoned without notice.
31	* DaddysLittleVillain: The BigBad keeps his young son around for a teleconference as they play a game of ''TabletopGame/{{Go}}''.
32	%%* DeadPartner: twice.
33	* DeadlyEuphemism: "The Consultant". Also, the Italian hitman that kills [[spoiler:Skarsen]] at the end of the film who "brings" the salute of Enzo and Mario Calvini in the form of a bullet.
34	* DiabolusExMachina: If the BigBad's mooks hadn't been tipped off by the birds, the film would have ended way differently.
35	* DiesWideOpen: Combined with DiedInYourArmsTonight, this is the way [[spoiler:the Consultant]] dies in New York in front of Salinger.
36	* DirtyCop: [[spoiler:The head of the Italian police, setting up the fake assassin and hindering Salinger's investigation.]]
37	* DragonAscendant: [[spoiler:By the end of the film, Ehames, one of Skarsen's four main men, becomes [=CEO=] of the [=IBBC=] after his boss' death.]]
38	* EnemyMine: Salinger and the Consultant escaping the Guggenheim after the latter becomes aware of the [[ContractOnTheHitman hit put out on him]].
39	* EstablishingShot: Many, ''many'' of them - the name of the film is entirely justified. Most of them are [[SceneryPorn very pretty]].
40	* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes:
41	** Jonas Skarsen has a family and loves playing ''{{TabletopGame/Go}}'' with his son to teach him basic strategies when dealing with trouble. A videoconference does not stop him from having a good time with his son.
42	** Wilhelm Wexler, [[SympathyForTheDevil a much more sympathetic man]], had a wife and a daughter but his marriage crumbled after his daughter committed suicide.
43	** While [[EvenEvilHasStandards the Calvini brothers have honor]], they treat their father's death personally and [[spoiler:they order to kill White, Wexler and even Skarsen himself]].
44	* FairCop: Salinger, played by Clive Owen.
45	* FallingChandelierOfDoom: Salinger shoots a hanging sculpture in the Guggenheim Museum to fall to the main floor and kill two hitmen guarding the entry.
46	* ForensicDrama: Briefly twice, when looking into the assassination of [[spoiler:Calvini]] and when Salinger discovers that Schumer's heart attack was caused by a poison.
47	%%* GovernmentConspiracy
48	* GriefInducedSplit: Wexler's marriage fell apart after his daughter committed suicide.
49	* HandicappedBadass: The Consultant. Becomes a plot point when his leg brace allows the police to track him down.
50	%%* TheHandler: Wexler, for the Consultant
51	%%* HeKnowsTooMuch: [[spoiler:Wexler]]
52	* HelloAttorney: Whitman, played by the gorgeous Naomi Watts.
53	%%* HiddenWire
54	* HowDareYouDieOnMe: Oddly, delivered to the EnemyMine in the gallery shootout - more a case of "I can only get out of here if you help me", but there's also the fact that Salinger wants him to testify.
55	* InterpolSpecialAgent: {{Played with}}. Even though Salinger pretty much leads the investigation of the bank, it's clearly stated by his colleague early in the film that Interpol is not a law enforcement agency in itself, but deals with intelligence and liaison services for other agencies.
56	* InstantDeathBullet: Gorily {{averted}} on several occasions. One character bleeds out messily from a neck wound, one takes a long time to die from a stomach wound, and all the professional killers in the film employ MakeSureHesDead head shots.
57	* JurisdictionFriction: Mostly averted, despite all the local police forces involved. Most of the friction is with the higher-ups. But it's PlayedStraight with [[spoiler:the corrupt Italian police chief who directly interferes with Salinger's investigation.]]
58	* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler:The bank itself. Various members get well-deserved deaths, but even with Whitman's charges at the end it's strongly suggested the IBBC will survive.]]
59	* MorallyBankruptBanker: Jonas Skarsen not only pretends to sell weaponry to other nations, he wants to create a debt to trap them.
60	* MonumentalBattle: In the Guggenheim, New York.
61	* NebulousCriminalConspiracy: The bank is simply the middle man at the center of one of these.
62	* NothingIsScarier: After White fails trying to negotiate with the Calvini brothers, he is put into a car. When the car enters a tunnel, the camera pans away as it shows the tunnel's end [[KilledOffscreen but no car comes from it and the ominous music makes it clear what happened.]]
63	* OutlivingOnesOffspring: Wexler's background mentions that he lost a daughter when she committed suicide which caused his marriage to be torn apart.
64	%%* PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny: Liberia.
65	* PerfectPoison: One that gives someone a heart attack within seconds of introduction and leaves no trace. Handy!
66	* ProfessionalKiller: "The Consultant", who is an expert hitman. Later, [[ContractOnTheHitman others are sent to silence him]] when he's exposed.
67	%%* RedemptionEqualsDeath: Happens twice.
68	%%* SceneryPorn
69	%%* ShaggyDogStory
70	* SmartPeoplePlayChess: The BigBad is shown teaching his son TabletopGame/{{Go}}.
71	* SpySpeak: {{Subverted}} when the hitman and his handler meet at an art gallery and have a stilted conversation about the painting they're looking at -- it turns out they already know each other, and they were just making conversation.
72	%%* StairwellChase
73	%%* ThoseTwoGuys: [=NYPD=] Detectives Ornelas and Ward.
74	* UnresolvedSexualTension: Averted. Salinger and Whitman are both professionals more dedicated to finishing their investigation.
75	* VigilanteMan: [[spoiler:Tipping off TheMafia that the IBBC shot their old patriarch, and then attempting to do the same with the Syrians.]]
76	* VillainousDemotivator: Wexler only helps Salinger because he knows he hasn't got long to live.
77	* VomitIndiscretionShot: [[spoiler:Thomas Schumer,]] after being poisoned, vomits messily all over the sidewalk before collapsing. Cyanide, the chemical used to kill him, [[TruthInTelevision does indeed cause vomiting,]] although the murder is also somewhat similar to the murder of Georgi Markov, who was infamously assassinated when a pellet filled with ricin was shot into his leg - Markov also began vomiting and suffered a fever before he was killed by the poison.
78	* WarForFunAndProfit: Calvini explains that the IBBC controls the debt produced from conflict.
79	-->'''Umberto Calvini:''' The IBBC is a bank. Their objective isn't to control the conflict, it's to control the debt that the conflict produces. You see, the real value of a conflict, the true value, is in the debt that it creates. You control the debt, you control everything. You find this upsetting, yes? But this is the very essence of the banking industry, to make us all, whether we be nations or individuals, slaves to debt.
80	* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: The IBBC engages in this quite a bit.

Context Film / TheInternational