Director Anton Corbijn (Control) is blogging about his upcoming film The American starring George Clooney.  The film centers on an American assassin (Clooney) in Italian countryside on his last job.  However, he soon finds himself seduced by his surroundings and tempts his fate as he steps out of the shadows by befriending a local priest (Paolo Bonacelli) and finding romance with a woman named Clara (Violante Placido).

Corbijn has posted a variety of behind-the-scenes images from the film and we've included them after the jump.  My favorite: Clooney's borderline tramp-stamp.

Hit the jump for the images and the official synopsis.  The American hits theaters on September 1st.

Here's how Corbijn explains the butterfly:

The butterfly is symbolic of a couple of things in general in the film.  The book "A Very Private Gentleman", on which THE AMERICAN is based, is set in Abruzzo as it is the home to a lot of different butterflies.  The original main character was an eccentric englishman who uses his butterfly paintings as a cover for his professional, serious job. As I changed the character to an american protagonist I felt the eccentricity would become less believable and therefore George looks at the butterfly for its metamorphosis from a caterpillar and uses a hard shaped outlined one as a tattoo on his back.

Cold-blooded killers should not have the same tattoo as a college girl who's going to feel regret in five years.

The other images are good and they show that The American is going to be a beautiful film that will most likely have people booking trips to the locale.

Here's the official synopsis for The American:

Academy Award winner George Clooney stars in the title role of this suspense thriller, filmed on location in Italy. Alone among assassins, Jack (played by Mr. Clooney) is a master craftsman. When a job in Sweden ends more harshly than expected for this American abroad, he vows to his contact Larry (Bruce Altman) that his next assignment will be his last. Jack reports to the Italian countryside, where he holes up in a small town and relishes being away from death for a spell. The assignment, as specified by a Belgian woman, Mathilde (Thekla Reuten of “In Bruges”), is in the offing as a weapon is constructed. Surprising himself, Jack seeks out the friendship of local priest Father Benedetto (Italian stage and screen veteran Paolo Bonacelli) and pursues romance with local woman Clara (Italian leading lady Violante Placido). But by stepping out of the shadows, Jack may be tempting fate.

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