Ahh, I knew I should have been a bit more clear, I really meant "John Ford era" as in old Hollywood Westerns. Totally agree that Ford himself was a bit more morally complex than the rest of the crowd IMO, and arguably his later work in the genre like The Searches is even a deconstructionist western itself. Plus his filming techniques were innovative and always pushing the boundaries of visual narrative. Still, in no real shock due to the era, The Searchers is fairly regressive in many ways that Dead Man is not, particularly on portrayals race. Personally I found to film to be really funny on first viewing, and found the humor around race relations to be pretty much in line with other mid 90s films covering similar ground. The unnaturalness of the film is really the appeal to me. I've seen the film labeled as a "psychedelic western" which feels a bit off to me, due to the total lack of color, but it really does have a "trippy" vibe to it. I think the total lack of a moral tale of any sort is really unique and fun. I think even the most revisionist westerns still traffic heavily in moralism, like Unforgiven earlier in the decade, or in the literary world McCarthy's Blood Meridian, and even the Leone films. Dead Man really just doesn't care and I love that. Have not seen his latest film. It's only playing on the other side of town from me, and I haven't heard good enough stuff to go out of my way make the trip over.
This is also the movie that put former Sonic Youth drummer Richard Edson on the path to becoming a successful That Guy in Hollywood.
I just recently saw Broken Flowers where Bill Murray really puts the dead in Deadpan, but it's a funny movie. Great soundtrack too.
Yeah that was pretty damn funny. I was totally harmonious with Mystery Train and Night On Earth when they were new. Looking back, I think they might be his best films. The only one I've never liked is Dead Man. It rubs me the wrong way. I have just bought every single Jarmuch film on blu-ray and two on DVD and I'm going to have a marathon over the holiday weekend.
I think it tells you something that this thread died already after only a few comments. His stuff just doesn’t click with anyone beyond a small number of film buffs.
I thought Jarmusch would be more popular here, frankly. Last night we watched Mystery Train. It's even better than I remembered.
Just realised I've seen them all bar two. And I rarely watch movies. The distance between his movies and any others his huge in terms of quality IMO. Gasper Noe is also interesting.
I really like Night On Earth. The visuals and soundtrack just hit home for me. I love the look of city at night. I’m a big night owl highway driver. So this felt really familiar. This and many of his movies are great alternatives to what comes and goes at the cinema. I think there should be more Jim’s out there. My really good film buddy disagrees, harshly.
Jarmush was really hip in my circles back then. I can still remember seeing the "Down By Law" trailer in movies theatres and thinking how incredibly cool it looked, with the b/w picture and Tom Waits singing. We watched "Down By Law" repeatedly back then (just like "Night On Earth") and afterwards every new Jarmush film was a must-see about up to "Ghost Dog" I think (though I still watched "Coffee and Cigarettes" right away when it came out and thought it was hilarious). But I even watched all the later ones eventually, except for "Paterson" for some reason, which I might have to rectify soon. I thought "The Dead Don’t Die" was ok, not great and I didn't know what to make of "Limits of Control", but apart from these two I really liked every Jarmush film I've seen. So yes, I share your surprise at the slow response to this thread.
To this day, whenever I hear "Jockey Full Of Bourbon" (and I listen to Tom Waits a lot), I see these street shots from the trailer in my mind.
I think my biggest problem with NOE is the order in which they're presented. The first one is by far the best, and every subsequent segment just gets less and less interesting. Sometimes it's just not a great idea to put the hit single as the first track on side one.
Your point is well-taken. I've always found the film too long. I'm not sure if I'd cut a segment or shorten the exposition along the way, but it feels 30 minutes over the limit to me. What's there is wonderful, however, even if it's too long.
I voted for Night on Earth. Jarmusch is a bit too stylized and his direction with a lead actor for an entire film gets old for me, but works really well for shorts. Being a series of vignettes, I think the concept and approach used in NoE is the perfect vehicle for Jarmusch.
Why is the first segment by far the best? I guess you can make an argument for it being the best, but someone can make a strong argument for each other segment. They are each haunting in their own ways. I thought both actresses in the first segment did well but you could see they were trying too hard to act that they were playing cool with each other. If the segment had to go on much longer, it would have lagged and started being cumbersome. For me this is the problem with all of Jarmusch's work.
Haven't seen all of his movies but definetely Dead Man. some of those movies must to be seen a couple of times to make a good judgement I'm thinking of Limits Of Control for example.
I agree that short vignettes linked by a central theme is Jarmusch's particular strength and a comfortable way to tell a deadpan story. On the other hand I responded well to the freewheeling narrative Stranger Than Paradise. That film's refusal to implement story- telling conventions is precisely what makes it strong. The poll allows for two votes. Vote for your second favorite as well.
Yeah, I never drove a cab but I used to enjoy cruising the city at night with friends, but not anymore. Maybe if I was back in New York I'd enjoy it again or maybe it's my age and the fact that nightlife has changed. The police are out for revenge now. They've changed, too. I follow the work of Hal Hartley, Edward Burns and Whit Stillman, among other independents. They're interesting but not like Jarmusch. I can't think of another filmmaker remotely close to Jarmusch. I hope he has more films in him.
Do you take Edward Burns seriously as a writer-director? I've seen a few of his films. Watchable but lightweight. He's an actor pretending to be a writer-director IMO. I can't take his work seriously at all.
