Special: 59th Berlin International Film Festival

    BEIJING, Feb. 5 (Xinhuanet) -- The Berlin film festival on Thursday opens with "The International," a banking thriller.

    In "The International," Clive Owen acts as an Interpol agent investigating the dubious practices of one of the world's most powerful banks.

    The Berlin film festival director Dieter Kosslick said that the choice of opening movie was fortuitous, given the global banking crisis gripping the Western world.

    "If we had showed this film six months ago, a lot of people wouldn't have believed it," he said recently. "But now it might come across to some as a sort of documentary film."

    "The International," directed by Tom Tykwer, kicks off 11 days of screenings, red carpet glamour, celebrity spotting and publicity in Berlin, the first of the three big European film festivals each year. The others are Cannes and Venice.

    The German city has earned a reputation for tough, hard-hitting cinema, and 2009 will be no exception.

    The main competition "Storm" examines the legacy of war in former Yugoslavia while "Mammoth" tackles issues of globalization and economic migrants.

    Director Rachid Bouchareb, who made the critically acclaimed war drama "Days of Glory," brings "London River," about two people in London trying to find their children who go missing after the public transport bombings of July 7, 2005.

    Berlin also hosts a major market where titles are bought and sold, and this year's European Film Market will provide further clues as to how the international movie business is withstanding the global financial crisis.

    (Agencies)

Directed by: Tom Tykwer
Genre: Thriller/Action/Drama
Cast: Clive Owen, Naomi Watts, Armin Mueller-Stahl
Country: USA/Germany
Plot: The action thriller traces the criminal business transactions that finance war and terror. Interpol agent Louis Salinger (Clive Owen) and New York attorney Eleanor Whitman (Naomi Watts) are determined to uncover the illegal activities of one of the world's most powerful banks, and must risk their own lives in the process.