Night on Earth

1991 Jim Jarmusch movie

Rating: 16/20

Plot: Five synchronous episodes in five taxi cabs in five cities. An aspiring mechanic drives a casting agent home from the L.A. airport. A German cab driver in New York tries to get Yo-Yo from Manhattan to Brooklyn. An African in Paris transports a blind woman to a pier. A verbose, loud-mouthed Italian drives a man who isn't a bishop to a place the man who isn't a bishop would probably rather not go. And in Helsinki, one tortured soul picks up three others to give them a ride across town after a night of drinking.

Another movie I didn't like very much the first time I saw it. After the first segment (the one with Winona Ryder), I figured I still wouldn't like it, but Night on Earth just gets better and better. Trudge through segment one, and you'll be rewarded. These are typically Jarmuschian character studies, as well as studies of time and place, but in short story form. The style might be a little different than Down by Law or Strangers in Paradise, but that love he's got for the characters he creates is still there. It's also got that quiet poignancy that sort of sneaks up on you. The attention to details, or the patience Jarmusch has in drawing focus to certain details, is still there, as are the deadpan humor and terrific irony. The dialogue's presentation is unique in that it allows the audience to see both sides of the conversation as if from the front of the cab and therefore makes extraneous camera movements or multiple views completely unnecessary. Exterior shots--mostly, it seems, of the seedier parts of the represented cities--are well shot, and the midnight drunken circus music of Tom Waits (bias alert!) perfectly compliments the wee hours of the freaky ghost town settings. It's easy to pick a least favorite of the five segments (and honestly, I don't exactly hate Ryder's story), but picking a favorite among the other four is difficult stuff. I can imagine Roberto Benigni would get on most people's nerves, but I love that guy. The last story (the Finnish one) has the guy who I'm going to start referring to as my favorite actor as soon as I bother learning his name, the guy in Kaurismaki's Ariel, Shadows in Paradise, and Leningrad Cowboys movies.

Ok, I'm not that lazy. Matti Pellonpaa is his name. I am too lazy to figure out how to put dots above the a's in his name though.

Question for Cory: Which Jim Jarmusch movies have you seen?