The International
An interpol agent and an attorney are determined to bring one of the world's most powerful banks to justice. Uncovering money laundering, arms trading, and conspiracy to destabilize world governments, their investigation takes them from Berlin, Milan, New York and Istanbul. Finding themselves in a chase across the globe, their relentless tenacity puts their own lives at risk.
Working with a respectable budget of $50.0M, the film achieved a steady performer with $60.2M in global revenue (+20% profit margin).
1 win & 1 nomination
Plot Structure
Story beats plotted across runtime
Narrative Arc
Emotional journey through the story's key moments
Story Circle
Blueprint 15-beat structure
Arcplot Score Breakdown
Weighted: Precision (70%) + Arc (15%) + Theme (15%)
The International (2009) demonstrates deliberately positioned dramatic framework, characteristic of Tom Tykwer's storytelling approach. This structural analysis examines how the film's 15-point plot structure maps to proven narrative frameworks across 1 hour and 58 minutes. With an Arcplot score of 6.9, the film balances conventional beats with creative variation.
Structural Analysis
The Status Quo at 1 minutes (1% through the runtime) establishes Interpol agent Louis Salinger and his partner Thomas Schumer wait outside a Berlin plaza to meet with an informant who has damaging information about the IBBC bank. The cold, grey urban landscape establishes the murky world of international finance and espionage they navigate.. The analysis reveals that this early placement immediately immerses viewers in the story world.
The inciting incident occurs at 14 minutes when Salinger discovers that his partner Schumer was murdered - poisoned to appear as a heart attack - by the IBBC. The bank's informant is also killed. This transforms the case from an investigation into a personal vendetta and proves the IBBC will kill to protect itself.. At 12% through the film, this Disruption aligns precisely with traditional story structure. This beat shifts the emotional landscape, launching the protagonist into the central conflict.
The First Threshold at 30 minutes marks the transition into Act II, occurring at 25% of the runtime. This demonstrates the protagonist's commitment to Salinger commits to pursuing the IBBC outside official channels when he travels to Milan against orders to investigate the assassination of a political candidate. He crosses from lawful investigator to rogue agent, choosing personal justice over career and safety., moving from reaction to action.
At 59 minutes, the Midpoint arrives at 50% of the runtime—precisely centered, creating perfect narrative symmetry. Of particular interest, this crucial beat The spectacular Guggenheim Museum shootout erupts when Salinger confronts The Consultant. Multiple assassins attack, resulting in massive casualties. Salinger survives but The Consultant escapes wounded. This false defeat raises the stakes - the IBBC will now hunt Salinger openly, and legal prosecution seems impossible., fundamentally raising what's at risk. The emotional intensity shifts, dividing the narrative into clear before-and-after phases.
The Collapse moment at 89 minutes (75% through) represents the emotional nadir. Here, The Italian politician Calvini, who was helping expose the IBBC, is assassinated. All legal avenues to prosecute the bank collapse completely. Salinger realizes that the system is designed to protect institutions like the IBBC - there is no legitimate path to justice. His entire career and belief system feel meaningless., illustrates the protagonist at their lowest point. This beat's placement in the final quarter sets up the climactic reversal.
The Second Threshold at 94 minutes initiates the final act resolution at 80% of the runtime. The dying Consultant provides Salinger with the location of Skarssen and his security details. Salinger synthesizes his law enforcement skills with a new moral clarity - if the law cannot deliver justice, he will. He chooses extralegal action, crossing his final moral threshold., demonstrating the transformation achieved throughout the journey.
Emotional Journey
The International's emotional architecture traces a deliberate progression across 15 carefully calibrated beats.
Narrative Framework
This structural analysis employs structural analysis methodology used to understand storytelling architecture. By mapping The International against these established plot points, we can identify how Tom Tykwer utilizes or subverts traditional narrative conventions. The plot point approach reveals not only adherence to structural principles but also creative choices that distinguish The International within the action genre.
Tom Tykwer's Structural Approach
Among the 4 Tom Tykwer films analyzed on Arcplot, the average structural score is 6.2, demonstrating varied approaches to story architecture. The International represents one of the director's most structurally precise works. For comparative analysis, explore the complete Tom Tykwer filmography.
Comparative Analysis
Additional action films include The Bad Guys, Puss in Boots and Venom: The Last Dance. For more Tom Tykwer analyses, see Run Lola Run, A Hologram for the King and Perfume: The Story of a Murderer.
Plot Points by Act
Act I
SetupStatus Quo
Interpol agent Louis Salinger and his partner Thomas Schumer wait outside a Berlin plaza to meet with an informant who has damaging information about the IBBC bank. The cold, grey urban landscape establishes the murky world of international finance and espionage they navigate.
Theme
After Schumer's sudden death, a colleague warns Salinger about pursuing the IBBC: "The truth means responsibility. Are you ready to be responsible?" This establishes the film's central question about the personal cost of exposing institutional evil.
Worldbuilding
The world of international banking corruption is established. We see the IBBC's reach across borders, meet Manhattan DA Eleanor Whitman who shares Salinger's obsession with the bank, and learn that the IBBC is involved in arms dealing and debt control of third-world nations. Schumer's death reveals how dangerous this investigation is.
Disruption
Salinger discovers that his partner Schumer was murdered - poisoned to appear as a heart attack - by the IBBC. The bank's informant is also killed. This transforms the case from an investigation into a personal vendetta and proves the IBBC will kill to protect itself.
Resistance
Salinger debates how to proceed with limited support from Interpol, which is reluctant to challenge a powerful bank. He teams up fully with Eleanor Whitman, and they trace the IBBC's weapons dealings. They identify "The Consultant," a mysterious assassin who works for the bank, as a potential lead.
Act II
ConfrontationFirst Threshold
Salinger commits to pursuing the IBBC outside official channels when he travels to Milan against orders to investigate the assassination of a political candidate. He crosses from lawful investigator to rogue agent, choosing personal justice over career and safety.
Mirror World
Salinger encounters The Consultant (the IBBC's assassin) and begins to understand him as a mirror figure - another man trapped by the system he serves. Eleanor Whitman also serves as a thematic mirror, representing the legitimate path of justice that Salinger is abandoning.
Premise
The promise of the premise delivers a globe-spanning conspiracy thriller. Salinger and Whitman follow leads through Milan, Lyon, and New York. They uncover the IBBC's scheme to control emerging nations through debt by financing both sides of conflicts. The investigation becomes increasingly dangerous as the bank tracks their movements.
Midpoint
The spectacular Guggenheim Museum shootout erupts when Salinger confronts The Consultant. Multiple assassins attack, resulting in massive casualties. Salinger survives but The Consultant escapes wounded. This false defeat raises the stakes - the IBBC will now hunt Salinger openly, and legal prosecution seems impossible.
Opposition
The IBBC retaliates systematically. Witnesses are eliminated, evidence disappears, and Salinger's superiors pressure him to drop the case. Whitman faces threats to her career and family. They track the bank's CEO Jonas Skarssen but find him legally untouchable. Every avenue of legitimate justice closes.
Collapse
The Italian politician Calvini, who was helping expose the IBBC, is assassinated. All legal avenues to prosecute the bank collapse completely. Salinger realizes that the system is designed to protect institutions like the IBBC - there is no legitimate path to justice. His entire career and belief system feel meaningless.
Crisis
Salinger processes the devastating truth that legal systems serve power, not justice. Whitman urges him to accept reality and move on. He must choose between abandoning his quest or crossing a moral line he can never uncross. The Consultant, dying from his wounds, reaches out to Salinger.
Act III
ResolutionSecond Threshold
The dying Consultant provides Salinger with the location of Skarssen and his security details. Salinger synthesizes his law enforcement skills with a new moral clarity - if the law cannot deliver justice, he will. He chooses extralegal action, crossing his final moral threshold.
Synthesis
Salinger travels to Istanbul and confronts Skarssen directly. In a tense confrontation, he learns the bank will simply continue with new leadership. However, Skarssen is assassinated by someone connected to the Calvini family - the bank's enemies are everywhere. The IBBC faces internal collapse as its secrets begin to leak.
Transformation
Salinger walks away from the aftermath, transformed. News reports reveal the IBBC is under investigation worldwide, its crimes finally exposed. Unlike the opening's cold determination, Salinger now carries the weight of moral compromise - he found justice, but lost his innocence about how the world works.