TRAILER: George looks for a quiet life in Italy

Based on the novel A Very Private Gentleman by Martin Booth, director Anton Corbijn’s follow-up to the award-winning Ian Curtis biopic Control is a meticulously-crafted portrait of a man of violence trying to escape his grim fate.

Predictably, the anti-hero can only outrun the past for so long before it catches up with him and demands bloodthirsty redemption.

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George Clooney is on screen for almost every single frame in the title role, his face etched with weariness as an assassin who has grown tired of always looking over his shoulder.

Without the star power of its leading man, The American would struggle to find an audience outside of the arthouse circuit.

It’s an unremittingly bleak and slow-burning study of solitude, epitomised by a remarkable and protracted sequence in which the titular character drives towards the white light at the end of a long tunnel.

Corbijn refuses to cut away from inside the car as the white light expands, illuminating the driver until the entire screen is filled with blinding white.

Following a bungled assassination attempt in Sweden, hitman Jack (Clooney) decides to abandon the killing game once and for all.

He telephones handler Pavel (Leysen), who suggests that Jack should lay low in the Italian town of Castelvecchio.

“Don’t talk to anyone and above all, don’t make any friends. You used to know that,” scolds Pavel.

The hitman drives to the remote community and on the spur of the moment, he disobeys orders and sets up camp in nearby Castel Del Monte.

By day, Jack keeps himself busy by constructing a custom-made weapon for mysterious client Mathilde (Reuten). The nights he spends with local prostitute Clara (Placido).

As Jack’s paranoia takes hold, he seeks counsel from local priest Benedetto (Bonacelli).

“A man can be rich if he has God in his heart,” contends Fr Benedetto.

“I don’t think God is interested in me, father,” mocks Jack, fearing he is well past the point of no return.

The American is an engrossing character study, enlivened by explosions of violence including a night-time car chase that is as close as the film strays to an action set-piece.

Corbijn makes excellent use of the stunning European locations and keeps us amused with interesting shots.

In the absence of bright colours in the film’s palette, Clooney sparks a dazzling screen chemistry with Placido and Bonacelli.

“You are American. You think you can escape history,” laments Fr Benedetto.

As Jack discovers, there is no escape.